By: Ashley Chen
Why do so many students hesitate to apply to out-of-state colleges? After all, there are thousands of colleges besides those in California that have exceptional programs for all fields of study. In answering this question, Seniors Andrew Phung, Malia Lim, Jonathan Gao, and Avani Tamhankar shared their reasons as to why they decided to attend an out-of-state college.
Phung committed to University of Portland, a private university in Oregon, after attending Weekend on the Bluff, a special event for admitted students, Phung said. During his visit, he got to listen to professors in his field of study talk about how committed they are to their classes and how they help students get internship opportunities, Phung said.
“I applied to this school because one of my friends goes there and she talked about the great experiences and how close-knit the community is, how easy it is to get classes because it’s not as big of a school, and how helpful the professors are there,” Phung said. “They always prioritize your needs as opposed to a public school where you’re kind of on your own.”
As of right now, he is in the pre-physical therapy path and will major in biology and minor in communications with plans to become a physical therapist, Phung said. He also received the President’s Scholarship, a merit scholarship, for $25,000 a year, Phung said.
He was really excited to be accepted, but acknowledges that it will be difficult leaving California since he is going to be in a whole different environment and culture, Phung said. This may be a reason why many students hesitate to go to out-of-state, he said.
“I think it’s first about the idea of moving out of your comfort zone,” Phung said. “It’s also because of the cost; it’s pretty expensive going out of state. And then also because I think there’s a lot of pressure around going to a UC because those are the prestigious schools, but there’s also pretty good schools around and out of state.”
Lim chose to commit to University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa for similar reasons as Phung. It’s basically paradise in Hawaii, she commented. In addition, tuition is not as expensive since she is participating in the Western Undergraduate Exchange, which guarantees that out-of-state students pay no more than 150% of in-state tuition, Lim said.
“I applied for nursing,” Lim said. “There’s this test you have to take called the NCLEX [or National Council Licensure Examination], and [the university’s] pass rate was actually really high, and I was like ‘Oh wow that’s really cool!’ And everywhere [in the Bay Area] is impacted.”
Although her family is sad that she is leaving, they are proud and happy for her, Lim said. She is excited to learn how to surf and have a chance to be independent and grow up, she added.
Gao chose to attend Texas A&M University because they have a good engineering program and his GPA and SAT score matches the school, Gao said. His admission was the first one he received this year, he commented.
He is considering learning computer science and joining a club to play football for fun, Gao said. In fact, football is a big deal at Texas A&M, and they have a really good football team, he continued.
“[I am] excited for the college experience and I really like the atmosphere of a large campus,” Gao said. “[In the future,] I think I’ll pick up the Texas accent for sure and hopefully get smarter and more mature, and learn all these life skills that I need and be ready to get a job.”
He hopes to come back to California to attend graduate school, Gao said. He has the full support of his family, who encouraged him to try hard and enjoy life, he said.
Tamhankar committed to Arizona State University because she really likes the campus and the atmosphere, Tamhankar said. The kids are really open and nice and the programs that she was offered seemed like they were going to help her through medical school and to become a physician, she continued.
She was accepted to the honors program, Tamhankar said. The main benefit is smaller class sizes, and that they have a lot of ties with the Mayo Clinic and other companies that are specific to the honors program, she continued. For example, according to the Arizona State University website, Mayo Clinic and the university partnered to open the Mayo Clinic School of Medicine campus in Arizona.
In addition, she received a merit scholarship with her class ranking, Tamhankar said. The tuition after the scholarship came out to be the same as in-state, so in terms of opportunities, Arizona State University was better for her, she said.
“[As to why some students may not want to apply out of state,] I think it’s the fear of having to go out of state, fly, and then commute,” Tamhankar said. “There’s also tuition problems; if you’re not going to get a scholarship, then it’s not worth the money going outside.”
When asked what advice they would give to students applying to college next year, they shared these thoughts: “I would just say be open to whatever comes your way,” Phung said. “It doesn’t really matter where you go as much as the quality of your education and how you utilize the tools that are available to you.”
Start your FAFSA early, Lim advised. “Goodness, I’m still dealing with it right now for loans,” Lim said. “Of course you should listen to your parents on where you’re going, especially if they’re paying for you, but in all reality it’s your choice, your decision, it’s your life. So don’t let other opinions make your decision for you.”
“Apply wherever you want to or wherever good programs are being offered, not just because other kids are applying there,” Tamhankar said. “If it seems like a good fit for you, you should apply there and consider it.”