@ucbalumnus if I commuted and lived at home my mom would not charge me! She even wanted me to possibly amtrak to Davis everyday (1 hour ride). We’re super close so I think she wanted to do this so I could live at home still with her not mainly so she would save money. Thank you! I may apply for spring semesters so I don’t use a fourth year at CC! Thank you so much! 
If your mom co-signs for a loan, she is agreeing to pay back the money if you would not be able to (or if you’d just decide not to). If you would die before paying the loan off, she still will be stuck with that loan. Some people take out life insurance policies in the amount their private loans so that no one else will have to pay the loans off.
Be aware that spring semester admissions to CSUs that admit any spring applicants tend to be more selective than fall semester admissions, since there are far fewer spaces open.
I suggest taking those CS courses mentioned previously while you are still at CC (and consider more after transfer), and consider some statistics and economics courses as well, since the more common good jobs that math majors may get tend to be in such areas as finance/actuarial or computer software. If actuary is of interest, see http://www.beanactuary.com .
You mentioned UC Davis as your first choice. My daughter attends UC Davis as a freshman this year. Are you aware of their AGGIE scholarship program for the middle income families? This is NOT the California middle class scholarship, but the AGGIE scholarship for families with income between $80,000-$120,000 per year and total assets less than $200,000 on fasfa. It is a private scholarship offered through UC Davis. If you fall within that category, they will pay a gift aid grant for 25% of your tuition. This is a nice offer that UC Davis has for it’s students. They also have a lot of other scholarships that you should apply for - see their scholarship page. For those that have an income less than $80,000 they pay even more under their BLUE & GOLD scholarship program. Our family EFC was high, just under $150,000, so my daughter did not qualify for anything other than the California middle class scholarship, which is up to $150,000 income per year, offered by the state of California. She also received their Regent’s Scholarship which is merit based up to a certain amount. In her case, she received $7,500/year as freshman, anything over that is based on financial need.
I encourage you to talk to UC Davis Financial aid and check out their website. They can help you figure out the details. They also allow you to pay in monthly installments for a portion of the fees. We pay about $700 per month, but that is covering room and board too. I wish you well and hope that you find UC Davis your home. It is a fabulous school. Be sure to check out their scholarships!!!
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and if you are male and especially if you are athletic, your mom will see a substantial drop in her grocery budget- no joke. She could easily save $500 - $1000 in water, utilities, and groceries when you are at UCD.
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I doubt it. Yes, if the child is a male athlete that needs to consume a huge number of calories, that may be true…but for the typical kid, that is not true.
When both of my boys left for college, I saw very little change in bills.
Ok…something is VERY wrong if you got a $59,000 FAFSA EFC on $100,000 worth of income. The FAFSA doesn’t even ask for primary home equity…at all. Did you put your primary home equity on the FAFSA? If so, you should not have.
I suggest that you check and recheck each line of your FAFSA. It sounds like you entered something incorrectly. Did you put your mom’s income in both the student AND parent income fields? Did you put the decimal point in the wrong place?
Something is NOT NOT right with the FAFSA EFC you got.
On $120,000 income…an estimate of FAFSA EFC would be about $$30,000-$40,000…but not $59,000.
I agree that there will be significant savings. We too have figured that after not having to pay for music or tennis lessons, his gargantuan appetite, car, gas and insurance, that it will be close to a 1k a month savings.Perhaps, you should give your mom a spreadsheet? Some people (my husband in particular) need to see the numbers on paper and a plan. Maybe she will become more sympathetic. Good luck.
Does your mom have a lot in savings or investments or other property? Or did you accidentally list her assets in the student area of FAFSA?
OP- The COA for UC Davis is currently closer to $33,000/year. I realize this could possibly be trimmed a bit w/ off-campus housing and conservative spending habits, but it is still going to be way more than the amount you quoted. I agree that your Mom’s earnings and your EFC seem off. In any case, what the EFC says she can afford and what she actually has available to spend may not even be in the same ballpark, depending on her financial situation. If she has not saved any money for your college, she may not have the available money to pay that much for college. It is correct that you are very limited in what you can borrow and your Mom would have to co-sign for anything over that amount. That is a large debt to take on and you are right to be concerned about graduating with so much debt. Have you applied to any other schools where you might get merit aid, or to any of the Cal States where COA is lower and you could possibly live at home and commute? I’m sure it is frustrating to find all of this out so late in the game, but think hard about it before taking on huge debt.
@happymomof1 thank you for helping me understand what cosigning means,I appreciate it!
@ucbalumnus I may consider taking the CS courses.I’ve heard becoming an actuary is really hard but I should consider that as well! Thank you!
@mchmom OMG thank you so much!! I have not heard of that scholarship but will do some research! I am going to try to make an appointment to see a UC Davis financial advisor because I do really want to attend. 
Unfortuntaley, all the scholarships for 2015-2016 are closed(@ Davis) but I will definitely keep that in mind for 2016-2017 if I do attend. Thank you so much again for all your help! ^:)^
@thumper1 @mom2collegekids I just looked over my fafsa and really am not sure that I entered anything wrong as I was looking at the 1040 form. I don’t believe my mom has a lot in savings or investments. She has one house that we live in that she is almost done paying off? For my income I put 14k and for her 170 something. Is that maybe why I got such a high EFC?
@cellomom6 I am starting to put together a powerpoint slideshow and excel spreadsheet to try to convince her a tad. Thank you so much for your advice
@takeitallin Thank you for being honest and giving me great advice. I’m considering staying an extra year at CC and then transferring to a state school, and have brought this up to her and she thought it was a joke 
. My mom has savings but its not for my college. She’s been under the impression for both my sister & I will get student loans as she says it is an “Investment in yourself”. I didn’t apply to any CSUs because I didn’t really have that much knowledge about the price differences and honestly expected her to play a part in this. In the amount I quoted I am only including rent & tuition given my mom will pay for Health Insurance, Personal Expenses, and Transportation. I am considering taking the $7500 federal loan, using my work money for room&board, and hoping my mom will pitch in the rest and if not I will have to get a private loan for the rest. Thank you again
It sounds overkill. But certain types of people need facts and numbers. Maybe she will be impressed by your presentation. Maybe put some baby pics in there too.lol
I’ll be frank. UCD is a very good school but, you can’t afford it. A BMW 540 is a good car but, you probably can’t afford that either. The thing is, a 5 year old Jetta will get you the same places in the same timeframe as the BMW. Your objective is a degree that will enable you to get a job. The college you attend is much less important than you think.
Ideally, you’d have had this conversation before setting your heart and mind on Davis. Your mom doesn’t owe you squat. Having you live with her, use her health insurance, pantry, HVAC, etc is a great opportunity, one not everyone gets.
Depending where in the Bay Area your are, Sonoma, SF State, SJSU or CSUEB would all be cost effective alternatives. As mentioned above, CSU tuition is around $7k. If you can live at home and attend, that’s just
It doesn’t sound like you’ve been planning/saving but, even starting now, let’s say you need $10k/yr to cover tuition, books, transportation and incidentals (probably high) You need to net $200 a week. That’s easily done with a part time gig in the Bay Area.
It is only 2 years and you don’t need a loan. I think CSUEB takes Spring transfers. Take the Fall semester at your CC, work and save as much as you can, transfer in January - that puts you just a semester off pace-which you might be able to make up.
Good luck.
You need to sit down and figure out where you are headed. If you are looking to get into industry (comp sci, actuary, etc.) you could do worse than SJSU or SFSU.
If you are angling for a Math PhD, you would REALLY benefit from going to a top program. For that, you would have a better chance out of Berkeley, LA, Davis, or SD; maybe SB. I would not look at CSUs or other UC’s.
Take the train an hour each way to UC Davis- probably not that bad a deal, it is certainly within the realm of many people’s commutes, plus you can focus/study or just chill/transition on the train. While it is $6K more per year, it is worthwhile if you are going for a Ph.D.
I do not see your mother as intransigent; just ignorant. She may loan you the money personally, or may contribute a bit more when she understands your constraints.
Figure out what you want and go for it. I would recommend that you consider CSU if you are rolling out with a BA/BS in Math; UC if you aspire to a PhD.
Well…$170,000 is closer to $200k than to $100k. Your other posts made it sound like your mom’s income was just a tad over $100,000.
Your income would also factor into the equation…and if any of that money is in your bank accout, it’s assessed at 20% of the value.
So yes…now that EFC looks accurate.
You said your own income was $14k. That sounds pretty high - is it all from working or is some from interest, dividends, capital gains? Maybe you have a trust fund you don’t know about.
@Madison85 I work as a cashier in retail. I don’t actually have 14,000. :-S If I did I would gladly use all of that for UCD. I don’t even know what dividends and capital gains are lol. I wish!
@ItsJustSchool Thank you you brought up a lot of good points. My dad wants me to get a PhD (but of course he isn’t funding anything…). If I could get a good paying job with a BA/BS I would prefer that over utilizing more time and money to get a PhD. But I keep hearing that you can’t get a well-paying or job in general now a days without a PhD. You bring up good ideas and more things to think about! Thank you
@NCalRent Thank you for being 100% honest. My mom has always told me that it doesn’t matter where I get my degree from as long as I have one and experience in the field. But she said this all while hoping I go to her alma mater UC Berkeley. I’m still considering my options and the state schools are sounding better and better! Thank you for your advice!
@cellomom6 my mom definitely likes to see the facts! the baby pics comment is actually hilarious :)) Who knows! That might just be the missing piece, Thank you again!
Do you work full time? That is a lot to earn each year working in retail. That has affected your EFC.
How much do you have in savings? that also is affecting your EFc.
What is your mom’s level of education? What is her career?
What kind of job does your dad have?
That said, a single mom with that income is going to have a HIGH EFC…
Looking way down the road… if you do get into a good PhD program, you will find a way to fund it- either as a TA for freshman Calculus, for example, or an RA, or a fellowship. All of these come with tuition remission plus a stipend for living costs. It will not cost anything out-of-pocket.
Good Luck. And get specific about imagining your life after college. For some careers, even if you lived in the midwest or wherever, SJSU is a REALLY good place to go.
To get into a good PhD program, you will need the recommendations from professors of stature, either from a well-respected undergraduate program (e.g., UCs) or from one or more REU’s (have you applied for an REU for this summer?).
If your goal is a math PhD, the UCs are generally better than the CSUs in that respect (even CPSLO seems to send very few math graduates to math PhD programs, based on its career survey at https://careers.calpoly.edu/search.php?yr=2012%20-%202013 ).
However, if UCs are too expensive now, reconsider taking the CS courses mentioned in reply #10 and working until you are 24, when your mother’s income will no longer count against you for college financial aid purposes. Your mother may be disappointed that you appear to be “dropping out”, but you can tell them that the costs of pre-PhD preparation (i.e. UC instead of CSU) are too high now, so you will wait until her income no longer penalizes you on financial aid.
As far as jobs at graduation go, you can check out the CPSLO survey above, or the UCB survey at https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Major.stm . However, other UCs and CSUs may differ (though most of them do not have career surveys like CPSLO and UCB).