For safety/match schools, a good cost-management strategy often is to look for either low sticker prices (among in state public schools), or else for big merit scholarships (http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com). The best need-based aid tends to come from more selective reach or high match schools.
Wait, so what exactly is WUE? I’m a little lost! @tk21769 @“aunt bea”
**WUE/b is the Western Undergraduate Exchange.
If you reside in a “sister” state, you can pay 150% of the instate rate of another “sister” college.
Say you live in Arizona and you want to attend a WUE school in California, you agree to pay 150% of the instate rate of the neighboring state’s tuition costs. (Say a school tuition costs $10K; you pay 15K as a WUE student)
The caveat is that the accepting school has the option to accept or deny you. In California, there’s a bit of a trick. The CSU’s that accept WUE are the schools that are not the “popular” schools nor the “popular” majors. Yes, you have to declare a major. If you try to “back door” it by changing to an impacted major after you are admitted, then you may go back to OOS rates. There are no guarantees. (In California, the schools are generally a good distance from most “popular” cities; California is aware that more students want to come to California than there is space, so the schools listed are the ones that have space, in the desert and the farm communities).
The WUE site is not functioning correctly, last time I checked. I’ve attached an article from the LA Times: http://articles.latimes.com/2012/apr/22/local/la-me-tuition-discount-20120422
Lesson: Buyer beware.
I would think Loyola-Marymount in LA, and Pepperdine in nearby Malibu would both be no worse than matches for you. Both will be pricey, however, but may offer some aid off the sticker price. Pepperdine costs about like Santa Clara and LMU will be less expensive than either of those.
College of Charleston would be a safety for you, and is a great city to be a college student in, but will be a real culture shock coming from the West Coast.
Good luck!
WUE site seems fine to me
In addition to being limited to certain schools (the more popular places don’t participate, just the ones needing the extra recruitment boost to fill their spaces), there are often limits on which majors participate.