<p>Hello everyone, I thought I would post this in this forum as there seems to be a great depth of knowledge and experience. We are legal aliens living and working in CA (with daughter being born here) and will be here long enough for our daughter to go to college here. We don't want to send her to our home country as I think I would like her closer as she is on the young side and will graduate HS a year younger. She has done all of her education here through our neighborhood public schools and we have had a great experience overall. We are going to look at UCs but would love some ideas for any oos colleges as we have heard that sometimes UCs are tough to get into. Some stats: unweighted gpa is 3.95, weighted about 4.6, she is ranked #1 in her class right now - she is a hard worker and has done a few classes at our local cc. She is a three sport varsity athlete and coaches/manages her schools boys JV team. She works 20 hours a week part time and also volunteers weekly at a local hospice. She is taking her SAT and ACT this October/September - her results will probably be OK but not stellar as she gets terribly anxious and on the PSAT ran out of time quite badly (and that will be a problem for the ACT too) - she is working through practice tests this summer to try and speed up and get more comfortable. So decent GPA but average test scores. She would love a largish school with a football team and some Greek life ( yes, we have watched Animal House) and a beautiful campus. We know nothing about colleges in other states so any input would be great. As for finances, we cannot afford an expensive school and we have two other children hard on her heels. UCs definitely would be nice but is there anything else out there that might be a good fit? </p>
<p>You have a very large number of instate public universities in the state of California to consider. In addition to the UCs there are the Cal States. In the mix there are surely several schools that would welcome your daughter. </p>
<p>You say you want her close, but you would send her OOS? </p>
<p>OOS public universities will be very expensive for you unless you choose one in one of the northern states. I think Wyoming, and Montana have some reasonably priced public universities for OOS students…and maybe the Dakotas. But whew…the weather will be very different than CA. Plus, you will have to include travel costs. </p>
<p>In the financial aid section of this forum is a thread that has colleges that cost under $24,000. You might want to check that thread.</p>
<p>Yes, that probably didn’t make too much sense - I want her in the same country so oos a plane ride away is fine but not in a different country, although on second thought the east coast is almost as far away as some other countries!. I’ll look into the thread about colleges under $24,000. Thank you for the information!</p>
<p>Also, I don’t know how CA handles their Calgrants completely, but if your daughter qualifies for the Calgrant, you may find that the California schools are your best financial bet.</p>
<p>No, she wouldn’t qualify for the Calgrants so we would be full pay instate, which means the colleges under $24,000 would probably be a great option in addition to state schools.</p>
<p>Your daughter sounds as if she’d be a person of interest to many colleges, but you need to get a better handle on your financial options before she can make her list.</p>
<p>First, please run some financial aid calculators to get an idea of how much need-based aid your family may be eligible to receive. You will find these net price calculators on the colleges’ websites. Try out a few different types of colleges big/medium/small (I’ll explain why she should look at small to later), private/public, Westcoast/Eastcoast/in between.</p>
<p>Read through this thread started by @jkeil911 about the University of Michigan which sounds like what your daughter’s looking for:</p>
<p><a href=“Is UMich a good choice for OOS students? - College Search & Selection - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1668760-is-umich-a-good-choice-for-oos-students.html</a></p>
<p>The salient point is not so much a college’s “list price” as it is what it will cost you, so run some NPCs and see how you do.</p>
<p>If the estimated family contribution works for you then your daughter can have a wide list. If it isn’t enough, then she should be looking at colleges that offer generous merit aid. Merit awards are more arbitrary and less predictable than need-based aid.</p>
<p>I would much rather see high grades/not so high scores than the opposite. This is a vulnerability that can be overcome by other factors like extracurriculars, life experience, and diversity like ethnic, religious or economic. If her results are disappointing, then she should look at test optional schools as well.</p>
<p>Your daughter’s ethnicity could be a plus factor at many colleges, especially ones that are seeking to diversify their student body. As a general (very) statement these tend to be smaller colleges, often located in the midwest, in the South or in rural areas. Look for those that have active sports cultures (Division 2 or 3) and Greek systems. Many are generous with need and/or merit based aid.</p>
<p>If your daughter is willing and able to play her sport(s) at a varsity level, she should try contacting coaches at some D2/3 schools. Just to get started, look at the NESCAC schools in New England.</p>
<p>So maybe do some research to see if she’s open to small as well as larger schools. If she is, her financial options will expand exponentially.</p>
<p>The midwest colleges with the exception of the Big 10 colleges can be a better bargain and a great education to contrast with the NE. Definitely spend some time in the financial aid forum. Lots of great advice and reporting by families on cost. Also read up on WUE which gives discounts in western states - sometimes dependent on major, sometimes not. Lots of Cali kids in Colorado, Utah and Arizona that we encountered on college trips that can be, depending on your location in California, closer than the distance from southern California to northern California. </p>
<p>You may be immigrants (like my H) but your daughter is an American. Your country is not her country, the US is. Be sure to attend the parent college meetings likely to be held at your D’s HS. </p>
<p>Don’t worry about her being young- my gifted son was able to handle big flagship U at almost 17 easily (and there were 2 local to his college town HS students younger than he was in his Honors Physics). She has been going to school with the same aged kids who will be her college peers. She has the HS experiences. Talk to her about her plans for college. She likely has or will have talked with her HS guidance counselor about her future plans. She likely has talked with her HS friends as well. </p>
<p>It can be difficult for immigrant parents. You view the world from your experiences and can forget that your children have had American experiences instead of yours. In fact, despite trips to your country, they may be horrified at the thought of being asked to go there for college. They do not fit into your birth culture like you did and perhaps still do. As others stated, California has many good schools in many tiers. There is likely to be a school that fits your D’s academic and interest profile within your family budget. Most US students do attend college in their home state. The east coast has so many small states and so many private schools that they often travel less distance to be OOS than the rest of us do to stay instate.</p>
<p>Relax a bit and enjoy learning about the US college admissions process like all other parents of HS seniors from anywhere.</p>
<p>I agree. Run those net price calculators and see what your family contribution would be. You will at least get a decent estimate. And you also need to figure out YOUR budget. The most important number is what you feel you can contribute annually. Then you need to try to target colleges where your contribution matches what they expect you to pay each year.</p>
<p>There is another thread over in the financial aid forum for automatic full tuition and full ride scholarships. There is a link on that thread for the current information about these merit awards. You may find something there that piques your interest.</p>
<p>With her GPA, she’s likely to get into many of the UCs.</p>
<p>Thank you for all your input and advice. I will follow up on all the tips. I appreciate all the thought put into your responses. My daughter is definitely an American with all the drive and unbridled optimism of our adopted country! </p>
<p>I don’t think her ethnicity/sports will be a plus as we are from two different European countries - nothing exotic. And although she is a good athlete she is not D3/D2 level. Which is fine - I’m sure we will find a great place for her regardless. I just don’t want to miss out on exploring options because they are unknown to us. We have heard of all the internationally known colleges but there are a multitude of excellent colleges out there which we might overlook just because they are not well-known overseas.</p>
<p>WUE schools are open to those from California.
<a href=“Save On College Tuition | Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE)”>http://www.wiche.edu/wue</a></p>
<p>What is she interested in?</p>
<p>Nothing too math based - so no engineering or anything to do with computers. And nothing too purely intellectual like classics or English. The classes at school and CC that she was most enthused about were all social sciences so I can see her going into psychology/linguistics/anthropology/sociology - something a bit more hands on and people- oriented. I am gently prodding her to start thinking about majors but she is not there yet - so any college pick will have to have a broad spectrum of majors. </p>
<p>Thanks for the tip about WUE. </p>