I am a rising senior (college class of 2023) who does not live in California but wants to go to school there. I was originally wanting to apply to some UC schools (UCSB and UCLA), but after looking at how much it would cost to attend and the lack of scholarships I would receive from being OOS, I was wondering if it’s even worth it to apply to the UC schools?
If not, does anyone have any suggestions for other universities in the SoCal/San Diego areas that would actually provide good financial aid? The things that I have been looking for in colleges include a large undergraduate population (20K+ undergrads), school spirit where sports are big, and greek life. Of course, these things aren’t necessary and I’m willing to look into pretty much any school in California that has a good reputation or is well-known.
For my stats, my GPA is 3.86 UW and 4.7 W. I have not gotten back my SAT score yet, but my projected score is anywhere between 1250-1400 (I measured this from my practice test scores though, so who knows if it’s even accurate, but I’m pretty confident I’ll get at least a 1200). If anyone cares to know about other stats, I can include those as well.
I realized I didn’t include the ideal cost of attendance for me, which i think would be helpful for anyone giving me suggestions. My ideal out of pocket per year would be around $15,000.
For best financial packages in southern California, , including merit based awards,
Look at the private Roman Catholic schools, like U of San Diego, which may offer you merit if you test well. It is only about 8200 students total, including graduate students though.
Also Loyola Marymount U in Los Angeles, which is 6.200 students, could offer merit perhaps.
The public schools in California do not offer much merit to OOS students.
Look at public schools in Oregon and Nevada for better deals.
Thank you for your response! I’m not really sure what I want to major in, but I know I want to major in something science related. So far though I’ve been looking into majoring in neuroscience, biology, or chemical engineering. I’ll definitely consider USD and LMU and look into them more. Also, I was thinking about schools in Oregon, especially University of Oregon, but I don’t know yet if I want to be that far from home.
Oregon State is located in Corvallis, also the home to some high tech firms like Hewlett Packard.
(U of Oregon is located in Eugene,also a nice college town, but does not offer chemical engineering, It offers good biology, biochem and neuroscience. )
The UC’s give little to no financial aid to OOS students so at $65K/year, not worth applying. You will probably not find any California schools that would meet the $15K/year costs you are willing to pay. Even private schools like LMU, USD, Santa Clara, USC etc… could give you some decent FA, but not to the extent you are looking for in paying.
I would run the Net Price calculators at any schools of interest and I would try to get your SAT score into the 1450+ range for a chance at some merit aid.
Oregon public schools will probably cost a lot less than California public schools. Oregon schools offer a scholarship for IB diplomas as well as good grades and test scores.
Arizona and Nevada may be worth looking at too for better deals.
, look at Arizona State’s Barrett Honors College, in Tempe. Its a school within a school, so class size is smaller.
If your family cannot afford to pay $60,000+ per year (or about a quarter of a million dollars for four years), then no, it is probably not worthwhile to apply to UCs as an out-of-stater.
Private schools in southern California, like LMU or USD, do offer financial aid to OOS students. But they probably won’t offer that much.
Popular western state schools like U of Oregon, Oregon State, U of Washington, and U of Colorado are unlikely to offer much financial aid to OOS applicants. As at UCs, they get plenty of OOS applicants who are prepared to pay full price.
If you want affordable college in the western US, you should be looking at smaller, less popular states. For example, U of New Mexico estimates the out-of-state cost of attendance at $37,592. But they offer the Regents and Amigo scholarships for a 3.9 GPA and 1390 SAT, which collectively come to about $34,480.
@Coloradomama I did not know about University of Oregon not having engineering, interesting! Also, Barrett is most likely where I will end up (if I am accepted of course) since I am an Arizona resident, so it will probably be the most affordable. My only dilemma is that I’m not sure if I want to be so close to home but at the same time I don’t really mind being so close…Anyways, thank you again for your responses!
@Gumbymom Thank you for the reality check I needed haha. As much as I would like to go to school in California, it just might not be for me.
@Corbett I’m not really a fan of the less popular states on the western side, but wow! that UNM scholarship would be hard to turn down if I were to get it. Thank you for bringing that up!
Since you are an Arizona Resident, I would look at the WUE schools since you will pay less for the OOS schools on their list. Just check to make sure your major is not excluded at the target schools. There are Oregon, Washington and California schools on the list.
@Gumbymom Thank you! My college counselor has also brought the WUE schools to my attention, so I will keep doing my research and see if any of the schools on there really interest me.
U of Nevada Reno, one of the WUE schools, is only 15 minutes from the CA border on hwy 80, near Lake Tahoe etc. It’s certainly got the size/spirit/etc. and good academics. But then again I don’t really see why it would be a win over ASU/Barrett.
To answer your original question, my opinion is that full-pay for a UC is not worth it in comparison to your own very good in-state schools. The only exception would be if you were accepted to a particular specialty program that was especially well-regarded and would give you small classes and individual attention for the whole four years. A few of those exist. But if you’re going to be in the “general population” at a UC in a relatively common major… no, I don’t see enough value-added there. You could take a lot of vacations to California for the $100K you’ll save over four years by going to your own excellent state U’s.
Apply to ASU Barrett and UArizona Honors.
Thise are the ones to beat.
Then look at the WUE schools. Wwu would be an attractive possibility for your stats.
None of the socal colleges (public or private) where you have a shot would come down to 15k.
If you don’t mind the Pacific Northwest, check out Lewis and Clark (match), Whitman (reach).
Under the Net Price Tab, you’ll find the average net price by income for any of these schools. You’ll also find the link to the net price calculator, under this tab. The net price calculator will give you a sense of your cost at any of these schools, and is particularly useful for privates.
Merit based aid is going to be driven by your test scores (your GPA is high enough).
USC and some of the Claremont Colleges may be within a long reach if your scores are better than you expect (and all the other stars align).
More realistically …
California (or PNW) schools on the USNWR “regional universities west” list may be your best bets if you’re determined to go to a West Coast college. https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/regional-universities-west
Run the online net price calculators on any schools that interest you (and where you also seem to have realistic admission chances).
IMO Lewis & Clark and Whitman are good suggestions w.r.t. quality and need-based aid. Both claim to meet > 90% of demonstrated need, on average. However, they may not fit several of your personal preferences (for size, “school spirit”, etc.)
Your best balance of quality, personal fit, and net cost may be among your own in-state public schools.
