[College Admissions] Easier to get in to in-state or out-of-state public university?

I doubt it's easier or harder, but you have a better idea of the quality of schools in your home state, so you're more willing to look at the crappier ones.

 

I think it varies.

Tuition is different story...

 

Texas is a pretty bad example. The top % rule really skews the types of people who get admitted to/rejected from UT. Plenty of students between the 10.1-20th percentile at strong public schools are forced to go out of state because of that rule. They're perfectly fine students and in many instances are better overall applicants than some in the top 10% because they're more likely to be well-rounded than top 10%ers at ****ty schools.

Side note, one thing I learned in medical school is that public schools do love students who will pay full tuition (out-of-state/international students). I'm not saying that will get you in to an out-of-state school but it definitely plays a role.

 

Yup.
I'm top 3% in my school, but at Seven Lakes I would be top 15%. Lmao.
Although Katy ISD > HISD so my school is only relatively ****ty compared to other Katy ISD schools.

 

I think i was bottom 3%...

Lonestar college baby

 

Lol. You're an inspiration to us all man. Keep drinking :grin:

 

In-state is generally easier but it varies.

 

It can depend, but in my experience in state kids get extremely preferential treatment in some instances especially at UC schools. Not to mention the financial packages are heavily skewed towards in state residents.

At least that's what I felt and I got into pretty much every UC school when I applied.

 

I was in the 9th percentile in my graduating class with good act/sat scores, only 2 Bs in high school, but because of the top 8% auto-admin for UT for my graduating class I didn't get in. Trying to transfer there from UGA for next semester, have a good GPA and a decent amount of credit, hope to get in. So I would say easier to get in out-of-state than in-state, but I'm just going off of my experience.

 

I would hope they have done the longitudinal studies to demonstrate if the top % rule actually leads to improved outcomes for students from weaker schools.

I personally was top 14% percent of my graduating high school class and am currently in my last year of medical school. I ended up fine, but I think going to UT would have been much easier.

 

It varies. California is hard up for money and the pathetic cuts on its uni system has made them resort to foreign and out of state tuition money.

10 yrs before, it was easier to get a leg up on it in-state.

 

New Jersey's weird too. In some cases, it's cheaper to go to out of state in nearby PA (there's a lot of cheap schools there) versus going in state at Rutgers (which is supposed to be our state university).

 

Same with me. Actually, I did get into UT, but I applied for their special school for smart people (can't remember what they called it) and was rejected. This was 1993. I was also rejected by Rice, but accepted by U of C and Boston University. I went to Chicago. But, also at that time, U Chicago was having a branding/marketing crisis and didn't have enough applicants whereas everyone and his dog applied to UT. Even so, I definitely felt I was at a disadvantage with UT and Rice because I lived in Houston. They brag so much about their diversity, it had to be harder to differentiatte yourself when you're from the home state.

I imagine it's different for each school though. The 10% rule came after my time and it probably made it a lot harder for out-of-state applicants. Other places are probably different. Private schools have a whole different dynamic too. U Chicago was all about your academics and didn't care about any extra-curriculars that make you interesting; whereas Rice was big into that stuff.

 

Totally varies, in every imaginable way. Will depend on if you're in a state that doesn't send many kids to school X. (e.g. the Wyoming example is a good one, since maybe UT doesn't find many kids from Wyoming, but they want a representative spread outside of Texas.) Will depend on your highschool work enormously, and not just grades. Some schools really like to see highschool athletics, while others don't care. Will depend on your gender, as schools struggle to get male students. And so on!

 

If you're really adventurous, send a few applications to some foreign schools. You'll be more attractive (as an international student) and they're typically cheaper if not shorter. For instance, in the UK college is only three years long and cost about the same as a public university here.

 

I believe in Texas going to a comparable school in a bordering outside state is easier. Arizona, Oklahoma, Louisiana, etc... offer special packages to Texans because we have a larger number of people and we're also smarter than the folks in those states apparently. They do things to poach the talent.

Other than that I'm not sure there's a direct correlation that would be consistent across all states. For example, I imagine getting into a premier school in Michigan/Illinois might be tougher than usual since there are so many solid programs and people coming from all over the world to attend.