<p>So I have been living in northern california for the past 6 years, and everyone is pushing me to go towards a UC or CSU because that's where everyone that I know is going and my parents think it will be more affordable. (Because of my parents income I wont qualify for any financial aid and my parents definitely want me to pay for everything myself)</p>
<p>I have okay stats, 3.6 UW GPA 3.8 W GPA, 23 ACT 1090 M+CR SAT</p>
<p>I don't really know what my chances are to even get into any of the schools and the only UC that I'm really interested in is UCR (But I also have to say that I haven't visited any campuses)</p>
<p>And one more factor, since I am in the top 10% of my class I do have guaranteed admittance into at least one UC school so that is always a safety. I am itching to get out of CA though but I don't know if I'm closing myself off to opportunities because of what I've heard. </p>
<p>For affordability, it is always wise to consider your in-state schools. Regarding the UC’s and CSU’s, many are considered some of the best univerisities in the country and you are lucky they are in your own backyard. Just to let your parents know however, as a Freshman, you would only be able to take out $5500 in loans and the rest would be up to them. Your Stats do not make you eligible for many merit scholarships, so unless you plan to commute to a CSU, the price tag for in-state CSU’s are around $20K and UC’s around $30K.</p>
<p>UCR would be considered a Match for you.
The ELC eligiblity is the top 9% of your HS or top 9% of the state. The guarantee is that if you apply to several UC’s and your are not offered admission, that you will be admitted to a UC school which has been UCM these past few years (if there is room).</p>
<p>You need to calculate your CSU/UC GPA, see link: <a href=“GPA Calculator for the University of California – RogerHub”>http://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/</a>
Like I said, based on your above Stats, UCR looks like a match along with UCM. UCSC would be a high match. With your ACT result, the rest of the UC’s would be a reach but there are many CSU’s that would be a good match depending upon your major. There is CPP, CSULB, CSUF, Chico State, Sonoma, Channel Islands, Northridge etc…</p>
<p>1) First, I would sit down with your parents and find out what they will pay for college. If they say they will only pay for a CSU/UC, then you will need to do some research to determine if there any schools out there that you could afford on your own through merit scholarships.</p>
<p>2) You really need to visit some campuses to help narrow down a list of potential schools.</p>
<p>Since the CSU application opens Oct 1 and UC’s on Nov 1, you need to get going on what you plan to do.
Good Luck</p>
<p>If you can’t visit campuses, view the online tours. </p>
<p>Where were you 7 years ago? Where are your dream schools?</p>
<p>The OP says she has to pay for it herself and will not quality for need based aid. I don’t see her stats getting her a full ride or close to it anyplace, test scores are low. I think you are looking at 2 years of community college and then a CSU (maybe commuting to one if there is one close to your house).</p>
<p>7 years ago I was in Missouri. My dream school is UA. I’ve already applied and I plan to go for the speech team scholarship which would make UA the same cost as a UC(26k) and I retook my ACT in hopes of raising it and if a miracles appended and all of my studying paid off I could qualify for more scholarships at UA. but the whole thing is just me not knowing if
- I’ll even like any schools in CA
- If I even want to put time/money into applications if I can go to UA and be happy there for the same price even if it’s farther away. </p>
<p>and my 2nd school is ASU (which I have also already applied to) and the major im interested in has WICHE tuition which also makes the price similar to a UC</p>
<p>I think you should apply for a few UC’s and a few CSU’s. I don’t know how much it costs THIS year, but in general, admission to a California public is a pretty good investment. If you are destitute, that may not matter, but if your family is in a "wont qualify for any financial aid and my parents definitely want me to pay for everything " situation, perhaps your family will find it worth their while. If it’s all on you, you may not be able to make attending this fall happen, but for many families there is a lot of change between September and April. </p>
<p>Neither of my kids ended up going to a Cal public but I would have been thrilled. I am in N Cal. Feel free to pm. </p>
<p>How are you going to pay that $26K? You know that you can only borrow a total of $27,000 over your four years of undergrad, right? Only $5,500 your freshman year. You might earn a few thousand working summers and during the school year (say $5,000 if you really hustle and work quite a bit). That is $11,500. If you want to borrow more your parents have to co-sign (if they can qualify).</p>
<p>well I already work and i save all my paychecks so im hoping by next fall I’ll have 10k saved and im also working on neogotiating with my parents to see if there’s anything they will pay for like my room and board or travel expenses or books or something. </p>
<p>Wonderful, you already applied to out of state schools! Perhaps you should consider UCR and a CSU with a good Forensics team as your safeties. That should be enough. Go for all the scholarships, fill out the FAFSA on time, just go for it! Good luck!</p>
<p>@Happy2Help aha, that is my problem though. no UCs or CSUs have good forensic teams. my current hs coach (who was a college national champ from SF state and now coaches a college team in SF) has told me repeatedly that CA College forensics has no competition so that’s another reason im trying to get out of CA which totally freaks my parents out that im basing such a huge part of my decision process off of speech especially since according to them it doesn’t align with my biology major and could interfere with my possibly getting opportunities to work on research labs among other things I will need to get my feet wet for my future career path. </p>
<p>I see, OK. Seeing that you plan to make your own way, you hold all the cards. Remember, you can change your mind and transfer. Concentrate on your priorities - Bio first, Forensics is your extracurricular. You have to do what will make YOU happy, and if that means it’s not worth applying to UCs and CSUs then as a parent, I could live with that. But only applying to two colleges isn’t quite enough.</p>
<p>oh my gosh @happy2help that just summed everything up perfectly, im going to have to copy and paste this and show my parents.
I will definitely be applying to UCR and a few privates and Howard. Thank you everyone! Now time to start those essays :/</p>
<p>Please apply to UA, ASU and a bunch of other schools. Hopefully, you’ll get an even more generous offer than you expect. Since you are paying the bulk of the bill yourself, you are being short-sighted overlooking the California Publics. California is so diverse that, there must be part of it you like. </p>
<p>Applying to UCM is a good idea, especially If you are ELC qualified. Think about a CSUs, maybe Chico, Sonoma and perhaps Long Beach. The CSU application is really simple (no essay and is the same for all CSU campuses) and at $55 a campus is pretty cheap insurance. </p>
<p>Living on campus at one of the residential campuses (Chico or Sonoma in N Cal) is about $9k less per year than heading to UA, with your potential scholarship… Also, keep in mind, scholarships at that level require a great deal of time and aren’t guaranteed - meaning half way through sophomore year, you could be on your own paying for a very expensive school. Don’t think it doesn’t happen…</p>
<p>Apply broadly and make your decision after you’ve heard from everyone and understand the real cost of attending.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>“I will definitely be applying to UCR and a few privates and Howard.”</p>
<p>I went to Howard! But that was in the 70’s -80’s so…</p>