Hey guys!
So I’m an OOS student, but Cal Poly is my first choice. The issue is that I heard that Cal Poly does not give a lot of merit based scholarships, and I can not afford to go to Cal Poly with their OOS tuition. I was wondering if anyone on here has any tips about getting money to pay for Cal Poly or if they know anything about Cal Poly scholarships. I really do not want to take out loans and will probably stay in-state if I can not get enough money to pay for Cal Poly.
Thank you so much in advance! 
True CPSLO does not give much in the way of merit scholarships. Generally the amounts are very small (couple of thousand $). Many seek the scholarships through their departments but know those are competitive and are generally privately funded scholarships. California has made it very difficult for a student to establish instate residency in recent years - an understandable position following their financial crisis. We’re OOS too and are resigned to the higher tuition for the duration. For our kid, continuing to pursue scholarships annually and working will be as much of the CPSLO experience as anything else. Wise of you to be thinking about minimizing that student loan debt.
As @swimdogmom stated, you need to be resigned to the fact that if you want to attend SLO as an OOS, you will be pretty much full pay. All you can do is look for outside scholarships and the departmental scholarships that are available to help lighten the financial burden. Good Luck.
Thank you guys! I am applying for some private scholarships that I hope will come through, but obviously there aren’t really any guarantees. I do plan on working in college but I’m afraid that I won’t make enough to cover it. I think that I will probably end up having to stay in-state just to get a cheaper college education.