I live in the Midwest and have relatives in California. Would it be possible to attend community college in California for a year (picking up a job along the way) so I could achieve residency by the time i try to transfer to a UC? My stats are fairly decent ex. GPA 3.7 ACT 32 APs, it’s just very expensive for out of staters.
Here is a link on how to establish California residency. http://registrar.berkeley.edu/Residency/establish.html?no_server_init
Yes, it will be expensive for the first 18 months at any California CC.
Thanks this is exactly what I needed
Make sure you keep good records because I had an ex who had nothing in his name so he wasn’t able to prove residency, lol. I would recommend registering to vote (assuming youre a US citizen) and getting a CA id/ license immediately.
Yes, but as already stated, the CCC will still be expensive compared to other community colleges. If your goal is to attend a UC though, establishing residency will make a huge difference in costs. Start the process of establishing residency immediately. Get a California drivers license/ID as soon as possible after arriving there.
Say I were to get a job working minimum wage. This obviously wouldn’t fully support me, so are my parents allowed to send me money for those two years? Also, would living with my relatives in California void the notion of “self-sufficiency”?
You need to ask someone at the university that you would like to transfer to what the specific requirements are for “self-sufficiency”. Different places will have require different types of evidence. For example, at one CC I know of in Maryland, the student needs to be able to demonstrate that they have covered at least 51% of their own living costs.