Unlike LA Valley College??!!?? (at least step it up to LA Pierce College, about 5 miles West!!)
OP, despite the serious replies people are gently handing to you, you really need a dose of reality. No one pays $1,000 for a community college class if there are other options.
Consider studying bartending and getting a job for awhile; or something similar. Or go to a Hawaiian community college. Paying top dollar for escapism is foolish enough.
How about Antelope Valley College? Close to Six Flags!
What are your goals, really? Going to college for social work does not really seem to be a top priority for you, from what you have written. Maybe there are other paths to your goals. California, self-supporting, not dead-end. Those seem to be your career goals. Maybe start from there and brainstorm. Put college “on the table” as something that may or may not happen on the path to those goals.
@ItsJustSchool BCC is much worse than CSLA.
There really aren’t other options, in states I want to be in. I definitely don’t want to be in NJ, and even if I did, in-state at any decent school is equal to OOS in many other schools. Any Los Angeles college I’ve seen w/ social work has been very expensive, or a community. There’s a few Florida colleges, that are somewhat affordable. But, I’d rather not be there, and I don’t know much about them.
I might work for a year before I go to college. I’m definitely working in college. I definitely want to be a social worker, that is my top priority, but so is living in California (not Hawaii, Six Flags, or anywhere else). I’m definitely going to college.
First off, the cost parity was BCC with LA Valley College, a 2-year community college with no reputation. CSULA has higher tuition, so it is an apples-to-oranges comparison. All state funded colleges give poor financial aid to OOS. CSULA or CSU Dominguez Hills are fine schools.
If you are a member of a church, a religions school is your best bet.
You really need higher scores. An increase of 400 points would be good; but at least 200 points would be helpful. Many tutoring courses claim to have made these sorts of gains with their students.
Investigate Point Loma Nazarene (A lovely location in San Diego) and Soka University (Another lovely location in Newport Beach).
You just described Georgia and North Carolina. Guilford College may work out for you. A few hours from the beach, a few hours from the mountains, nice small city, not rushed. Check out other schools in the two states.
North Carolina in particular has excellent weather and beaches, large cities, the number 1 research park in the nation (in the Durham/Chapel Hill/Raleigh triangle).
I agree Guilford, which is in a city and not too far from either beaches or mountains, would be great for you - investigate: http://www.guilford.edu/
I don’t know why you have seemed so resistant to other suggestions, like Whittier. They are likelier to offer you a financial aid package than any public colleges in CA. Some students do move out, enroll in CCs, and eventually qualify as CA residents, but it entails a more realistic strategy and deeper financial resources (or accommodating kith and kin in the area) than you seem to have. The cost of living is extremely high, and more affordable areas are not altogether hospitable to a teenage girl on her own.
@slackermomMD I’ve been to NC, I don’t like it at all, I’d rather live in SC. About GA, Savannah & Atlanta look nice, the rest seems way too rural for me. I want to be in an international city, like Los Angeles/NYC, not a smaller major city like Raleigh. (No offense to anyway).
@woogzmama I’m not against Whittier at all, or other CA colleges. As long as they offer good financial aid (which I’ve heard they do), I’ll continue looking into them. I’m from NJ, which has more then one of the most dangerous cities in the USA, so I’d be fine. But, I’d either have roommates, or live on campus, not live in a dangerous area alone.
If you’re interested in New York, CUNY College of Staten Island might be a good safety. They have a really high acceptance rate and seem to have a decent social work program.
Hunter is a great school. I’ve actually been to the campus a number of times because my high school is affiliated with it. Just keep in mind that it has pretty competitive admissions (~30% acceptance rate), especially for OOS students.