<p>Hello, I'm really interested in going to school in California. How realistic would this be for me (on a financial & admissions standpoint) coming from out of state? I'm looking for actual student/parents that could answer this question because of their first hand experience. I would like to graduate with little to no dept. My stats- 30 ACT, hispanic female, top 2% of school, great essays, 3.8/4.28 GPA. </p>
<p>Thank you:)</p>
<p>Have you tried the Net Price Calculators available on the financial aid page of individual college websites? They are a useful tool for starting to explore this question.</p>
<p>Calif UC’s will not give you any aid to cover the OOS portion of tuition.</p>
<p>So, if your EFC is $6,000, then your family would have to pay $6,000 PLUS about $23,000 to cover the OOS portion.</p>
<p>Do you know what your EFC will likely be? figure about 25%-33% of family income as a rough estimate.</p>
<p>UCs will include FULL LOANS to cover any need. So, at a minimum, you’d graduate with at least $30k per year in debt…plus your family would have to pay the amounts above.</p>
<p>Edited to add…you’re independent with an EFC 0…so, a UC will not be affordable for you.</p>
<p>You’d have full loans that would go towards “need”, and then the UC would expect you to ALSO pay the $23k per year…which you can’t do.</p>
<p>If the student is independent of parents for college financial aid purposes, establishing California residency can be done more easily than for a dependent student whose residency depends on the parents’ residency. It may involve moving to California and taking a gap year from school to work and live in California.</p>
<p>[Establishing</a> Legal Residence - Office Of The Registrar](<a href=“http://registrar.berkeley.edu/Registrar/establish.html]Establishing”>http://registrar.berkeley.edu/Registrar/establish.html)</p>
<p>For a California resident student with FAFSA EFC = $0, UC net price will be $8,500 to $10,000 per year (Stafford loan and work earnings; the rest would be covered by grants). Add $23,000 per year for non-residents. See the net price calculators.</p>
<p>I agree with the posted above – the UC schools do not make much sense for you financially.</p>
<p>However, if California remains your dream destination, there are schools in California other than the UC’s or CSU’s that may represent a better fit considering both your financial and academic needs.
While you’ll find many schools discussed on their individual boards, you may want to research and consider:
Occidental
Pitzer
Scripps (if you’re female)
Redlands
Santa Clara
U of San Francisco
U of San Diego
USC
St. Mary’s (in Moraga)
U of the Pacific</p>
<p>UCB…how is aid for instate students who didn’t go to Calif high schools? What are they not eligible for? Do they still qualify for Blue and Gold promise? Do they qualify for Cal Grants?</p>
<p>“Cali” – isn’t that a city in Colombia? I have lived in California for 34 years, and had never seen or heard that word used to refer to California (aka Calif or Cal or Ca or CA) until I started reading College Confidential.</p>
<p>When someone uses this word, you know immediately that they don’t live in California.</p>
<p>But apparently SoCal is good… :D</p>
<p>When someone uses this word, you know immediately that they don’t live in California.</p>
<p>As a Calif native myself, whenever I hear the word, “Cali”, I know the person is from elsewhere, too.</p>
<p>Yeah, if someone used the word “Cali” in their essay and were claiming to be a resident, that would get red-flagged for sure.</p>
<p>Seriously, though, back to OP: Agree that UC’s and CSU’s will probably not make sense for you. If you really want to go to school in CA, look to the privates and hope for financial or merit aid. Hop had a pretty comprehensive list. I might add Pepperdine and Mills.</p>
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<p>Blue and Gold Opportunity does not depend on high school attended:
[Blue</a> + Gold Opportunity Plan | UC Admissions](<a href=“http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/paying-for-uc/financial-aid/grants/blue-gold/index.html]Blue”>http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/paying-for-uc/financial-aid/grants/blue-gold/index.html)</p>
<p>Cal Grant does require being a California resident at the time of high school graduation (although it also indicates that some who did not graduate from high school at all are eligible):
[Grants</a> for School, College Grant, School Grants](<a href=“http://www.calgrants.org/index.cfm?navId=12]Grants”>http://www.calgrants.org/index.cfm?navId=12)</p>
<p>Net price calculators at UCs care only about residency, not high school attended. Note that UCs enroll a large number of transfer students, who may not have graduated from high school at all.</p>
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<p>Yep, that is used all of the time. Not SoCali, though!</p>