<p>I need to find out if we are able to get any kind of financial help with paying for UCLA.</p>
<p>To summarize, our EFC was calculated to be 55K. Cost of attendance at UCLA will be about 32K. Son received Regents Scholarships at other UCs, but none at UCLA. He is a NMF finalist.</p>
<p>He is eligible for the $5500 unsubsidized loan and the parent loans. That's it.</p>
<p>Are there any other outside scholarships he can get or any other help?
Is there a chance of receiving any kind of small scholarship from some of the scholarship websites? We have not looked seriously into these yet. Are they worthwhile and legitimate? If so, we will try for these.</p>
<p>In spite of our high calculated EFC, the 32K will be a struggle.
Are there any other options we may be unaware of?</p>
<p>Well, one obvious solution would be for him to get a job. Two jobs, actually - one during the summer and one during the school year. That’s routine for kids receiving financial aid, and there’s no reason why your son can’t do the same. And that’s $5,000 per year that you can count on . . . and renewable for all four years!</p>
<p>Most outside scholarships, in contrast, are good for freshman year only - so unless your son is very lucky, it’s a lot of effort for not much return.</p>
<p>Sounds like he should seriously look at the other UCs.</p>
<p>Cost of attendance at UCLA will be about 32K.</p>
<p>Private scholarships are hard to get, usually have earlier application deadlines, often have a “need” component, are very hard to win, and are usually only for freshman year. </p>
<p>Along with the the $5500 student loan, you could expect your son to work over the summer and contribute a few thousand dollars. </p>
<p>How much can you pay each year?</p>
<p>How much are the Regents that he got and from which UCs?</p>
<p>What is his major and intended career? </p>
<p>(just curious, how did you think you were going to pay for UCLA when he applied?)</p>
<p>His major is either electrical engineering or computer science.</p>
<p>We are okay for the first year as that will come from a 529 plan. Not sure about after that at this point.</p>
<p>When we applied we thought we would cover the costs based on current salaries and savings. However, there is a high chance that I might be laid off in the next few months.</p>
<p>Yes, he does plan on getting a job in the summer. Not sure if he will be able to get an on campus job. He will be in engineering and from what we hear the workload is very heavy. At the engineering open house we attended last week, a common message from present students and alumni was that sleep was scarce and the workload was heavy and difficult.
So from that aspect, we are not counting on him to work during the school year. If he can, then great. But at this point we are not counting on it.</p>
<p>He received $7500/yr from UC Davis and $6000/yr from UC Santa Barbara. UCLA seems like a better choice for engineering though and if a degree from UCLA will pay off in the long run in terms of jobs etc., then it might be better to attend there instead of Davis or Santa Barbara. </p>
<p>I realize that we don’t have “need”, but was just wondering if there are any avenues we have not explored in terms of possible financial help.</p>
<p>Not sure if he will be able to get an on campus job.</p>
<p>On campus jobs may be mostly work-study jobs, so he wouldn’t be eligible.</p>
<p>An eng’g degree from UCLA isnt’ going to open more doors than one from Davis. Davis is well-respected by high tech companies in Calif. Starting salaries would be the same.</p>
<p>If there’s a real concern that you might get laid off, then I’d go with Davis and set aside some of 529 monies for future years.</p>
<p>One issue with UCLA is the dorms are SUPER expensive. I recommend living there the first year to meet people, but after that get an apartment next to campus or live at a greek house (the walk to class from these is closer than some of the dorms).</p>
<p>A triple in the dorms was 1000 a month when I attended, while my fraternity room, board and dues were 600 a month. When I lived in an apartment it was also closer to 600 a month as well.</p>
<p>Also if your son is concerned about the engineering workload pick computer science as a major. They always seemed to have much less work than the other engineering disciplines.</p>
<p>I found Applied Math had a surprisingly light workload when I attended even though UCLA is ranked #2 in the nation for Applied Math. Just an FYI if he is looking beyond just the school of engineering.</p>
<p>The engineering field is not especially prestige-driven. The differences that exist between pay and opportunities from school to school are more about how many and which companies recruit the school.</p>
<p>Look at the lists of companies recruiting at the different schools to get an idea. You will see from the size and quality of the lists that UCLA and UCD are similar, but that UCSB has a weaker list:</p>
<p><a href=“http://career.ucla.edu/Students/CareerFairs/ArchivesPreviousFairs/EnginTechFair_Winter_2013.aspx[/url]”>http://career.ucla.edu/Students/CareerFairs/ArchivesPreviousFairs/EnginTechFair_Winter_2013.aspx</a></p>
<p><a href=“https://ucdavis-csm.symplicity.com/events/students.php?mode=list&cf=springfair13[/url]”>https://ucdavis-csm.symplicity.com/events/students.php?mode=list&cf=springfair13</a></p>
<p><a href=“https://ucsb-csm.symplicity.com/events/students.php/pid726138?cf=spring13[/url]”>https://ucsb-csm.symplicity.com/events/students.php/pid726138?cf=spring13</a></p>
<p>UCD is a much better deal for you than UCLA. UCSB is also better if UCLA is going to be a struggle to pay for.</p>
<p>
Things must have seriously changed since I was in college and CS students used to live in the computer labs for days at a time coding. I think this probably falls under YMMV.</p>