I’m 19 and I’m currently taking a year or 2 off of school to work. I didn’t do so well in high school. I thought I could redeem myself in college. My first year of school didn’t go so well due to many issues going on in my life (not getting into it for personal reasons). I figured I can use this time off to work, save money, and buy a new car (not brand new but newish and inexpensive). I plan on going back to college, doing very well, and transferring. I want to go to California. That’s almost 2,000 miles away. I thought about flying but I won’t have a car on arrival. I have family a couple hours away who I’d visit during breaks. I don’t want to spend all this money on plane/train tickets. Plus I can take as much as I want/need in a car. I’d go back home during the summer. I’m not really afraid of driving long distances. I’d use what I saved for car maintenance, tires, fuel, tolls, and food while traveling to school. I don’t look at schools where I can’t take my car. I have Vocational Rehab services that help me pay for school. I can go anywhere. I’d like to polish up this plan and make sure it will work. What suggestions does anyone have?
First suggestion: Don’t go back to university or college until you have resolved the personal issues which caused academic trouble in the first place.
Second suggestion: Think hard about the “go off to California” plan, and about the car. Car’s can be expensive to maintain. Issues can come up during long drives (such as maintenance issues). There are very good schools closer than 2000 miles from where you are (regardless of where that is).
Third suggestion: At the risk of pointing out something that is already obvious, it sounds from your plan as if you probably will want to take the cost of attendance into consideration as a very important issue when you are picking a school.
And a comment regarding “I plan on going back to college, doing very well, and transferring”: I do know people who have pulled this off with spectacular success. It is possible and has been done. It took a lot of work. Good luck with it.
And look up the costs of registering and inspecting a car in CA. Not cheap.
We need more details on school, budget, limits of vocational rehab financing, etc. to give you a sanity check.
You can’t show up in CA and get in-state tuition, even if you can get admitted to their colleges. I’d suggest you attend community college in your area. Then an in-state 4 year college in your state to finish your degree. Then look for a job in CA.
Why do people think living in a college dorm is a permanent residence? I NEVER once said anything about in-state tuition. I’ve contacted my vocation rehab and they said I can go anywhere and they help with what financial aid might not cover. I hate where I’m living. The weather’s cold and nobody’s very nice to me. Why would I stay? I was attending a community college and will be going back.
It’s still helpful to talk actual dollars with vocational rehab because you will get no state aid. There are many warm states that are cheaper than CA.
Schools tend to be really expensive in California, and most people can’t afford the OOS tuition at public schools. The only private schools that give very good aid are pretty hard to get into. I guess it depends on how much financial aid the vocational rehab will give you and what kind of school you want to attend, though. Also, I’m not sure how financial aid offices at college will treat that aid (will they reduce your need based aid because of it)?
Can I just ask: why CA in particular? Are you thinking warm, beachy atmosphere? (Hey, I know people who have chosen schools for worse reasons.) Can you help us a bit more with your reasoning, your current state, and maybe some other details?
Realize that CA-- or any other place-- won’t solve the “nobody’s very nice to me” issue.
The CSU system is very affordable (avg $7k tuition) and doesn’t charge out of state tuition:
https://www2.calstate.edu/attend/paying-for-college/Pages/campus-costs-of-attendance.aspx
Transfers: 2.0 min gpa and 60 units required
https://www2.calstate.edu/apply/transfer/Pages/upper-division-transfer.aspx
For the most part, Californians are pretty laid back, friendly, accepting and we’re very diverse. Lots of schools to choose from too if you’re interested in CSU.
@CALSmom:
The CSU’s do charge an additional $396/semester unit for non-residents which for 15 units adds another $5940 to the tuition bill. This also does not include Housing/Meals/Books/Fees and Transportation costs. Figure on $36-40K/year to attend a CSU (Cal State) as a non-resident.
From the Cal State Website:::::
If You’re Not Eligible for In-State Tuition
Non-resident students are required to pay nonresident tuition in addition to the $5,742 base tuition and campus fees.
Generally, students from another state or U.S. Possession or a foreign country are required to pay nonresident tuition. The nonresident tuition is currently assessed at the rate of $396 per semester unit or $264 per quarter unit.
^Oh wow I didn’t realize that! My bad! Where did they bury that info? Still, $13k/yr tuition for two years might be doable for OP as a transfer
California does not offer any financial aid to non-residents because the state can’t afford it. If you qualify for federal funding, like Pell, that covers about $5K. Would vocational rehab pay the other $35K per year? That’s a LOT of money! You had better check with them.
Oh, and for future reference, rents in California are not cheap.
Currently, the Bay area is the most expensive in California, followed by Southern California. Figure $1800 a month, minimum, for rent without utilities, food or transportation.
=This information is erroneous. $264 The nonresident tuition is currently assessed at the rate of $396 per semester unit or $264 per quarter unit.
The popular CSUs are difficult to get into. Your stats have to be very good.
First, you go back to school (sounds like you do mean locally,) do well, learn what colleges you might actually qualify for, apply for transfer, and see where you get admitted, at what net cost. Then you decide whether to go, and where. After that, you figure whether you’ll drive or fly or take the train. First things first.
The reason posters keep asking about cost is to get you to look at what the expenses really are (all of them, including fees, extras, housing and food, and verify your program will pay for that, that much.) If you’ve done this, using the actual dollars, good. Many support programs have a cap, won’t eg, pay 70k tuition and room/board,per year.
And btw, it’s 2600-2800 miles from NY to LA. Conservatively, 40 hours. Gas, food and lodging $$ along the way. Boring, in parts, but doable. If you fly or take the train across the country, you can rent a car to visit relatives.
All these are the little details one can look into, dream about, and plan for. But not “done deals” for some time
I won’t go anywhere that I can’t take my car. Not even going to consider it. It’s a lot cheaper to drive my own car to see family and friends during breaks than it would be to rent a car or take a train. If driving across the country, I’m not paying $50-$150 for one night a a hotel. I’ll find a campground and sleep in a tent (generally a lot cheaper than hotels). The main reason for heading to California is I’d like to work there after college. I’d like to get to know the area. Plus, I hate the weather where I’m living. I don’t want to deal with multiple feet of snow and cars getting stuck in it.
You do not have to go to school in California to get a job there. As stated above, make sure that the financial aid you are getting will cover your school costs including housing before making this huge change.
I never said that. I genuinely hate where I live. Why stay? I’d also like to get to know the state before I choose to permanently live there.
Plan on spending a LOT of money on gas in California, among everything else.
We have the highest gas prices outside of Hawaii and Alaska. You will burn a LOT of gas as you sit in traffic; the commutes are very long.
This will be a very expensive venture.
The state’s universities are not going to “reduce” their prices for a non-resident.
Vocational rehab programs, in one state, may fund some fees, but in California, since you haven’t paid taxes into California (and you don’t live in California) it may be VERY expensive.
This is why all of the posters are asking you to confirm with your caseworker.
From the California Department of Rehab. http://www.rehab.cahwnet.gov/Public/FAQ.html#quest8 :
We are not trying to dissuade you from California other than the fact that, yes, everything here is more expensive. You don’t realize it until you try to gas up, rent a place, or do anything else here. We just want to make sure you are very realistic about what $$ you will need to live here as you’ve stated it’s where you want to go, period. Many people have had to drop out of school because they grossly underestimated the cost of living in an area and grossly overestimated the amount of financial aid they would receive, and we don’t want that to happen to you.