<p>^Not to mention saving for college for your unborn children! :)</p>
<p>thanks for the info guys, my major is applied math, so im not sure about internship opportunities, i’d like to do so though. </p>
<p>also i’m not quite sure if im in commuting distance, 26 miles, but in LA traffic thats like a 2 hour drive >< </p>
<p>thanks for all your responses thus far, and i’ll be sure to take a keen look at the financial aid packages other colleges offer me</p>
<p>Drive during off peak hours (come early/stay late)–try to consolidate your classes on as few days as possible. Commuting might work. Kids in my neighborhood commute to UC San Diego (33 miles, 37 yahoo map minutes), UC Irvine (54 miles, 57 yahoo map minutes) and even CSU Fullerton (68 miles, 1 hr 11 yahoo map minutes).</p>
<p>woah ellemenope you seem to be a life saver, I just looked in the packet they sent me and the 2009 budget was </p>
<p>Fees- 8,851
Room and Board- 13,314
books etc.- 1,599
transportation- 909
personal expenses- 1,551
health insurance- 885 </p>
<p>so if I schedule my classes to be only a few days a week and just have a lot of classes on those days (which would be an ideal schedule) and commute my 26 miles that subtracts 13K off the price each year, (and my deficit from gift aid was only 9K, i figure it will about balance out though due to the increase in the gas price ill be paying to get there ><)</p>
<p>There is such a thing as being overly pessimistic and overly frugal and as a result missing the college experience. Treating UCLA as a local (and often) impersonal CC is missing the point of the college experience. Much happens after class that affects academics – after class study sessions, late night philosophical discussions, discussions with grad students and professors. Relations are created that last for life. Later in life they often make the difference between a “job” and a career. The network of friends that you build during your college years can become a lifelong one. So I don’t think that you should treat UCLA as a commuter school. The financial aid package that you’re receiving is a clear statement that UCLA wants you to become an active member of the community.</p>
<p>I agree that having the full college experience is ideal and every person will have to weigh the circumstances of his or her situation to decide if it is affordable. </p>
<p>I did the undergrad commuter thing because that was what my parents could afford. H and I have worked and saved and our kids have had the full, going away from home, college experience.</p>
<p>I’d say if commuting is the only way to go to the school affordably, then go for it! </p>
<p>I just feel like it’s important to caution students that they might not be exactly rolling in money when they graduate and get their first job. I fully expected to feel rich once DH and I got our first engineering jobs, and boy, was I wrong! Ha, at one point, a draftsman saw one of my husband’s first paychecks by accident and was surprised at how small the amount was!</p>
<p>I wrote to the OP in a DM, but it’s worth posting here.</p>
<p>The total cost for living on campus is 29k. They offered 20k in grants, 2.5k in work study. He said he might get some scholarships, so he may only need 1-3k in loans freshman year if he can snag those scholarships. And he could conceiveably make that amount in a summer job if he wanted to.</p>
<p>I suggested he only focus on freshman year right now. It sounds like he will be fine for living on campus freshman year. Next year, he might get an internship or he might decide to live off campus or he might get a big scholarship or something else good might come along…but that is the future. Worry about freshman year (which he might get taken care of by applying for local scholarships) for now and then sophmore year in a years time.</p>
<p>I’d second bigtrees’ suggestion of living on campus freshman year. It makes a significant difference in terms of getting connected with other students and doing well academically. I really pinched pennies, nickels and dimes to graduate from UCLA, but missing that first year on-campus is not an economy that I would choose, even though it would mean some loans. Commuting in subsequent years wouldn’t be nearly as big a problem. (And given the OPs EFC, I suspect that a good chunk of the first year loan actually needed will be subsidized, so it will not be accruing interest while the OP is in school.)</p>
<p>Applied math is a great degree, with many, many excellent job opportunities after graduation.</p>
<p>I agree - try to live on campus at least the first year if possible. Also keep in mind that if you try to stick with a ‘commuter schedule’ of classes only on 3 days/week you’ll lose a lot of flexibility and may end up prolonging your stay there by a quarter or more which would cost more money and defeat your purpose in the scheduling in the first place. Some more potential cost savings from the apparently $29K UCLA’s site indicates - </p>
<ul>
<li><p>Health Insurance - if you’re already covered under your parents’ insurance and it meets certain minimum requirements you can waive this which I recommend you do if you’re already covered.</p></li>
<li><p>Transportation - this is a wild ballpark figure that could be reduced to zero or could be even more depending on your personal circumstances. Figure out for yourself what your transportation costs will really be.</p></li>
<li><p>Personal expenses - this is also a ballpark figure that isn’t directly related to college - i.e. it’d cost you some money to live regardless of what you’re doing. Do your own calculations for this figure and account for entertainment costs, toothpaste, etc.</p></li>
<li><p>Room and board - There’s a variability in costs depending on whether you’re in a triple, double, single, resHall versus plaza, and which food plan you’re on. I don’t know which combo they used for this estimate but do the calcs yourself to figure out what it would cost you.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>The bottom line - the ballpark figure the college’s website gives is just that - a ballpark figure and they’re often high so do your own calcs for your own circumstances. Bearing in mind what ellemenope said regarding possible increases over the next 4 years makes sense as well but is hard to quantify.</p>