@choirsandstages Thank you for your support. I should know by now (250 posts) that most of my questions and thoughts get blasted with rude responses. Oh well, silly me.
In CA, there is no prioritizing of need based aid for OOS students. There is NO need based aid for OOS students.
Even when CA gave aid to OOS students, the expectation was that the student would,pay their EFC plus the $23,000 differential between in and OOS coats, and their student contribution. Really…the UCs have never been a good bet for OOS students with financial need.
My understanding is that the schools are still giving merit aid but it is very competititive.
I think you can find much better options!
You don’t have to apologize for your “sentence productions,” @Abbiegalie.
I am a whole-hearted supporter of students spreading their wings and going out-of-state to college. It is a fantastic growth experience and I recommend it when possible. But in YOUR case, if your family can afford UT-Austin in-state, and you’d have to take out loans to go out-of-state, and you’re interested in engineering or physics…boy, that’s hard to justify! UT-Austin has an extremely strong reputation in the areas you’re interested in. You mention rankings, but according to US News & World Report, UT-Austin’s rankings are higher than UCSB. Their undergrad engineering program is ranked #11 in the country, with computer engineering at #8. The graduate physics program is #14 with certain specialties ranked even higher. It sounds like perhaps you just want to get out of Texas? If that’s the case, there’s good news. Even if you have to stay in Texas for 4 more years to get your undergraduate degree, UT-Austin has a national reputation. Engineers with decent grades from UT-Austin should have no problem finding a job out of Texas after college. Also, in Austin, you’ll almost feel like you’re not in Texas-it’s really different from the rest of the state.
For an excellent, lower income, Urm student like OP, questbridge schools will be MUCH cheaper than a Texas public.
So, don’t discount UT /Tamu but look further afield.
Disregard #44 above. It appears I did not refresh my webpage from yesterday morning, so I missed the 2 additional pages of advice and information given. With those stats, you’ll find OOS options!
OP you can’t hang your hat on anything ‘for sure’ - way too many things can change between now and your college application process – both for you and the paradigm changes in school admissions and financial feasibility for you.
You have to evaluate how strong of a student you are, and where your aptitude/abilities/interests/passions lie.
I think you understand the testing, and what you need to do in HS. Summer before your senior year is where you put together a realistic list of schools and what you want to study.
I do recommend you go to a program like UA SITE (student introduction to engineering) - other schools offer a similar program. UA’s program is for rising HS juniors and seniors. They rotate between all the eng and CS programs at UA’s facilities. My DD determined what field of eng she wanted to go into - so it helps expose a student in their degree planning process before college. Explore what UT, TAMU, and other schools may have closer to where you are. UA’s SITE program is I believe $700 for the week, but then there is the transportation costs to get there. I know Purdue has a program, I believe one of the Kansas publics do.
@STEMFamily sorry for the mis-tag
Your earlier post was confusing so clarification was needed to know whether you meant fed aid or institutional aid.
Of course a UC would give this student any fed aid she is entitled to receive, but with OOS UC COA now around $55k, fed aid would only cover a tiny portion.
The student wrote that she’d qualify for financial aid, which likely meant that she thought that a UC would give lots of money to make it affordable. When people were writing that the student wouldn’t receive any aid from a UC, they were talking about institutional aid because that aid would be the significant portion that could make the school affordable.
If this student has an EFC of - say - $6500, all she’d get is a $5500 fed loan. There would be a $40k+ gap.
Your post sounded like you believed that schools should be required to give (their) aid if they rec’d any fed funds. If you did just mean fed aid, then while it would be true that fed aid would be given, it could be sorely insignificant.
This student obviously doesn’t have parents who can/will pay $55k per year which is why she was trying to find a loophole to get instate rates.