I am currently a high school student living in Texas but I would like to attend school in California. I had lived there for most of my life moving to Texas a few years ago. The CC in my area here in Texas has been known to be a bit flaky when transferring out of state credits and taking courses needed to transfer. I had considered going there for 2 years then transferring to a UC school but knowing people who have gone to school in different states have had to scrap all their credits and start again because of their credits not counting. I would like to avoid this by going to community college out of state and transferring which also may give me a better chance with going to a UC school. I’m not sure if it is worth it knowing that community college is double, even triple (depending on the school) for out of state. Currently in high school I have roughly a 3.5 GPA which Isn’t good enough for most UC schools overall especially the ones I have interest in. I was thinking about Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, California. Is community college out of state worth it? Or should I just take my chances with the instate community college? Maybe even apply to a few Universities and see which I get into? Thank you!
Can you afford it? OOS CC is (usually) more expensive than IS CC, and OOS UCs are (hugely) more expensive than most other schools.
To an extent yes, but do you think CC will save money at all? I’m not only looking into UC but also state schools like SDSU if that helps!
If your ultimate goal is to end up at a UC or CSU, I definitely recommend going to a CCC if you can afford the OOS tuition. In my experience, it’s sort of like paying to go to a CSU so you definitely want some aid money to help when you move. Keep in mind it is really difficult to get IS tuition (but totally possible) at your CC but it doesn’t automatically mean you’ll get instate once you transfer! You really have to be responsible as far as keeping your finances in check (open a bank account, pay your own rent, etc.) If you have any questions, message me and I can share my personal experience.
You do realize that the UC’s and Cal States provide no financial aid to OOS students whatsoever?
There’s a long-standing misconception that the UCs never give aid to OOS. They always have to a limited extent, but are now phasing it out after they recently got called out on it. However, they will continue to provide aid to those OOS already enrolled who were receiving it.
http://www.dailycal.org/2015/11/23/to-fund-enrollment-boost-uc-will-phase-out-out-of-state-financial-aid/