Is it easy to apply to multiple UC schools at once?

I’m thinking of applying to 3-4 UC schools, I heard they use the same application for all UC schools. Does that mean Only one essay? so basically It’s like I"m applying to one school?

Np. It means 4 short answer questions no matter how many campuses you apply to.

Yes, but it’s multiple application fees of $70 per school.

jeezuz, 70$?? that’s a lot… so four schools is already 280$ huh. anything I can do to get it waived or reduced? like some colleges you can get “special” applications that waive app fees after you show interest in them. Like i have them from rensselaer, minnesota, whittier etc

You do know that UCs cost about $55K/yr if you’re out-of-state, right? UC has also eliminated financial aid for out-of-state students beginning this year. So, if you can afford that, you can afford the $70/campus application fee.

what!! UC eliminated financial aid for OOS?? why would any college do that? I think that is just plain wrong, what about the academically excelling but poor students, UC is just saying “nope we can’t profit from you guys, no thanks”

my college list is gonna have one to zero UC now. I have to change it

The UC’s are California public universities, paid for by the State and its taxpayers. It can no longer afford to fund OOS students who aren’t residents of the state. And, the schools are under no obligation to fund students from other states.

Californians pay huge state taxes and the state has been under political pressure to admit more California residents. The more popular campuses get over 70K applications each, from all over the country, not to mention from the world and they are more than willing to fork over $55K per year and are beating down the doors to get into a UC.

The State also has more than its share of

that qualify for admittance, so they have their pick of low income students, from very diverse backgrounds, that can profit from a public education. The residents do not want to have their tax dollars benefit students who haven’t paid a dime into the high costs of living and being taxed in California. It’s not wrong, it’s the budget.

Most State schools also charge OOS fees to non-residents. Your best bet is to apply to your instate schools.

In addition to what @“aunt bea” already explained, I just want to point something else out:

For most truly low income OOS students, if UC were to meet full need they would be giving the student more in financial aid than the student is paying out of pocket. That would mean that UC is paying to have these students rather than profiting. At best, it would be a wash…and that’s assuming that said low income student can afford 27.5k to pay for half their expenses. I can’t think of a single situation where a truly low income student would be able to fork over that much each year just for tuition, without even considering their additional expenses through travel and basic living.

So your premise here is wrong; UC doesn’t stand to profit from truly low income OOS students. Why should they take them then? As state universities, they have no obligation to provide an education to someone outside of California, the way that they do for Californian students who meet their standards for admission. Aunt bea explains why low income in-state students are an entirely situation very well above, so I won’t go into that.

As a general comment, I don’t get why people are obsessed with coming to California specifically for college. I get the appeal of coming here in general; we have generally nice weather and a lot of things going on throughout the state. But why do people need to come specifically for college? Why not take a vacation here? Or if you actually want to live here, why not save money during college and use that money you saved to eventually move out here? It’s not like California will only exist for your time in college and disappear off the face of the earth as soon as you graduate!

so schools in california not part of UC then would give more aid, since it’s not a state funded college

I want UCs because they have top notch astronomy programs (UCB, UCSC, even UCSB in physics) and I live on west coast

The private schools in California are not required to fund only California residents since the privates receive private funding.
If you

and you can afford the UC’s, then apply because our state needs your $55K per year.

I also don’t get why students feel compelled to come to our California schools for college, unless there is a timeline or something in earthquake predictions that we don’t know about?

If you need FA either need-based or merit, you need to look at the California private schools and only a few offer your major. Cal Tech and Pomona college are super competitive. Three Cal states offer Astronomy which will cost $36K+/year with no FA and are San Diego State, San Jose State and Humboldt State. You need to widen your search and go beyond California schools.

What you want vs what you can afford will be up to you and your parents. You know what the costs are for the schools of interest, the UC’s but as pointed out it is up to you to find affordable schools.

https://aas.org/learn/college-departments-offering-astronomy-related-degrees

ok, thank you, i really need to finalize my college list soon. would be helpful if my dad would just tell me how much he can afford, but since he won’t, i’m searching colleges based on assumption that 50k schools will put a financial strain