How will moving my senior year affect in-state tuition and admissions?

Applying to College
1

Due to familial issues, it’s looking like I’ll be moving in with a relative across the country for my senior year of high school. I’m currently a junior and I’ll need in-state tuition in order to be able to go to college. Getting in wouldn’t be a big problem for me- I take mostly AP classes, I’m in the top 10% of my class, and I scored in the better half of the 75th percentile for my ACT and PSAT the first time I took it without studying (haven’t taken the SAT yet, and that’s the one I’m prepping for). I’ve also got a great extracurricular resume, although the move would definitely unbalance it. I’m hopefully set for getting in somewhere, but I know I’m not good enough to rely on securing an almost-full ride scholarship to a private college. I would feel much safer knowing I qualify for in-state. Does the fact I’m not living in the same state as my parents screw me over? Will I still qualify if I’m enrolled in a public school the full year, and am living there? Am I still eligible in the state I previously lived in? Will I be at a disadvantage for admissions? I tried to look all this up, but it was very complicated and there seemed to be a lot of technicalities. I don’t want to have to forsake my future for this and I’m stressed out. Move is from FL to CA if it helps.

Thank you so so much to anyone out there.

2

State residency is generally tied to the state your parents live in. @“aunt bea” knows a lot about CA colleges, I think, so maybe she’ll stop by and give you her opinion. If you do a search for CA residency [url=<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/19452990#Comment_19452990%5Dposts%5B/url”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/19452990#Comment_19452990]posts[/url], you’ll find several [url=<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1921509-receive-instate-tuition-out-of-state-p1.html%5Dthreads%5B/url”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1921509-receive-instate-tuition-out-of-state-p1.html]threads[/url] about it CA is the hardest state to gain residency in.

3

If you are applying to California privates, your residency shouldn’t be an issue.

If you plan to apply to California publics, then your residence is tied to where your parents reside.

Each state, however, has a residency committee. You need to contact those universities you hope to attend, to get the right answer.

4

So the most likely scenario is I’ll have resident tuition for any Florida schools since my parents live there? That would be ideal.

5

For most states yes. If they are paying for more than 50% of your costs of living that helps too. I assume they are not giving formal guardianship to your relatives either. Getting your transcripts sent from your FL school and using your FL home address will be good too. If you aren’t applying early I would still send in the transcripts early.