I’m really interested in going to California for college and it would be a dream come true to go to UCLA, but California is across the country from where I live and I also want to be close to my family. I’m only a sophomore in high school right now, so I don’t know if I’ll be more independent when I’m going to college, but as of right now I don’t feel completely ready to be alone and a 5 hour plane ride away. But I don’t want to ruin my whole plan that involves going to college out there because that’s where I REALLY want to go. I still have a lot of time to think about it but I’m not sure what to do. Any thoughts/opinions/ what would you do?
If it were me I wouldn’t worry about it. You’re a sophomore in high school. Worry about having fun and doing well in high school because UCLA is a competitive school and you might not get in anyways. A lot changes as you go through high school, every year you’ll mentally feel a lot different than the last, at least I did.
Also keep in mind that the public schools in CA will not give you FA so you would be paying $60,000+ per year at UCLA. Yikes.
First find out if your parents will even pay $60k+ per year for you to go to a UC. If they won’t pay, it won’t happen anyway.