<p>Is UC Berkely relatively affordable? I'm from out of state, so i know it will be more for me, but what about financial aid and scholarships. Do only super-geniuses get scholarships, or if you're validictorian, and have pretty good ecs and test scores, can you get into Berkely for a full-ride? thanks!</p>
<p>Well depends what you consider as affordable… here’s the fee comparison for out of state vs in state for each semester (<a href=“http://registrar.berkeley.edu/Registration/feesched.html)%5B/url%5D”>http://registrar.berkeley.edu/Registration/feesched.html)</a>. Don’t forget to add in housing costs which hover around $13-14K. So adding up you’ll be paying around $42,000 total per year. Private schools are around $48-50K nowadays, so Cal’s tuition is like a private school’s for out of state.</p>
<p>Don’t mean to discourage you, but UC’s are stingy w/ money for out of state applicants. Most won’t receive merit based scholarships unless you’re a genius. Financial aid might be given if you’re income is really low.</p>
<p>I’d apply to private scholarships where you write essays about yourself and go thru FAFSA for financial aid.</p>
<p>welll. i think academia plays a role in which scholarships you get. but, for the msot part, i think its more of 1. early fafsa completion. and 2. being poor.
this is one of the few times that being poor pays off.</p>
<p>i had an efc of 0, and aside from this year, i’m pretty much covered the next 3 years considering my mom doesn’t get a job at microsoft or something. </p>
<p>Its not all loans though, 3k of that is work study. So you might have to do a little work to make ends meet. if your parents are above the income line, than i’m not sure you’ll be getting any full rides. Probably not.
However, if your grades are amazing, and your app is spotless, you have a chance to be regents. which is another 4k.
not sure if thats only for in state. i don’t think so.
anyway. yeah. always look into scholarships though. start early so you can get those essays completed.
and.. try this too haha
if your a junior
ask yoru parents
not to claim you as a dependent. you can then file taxes as yourself, using your own measly income, and meet the income requirements to get an efc of 0. this will increase your chances of more funds.</p>
<p>Umm, you will definitely get better financial aid at Columbia. My family’s EFC was like $2500 but the financial aid package given was horrible and my parents wouldn’t have been able to pay for it all if I hadn’t gotten tons of outside scholarships. </p>
<p>kuksoo: Don’t your parents have to file you as a dependent as long as you’re living with them?</p>