Hey guys sorry if this is formatted weird or anything it’s my first time posting.
I need advice on where to go to college. I have a 3.5 ish (3.45-3.55) gpa in all honors/ap classes with a 28 on the act so far.
I’m having trouble deciding if I should go away to college (live in Ohio). Thinking about going to California specifically L.A probably UCLA or something Of the like. I just want to get out of my small town area and experience some diversity. Would love some advice on anything and everything.
Thanks guys!
Is your 3.5 GPA unweighted? What year are you in? Do you have SAT or ACT scores? What is your budget?
The public schools in California, such as UCLA, have very little financial aid for out of state (OOS) students. As such they would be expensive. Also, a 3.5 GPA is not likely to be sufficient to get accepted to UCLA. If given more information the folks on College Confidential (CC) can probably suggest other schools that you can consider. Also, there are a lot of options, and most of them are going to have some diversity and be a big change from a small town in Ohio.
Regarding being being allowed to go out of state I know I would be allowed to and am actively encouraged by my dad too (parents are split he lives outside of Baltimore)
What’s your budget?
There are schools in California but you’ll need a solid budget.
For instance look into Whittier, St Mary’s California, Chapman, Cal State Sonoma, Cal State Chico, USan Diego.
You can also go OOS and to a college town (basically a town where everything turns around college students, so the best type of town when you’re in college) or city that aren’t in California.
For example, run the net price calculator on…
Drake, Butler, u Minnesota Duluth, Hamline, St Thomas MN, UScranton, St Joseph’s Philadelphia, Muhlenberg, Loyola Chicago; Simmons, Chatham, Agnes Scott (if girl),
; Ogglethorpe, UNC Wilmington, CNU, UNC Asheville, UAlabama, UTampa, Eckerd, Loyola New Orleans, Southern Mississippi, Ole Miss (if interested in Southern weather.)
The key is to run the NPC on every single college and cross out the ones not within budget. If you don’t know your budget, run the NPC on 5-6 from the list and bring the results to your parents. Ask them what is affordable for them so you can build a list of affordable safeties, affordable matches, affordable reaches.
Divorced parents particularly need to have a sit down and work out the math, as it is not straightforward. Your dad can pay 250K for UCs? That is nice?
The large majority of university students are constrained by finances with regard to where they go to university. This really is one of the first things that you need to find out.
Allowed to go and can afford to pay are two different things. Before you get attached to anything get an idea of the amount your parents are willing to pay. They will probably have to communicate about this because of the divorce situation. Who pays may be in the divorce paperwork. OOS can vary greatly on how much. California is extremely expensive, other OOS schools may be pretty cheap. What is your major? You do need to run the NPS on the colleges you select and then talk it over with your parents.
I’m not sure about how much they would help pay for college directly but my dad mentioned paying for a car and phone and continually helping out throughout. I was also considering co-oping if that was an option not sure though.
Each college and university has a Net Price Calculator (NPC) on its website. Since you live with your mom, she is your custodial parent for financial aid purposes. Any place that only requires the FAFSA will just need the information for her household. If the college/university also uses the CSS Profile or its own financial aid paperwork, it might ask for your dad’s information as well. So pay close attention when you run the NPCs.
Sometimes people with divorced parents can have in-state tuition and fees for public colleges and universities in both states where their parents live. Since you and your mom live in Ohio, you are in-state there. If your dad would like you to go to college closer to him, ask him to help you check the websites of the public colleges and universities in Maryland to find out if you are also considered in-state there.
I can totally understand wanting to get out of your hometown. I sure did when I went to college! Give some thought to what you want to study, and find out what your family is ready, willing, and able to pay, and you will be able to start to sort through your options.
You need to talk to your parents about how much they will actually contribute.
Then run net price calculators on each college… but since your parents are divorced or separated, you need to check whether each college requires information from just the parent you live with, or both parents. If both parents, you need to include both of their financials in the net price calculator, but realize that many colleges’ net price calculators are less accurate for this situation.
You also need to check the rules for in-state residency for tuition purposes in both Ohio and Maryland, as that affects list price and financial aid at the state universities. In general, you should expect no or very little need-based financial aid at out-of-state public universities, though some may offer merit scholarships.
Co-op jobs do earn money, but it is best to assume that the amount will just pay for living expenses during the co-op period, so do not expect it to make a large contribution to your cost of college (though some engineering or CS majors do make more – a nice bonus if it happens to you).
Looks that scattergram in Naviance. It will give you an idea of where kids from your high school of been accepted (based on GPA and test scores). UCLA is probably out with that ACT score/GPA. Plus, it is outrageously expensive for out of state kids: $61,618/year
