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<p>You clearly have colleges here where the “money part” won’t work out if you are looking for need-based financial aid. OOS options probably won’t be affordable if you have to worry about cost. You have state colleges from four different states on your list. You have to pay OOS tuition there, and likely will not receive very good need based aid as an OOS student.</p>
<p>Have you run net price calculators for all these and discussed the results with your parents? You can find them on the college websites on the financial aid page.</p>
<p>One reason I think 15 is a lot to apply to is that the requirements to send in documentation for financial aid can be quite onerous, and the dates/materials required/method to send can vary a lot across schools. Big headache for your parents. It would be great if the process and requirements were consistent across colleges, but they aren’t.</p>