<p>So, I am a senior in Florida this year, and I have started applying for 4 in-state colleges: UF, USF, UCF, and University of Miami; I am fairly sure that I could get accepted into UCF and USF. I've also applied for University of the Pacific in Stockton, California. My question is whether it is worth going out-of-state--hypothetically speaking, if I were to be accepted--because University of the Pacific is a private school, and my parents say it's too expensive (Out-of-state tuition & fees is something like $40,000 I believe). My dad's annual income is around $120,000--well, before the furlough anyway--and my mom's is $12,000. I would really like to go to school in California, but I don't know if I should just wait to go there for graduate school instead. So is it worth the price?</p>
<p>Well, that’s up to your parents since they’d be paying. if they won’t pay, then the question would be moot.</p>
<p>You’d have quite a high EFC…how much will your parents pay each year?</p>
<p>Do you qualify for Bright Futures? If so, then are your parents expecting you to go to FL school so all they’ll have to pay is the rest?</p>
<p>UOP is a private school, so there isn’t OOS cost. The cost is the same no matter what. The total cost is probably $55k-60k per year for tuition, room, board, fees, books, and misc costs.</p>
<p>What is your major and your stats?</p>
<p>Well, the main reason my parents don’t want to pay is because they fear I might rashly change my major or something.</p>
<p>That, I don’t know yet.
And as for Bright Futures, my SAT scores aren’t exactly up to par, which is why I am retaking that this upcoming Saturday.</p>
<p>Right, I forgot that, sorry.</p>
<p>I’m planning to major in biology–I want to go into dermatology–and my current GPA is somewhere around 3.92 unweighted and 4.23 weighted. My class ranking is 30/135 (80th percentile). ACT composite score: 27. SAT score: 1880 ← But I’m retaking that this weekend; who knows if I’ll do better?</p>
<p>If you have a plan to go to medical school for dermatology, you do NOT want undergrad debt. You will have this if you attend a college that is very pricey. If your parents will not pay the cost of attending UOP, then you will not be able to attend.</p>
<p>Ok thanks for letting me know</p>
<p>If you can afford it, if your parents will pay, and everyone is on board, you and those paying for you, then, yes, it can be worth going out of state for college at times. Though, frankly, you have some pretty good state schools in FL and the premium that U of Pacific is going to cost is not worth it, in my opinion, if it’s going to cause financial strain. Go on ahead and apply and see if the school itself will give you enough aid to make it possible, then you can assess.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice, and I will definitely look into scholarships</p>
<p>My sons appled to an number of unaffordable schools as well as a number of affordable schools. Some of the unaffordable schools anted up money to make them affordable or closer to the price of affordable, and in one son’s case, with some discussion and going over the figures, we could make it happen. But you can’t count on that, so you need to have affordable school that you know will take you on the list. Then you can “buy your lottery tickets”.</p>
<p>Ok thank you, and yeah I am applying to 2 schools (cost is about $6,000 each) that I know I could get into for sure.</p>
<p>Your first priority is getting the needed scores for Bright Futures.</p>
<p>Your parents are right to be concerned that you might change your career goal since MOST premed students change their minds and never go to med school.</p>
<p>Why do you want to go to school in California? If it’s to live in California, put it off for six years so you pay less, then get a job in California and live there the rest of your life.</p>
<p>Good news, you already qualify for the Florida Medallion Scholars level ($77 a semester hour) Bright futures award (>26 ACT, >3.0 GPA… and make sure you have your 75 hours of community service). If you can get your SAT (CR+M) up to 1290, you can qualify for the FAS Award Bright futures ($103 a semester hour). Good Luck on your test!</p>
<p>As the others have said, make sure you first apply to some in-state public schools. Not only will you get in-state tuition, and Bright futures, but at UCF (or USF) you may also earn merit aid (especially if you can improve your SAT score a bit). If you’re serious about med school, you’ll want to limit your expenses before heading to med school.</p>
<p>You can look OOS, at both publics and privates. At publics, you will need a merit award (or OOS tuition waivers) to make the cost more in-line with in-state schools. If you improve your SAT, you may well qualify. See the following link:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html</a></p>
<p>For example: At the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), with a 3.5+GPA and 1330+ SAT (CR+M) you would be awarded full tuition. That’s one way to avoid those crazy high OOS Tuition rates :)</p>
<p>For privates, pick a few that you’re interested in, and then run the net price calculator for that school (including the “U”). If you improve your SAT, you may be able to earn a merit award (at the less selective privates), and then these schools may be affordable….though it’s always going to be hard to beat UCF/USF. Check them out, if nothing else, it’s fun and part of the college search/choosing experience!</p>
<p>Good Luck!</p>
<p>Save your money, and then spend a summer in California with the savings. </p>
<p>Everyone should keep in mind that airfare can really add to college costs - particularly near holidays. People find a cheap flight during the off-season and think they will find cheap flights all of the time.</p>
<p>Stockton is no great shakes. If you want to be in CA at least you could be somewhere nice. Talk to your parents and see if they will save some of the money to help you out with med school or grad school. There’s nothing wrong with changing your major if you find a new path. I’m not sure what that has to do with paying more for private college or not??</p>
<p>bump bump bump</p>
<p>Nice Student…why did you bump this thread?</p>
<p>To reach 15 posts so I could PM people. Sorry.</p>
<p>UOP and Stockton are odd choices for someone who wants to go to California.</p>
<p>OP: private schools don’t have out of state tuition. That 40K you mentioned is pretty standard tuition at private schools. Students who live in state and out of state all pay the same tuition at private schools (less their financial aid and merit awards that is)</p>