<p>I think all the OP needs for in-state tuition in Ohio is one parent that has lived in the state for 12 months and filed taxes in the most recent tax year:</p>
<p><a href=“http://registrar.osu.edu/Residency/dependent_students_documentation_faq.asp#9”>http://registrar.osu.edu/Residency/dependent_students_documentation_faq.asp#9</a></p>
<p>Not as strict as CA.</p>
<p>Wow thank you @jkeil911 that really was an eye opener for me. I am an outgoing person anyways so that would not have been a problem, but i will keep that in mind for when I get there. I was actually referring to the big auditorium type classes you see at big universities with 700+ kids…very hard to be “personal” in that setting.</p>
<p>your high school has a course with 700 kids in it? 
how would you know what a large lecture is like, OP?</p>
<p>and I know of no classrooms of 700. are there some?</p>
<p>willingness to take risk is fundamental to capitalism. abiding by received wisdom is a deterrent to risk. I recommend you read Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Self-Reliance.” Tough sledding, but read one sentence at a time and chew on it. Capitalists have found inspiration in Emerson since the late 1830s, during America’s first great economic crash.</p>
<p>@jkeil911 you caught me there i dont know what it is like, however i do like to get to know people personally including my teachers and i can just assume that in a large lecture hall like that it would be difficult…even with 200, 100 people instead of 700…but what do i know? and I will do that, ill add it to my giant pile of books to read :)</p>
<p>Actually I’m pretty sure there are lecture halls at Ohio State with over 700 seats.</p>
<p>I can believe it, but I’ve never heard of it til now. I did experience one lecture hall of 420, and I had no trouble adapting to the size. I wasn’t paying attention to the students anyway. In fact, in that course I had one of the most thrilling academic experiences of my life, an experience that happened because I was at a large research university taking a gen ed required science course.</p>
<p>I think they are pretty common at state flagships. I know UC Berkeley has one around 750 (Wheeler Hall). My undergrad only had 1050 students.</p>
<p>Be aware that CS is getting quite popular these days. Even Harvey Mudd’s intro course is 200 students.</p>
<p>On summer between junior and senior year of HS, if you can, attend one of the college programs eng/CS - like Purdue, UA, and other schools offer - you can get a taste of the field and the school (some schools CS is in Eng, some it is not). Maybe you have the strengths for being ECE (electrical and computing engineer major). Maybe you can explore that.</p>
<p>Have you visited various sized campuses with CS programs to see what you like/do not like? I have heard some student posts saying things like ‘need XXX food - good Thai, whatever, you fill in the blank’ - seriously? How you rank a school on various factors - have to be intelligent about the process.</p>
<p>If money is very tight, commuting to a school w/o any other costs is very attractive. If you are good in CS, gaining some internship, co-op or other job experiences will be very helpful for becoming a strong candidate for the post-graduation job market. </p>
<p>It sounds like you want to limit yourself to driving range to parents - so if that is of very high importance, you focus in with that - but make sure you will not be unhappy with that decision.</p>
<p>In state residency can be very tricky; it is one thing when you have divorced parents in two states with joint custody who can both claim you with in state, another with different circumstances.</p>
<p>If you were good at PSAT sophomore year, the PSAT junior year is what counts for NM, NH, National Achievement - so have some preparation if your sophomore score was strong.</p>
<p>You say you plan to have ACT of 31 - have you taken the ACT yet? Taken the SAT yet? You may score higher on one versus the other. Some students have to work up to merit range ACT/SAT with practice testing, class, or tutoring.</p>
<p>UA has automatic scholarship for OOS with GPA 3.5 or better, plus ACT equiv of 32 (if 30, college of engineering makes up difference so full tuition plus $2500 eng scholarship). In state students at AU, UA etc with ACT 30 and GPA. With those stats, you are eligible for honors program, which has benefits like class priority.</p>
<p>Work hard at HS. Look at AP courses, IB, CLEP with your college of choice to help you get credits to make finishing in four years more likely.</p>
<p>Make sure to focus on the important things with your particular situation. The person you are (your credentials) will have you be a candidate for the college application and merit process. When you get ready for the post-college job market, your credentials will be what you present to employers. Do not lose your view by looking at the horizon when you should be looking at the steps in front of you.</p>
<p>@SosConcern I plan on visiting both Purdue and OSU sometime soon as those look like my best options when it comes to financial matters and my credentials. And you say “Maybe you have the strengths for being ECE (electrical and computing engineer major).” As if CS is not as good? I understand that Computer Engineers make more however I am more interested in the software side rather than building chips, etc…is there any good reason i should choose Computer Engineering over CS? besides the higher salary. When i have been looking at ratings for colleges if it said it was a good engineering school then i just assumed that their CS program was good as well, as usually they go hand in hand. Was i wrong assuming this? And money is not really tight, however taking on a ridiculous amount of debt to go to a more prestigious college when I have a good/great school right here for less seems idiotic to me. Just my opinion. I am hoping i can get something from OSU/Purdue. And no, i have not taken my ACT yet or SAT at all…I don’t think I will even take the SAT. The reason I expect my score to be in the 30-32 range is because a friend of mine who has had pretty much the exact same grades as me all the way back to elementary school got a 31…so that is where I am aiming. And I was unaware that I was going to take the PSAT again Junior year…better start studying then. UA seems too far away for me. And i will be taking 2 AP classes this year (my school has block scheduling 
) and then senior year 2 more APs and 2 community college classes. So I hope my workload is substantial enough for colleges’ liking. I think I will ask in the Ohio State/Purdue section about their honor classes and see what I think. Thank you all for your help it’s really helped me narrow my choices down. :)</p>
<p>I agree on not taking on debt unnecessarily. </p>
<p>Maybe CS versus ECE is something you need to explore with your colleges of interest.</p>
<p>I am not a professor in engineering or CS to really answer your question. I believe ECE would allow you different career opportunities. H is ECE. Nephew is CS after exploring ECE and really just liking the CS curriculum and work much better - nephew did both co-op and summer paid internships in CS which helped him land a great job with great pay. His company is investing in his training too - he spent several weeks in his first weeks of employment at various major cities for training. Nephew graduated from TN Tech - in state scholarship student; he didn’t even visit UT because of size of university primarily. TN Tech was a good fit for him. He wanted to work in Nashville, but his best job opportunity in TN (where he wanted to live) was another area of the state.</p>
<p>H does a lot of programming and software. He learns a lot with books and just programming. He understands hardware and software. Engineer and programmer through and through.</p>
<p>Until you know your ACT/SAT, you are unsure on what your merit/scholarship level may be in combination with your GPA. You cannot presume you will get the same ACT scores as your friend, even with similar grades. I would imagine PSAT would correlate somewhat to SAT; do not know what the impact of SAT testing changes will have. Maybe you should compare your PSAT score with your friend’s PSAT score - this may be a better predictor on how close your ACT will be to your friend’s ACT score.</p>
<p>My DD GPA was 4.0 UW, 4.2 weighted, and she had to take the ACT 7 times to get to ACT 30. She took first baseline ACT and SAT at end of sophomore year, took prep classes, did practice testing, tutoring. Also took SAT again Oct of senior year just on the chance she could get a high score (her score improved, but not to her ACT levels). She was at a college prep school, high achiever (in public middle school was in top 5 of over 350 students). Some students have to work at testing, some students can do well on ACT/SAT ‘naturally’. She is a strong ma/sci student; had trouble getting sci ACT score up and ended up pulling up that low score with the other test areas being 30-33. A few kids I know got stuck on ACT 29 - I know they did not do the test prep DD did. Each point up on ACT is increasingly more difficult to achieve. DD achieved ACT 30 on the last test UA would take (Dec of senior year).</p>
<p>I know sitting for ACT or SAT is not pleasant, but the difference in potential scholarship can be huge. Look at OSU and Purdue info to see what your likelihood of scholarship is. Do not know how transparent their scholarship info is.</p>
<p>UA has very transparent automatic scholarship information. If you indeed do have strong test stats, you may be favorable impressed with UA to at least visit. Honors college at UA offers great opportunities. </p>
<p>But obtain an ACT and SAT baseline early in junior year to really see where you stand on that measurement. If your sophomore PSAT was high, see what you would need for junior year to perhaps reach NM level.</p>
<p>I know a student from OOS who was only informed really about SAT. He took ACT one time HS senior year and was one point below UA scholarship level (some UA and Eng scholarship money). I believe he could have moved the needle on ACT. His in-state option was VA Tech. He is paying OOS tuition to attend UA in ME. He had a ton of CC credits. Bright student. He put a lot of time into receiving a lot of local scholarship money. I think if he put in some of the work and had the time, he could have moved his ACT score to Presidential level like my DD did.</p>
<p>I also know a gal (ACT 29, but bright - had swim team drain some of her HS energy) who is attending VA Tech as OOS. Loves programming and has had some fabulous opportunities in CS, in part as a bright woman. She wasn’t interested in ECE at all.</p>
<p>ECE and CS are fairly different. I see no reason to switch to ECE if you like software better.</p>
<p>Rose-Hulman has a summer engineering program (Operation Catapult) for kids between junior and senior year of high school, some kids also do programming projects. Every student who goes gets a discount off their tuition if they attend R-H. They don’t tell you that in the brochures or if you call, but they announce it as a big “surprise” at the end of camp banquet. I don’t recall the amount, but I think it was about $2,000/year for each of the four years. And the application there is super easy, no essay required (for Catapult attendees, I think they also maybe don’t even require a recommendation – I just remember it was super easy for campers to apply). It could be worth attending if R-H is anywhere in your ballpark cost-wise, and it also will give you a taste of engineering or programming projects.</p>
<p>You are running Net Price Calculators, right? You mentioned your EFC a few posts ago, just want to be sure you are running the net price calculator on each college website to see what your actual cost of attendance might be.</p>