Need some advice...

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hey, to get straight to the point, my financial aid pretty much sucks. My dad makes like 70-80k. I personally am making 26k working at a hog farm in MO. It sucks, and I wish to pursue my dream to graduate with a CS degree and possibly go for a master's in game design or something along those lines. </p>

<p>First off, I don't like Missouri. I grew up in Washington for over 20 years and lived here in MO for almost a year. I'm 21 now and am almost done paying off my last debt. Once I do that, I am going to take finding a college much more seriously.</p>

<p>The reason why I say I don't like MO is that I wish to go to college either in Washington, Oregon, or California. Preferably UW or a UC. However, moving here and changing residency makes it that I need to live in one of those states for a year to qualify me for in-state tuition.</p>

<p>If I go to U of M instead of a UC or UW, will that affect my chances at landing a job in one of those states? (preferably Seattle or silicon valley area). I heard lots of the firms that hire often tend to stick with the more local Universities first. That scares me off from thinking of going to U of M, though it's ranked fairly high and has an 85% admission rate.</p>

<p>Second question, my mother is currently in the process of divorcing my father, which I'd rather not discuss. My father is the one who makes all the money. Will this affect my FAFSA in any way?</p>

2

<p>hmm… bump :)</p>

3

<p>If you don’t feel like reading, my main question can be summed up to this:</p>

<p>Major: Computer Science

[ul]
[<em>]Can qualify for in-state tuition for University of Missouri
[</em>]Would like to live back in Washington or move to California someday
[li]I prefer UW and the UC’s more than the college here (but I would have to live in that state for 1 year without going to school to qualify for instate tuition)[/li][/ul]
Will going to UM-Columbia affect my chances of getting a job in another state that it would be worth it to live one year without going to school to qualify for their instate tuition?</p>

4

<p>I can understand wanting to leave your home state (I did) but as someone who has lived in 3 different states since my undergrad years and work in software engineering (22+ years).</p>

<p>You can get your degree from UM-Columbia and get a job in any of those states. As a matter of fact, I know that Boeing (located in Washington) does a lot with UM-Columbia and the former UM-Rolla (I forget its new name). Also, good grades at UM-Columbia could get you into grad school at any of those states.</p>

5

<p>I agree with GlobalTraveler. MU is a very good school, nice facilities, good college town. Get your degree from there. Do well, and although you may have to go look for a job in the northwest (vs. Employers coming to you), you should be fine.</p>

6

<p>Thank you very much :slight_smile: I think I’ll do fine at UM. Still got a year to go tho. Thanks for the advice!</p>