@BelknapPoint I’m still waiting for the advice you continue to reference.
To be crystal clear: I don’t care if you go to Berkeley or not. Read that again. You asked for advice. I responded. The UC system would love for you to attend. Look at the link I provided. They are admitting more OOS students to help subsidize instate students. To them, you are Mr. Moneybags.
You will not get institutional FA as an OOS student. You will get any Federal money you are entitled to, although with an EFC of $6,754 I doubt that will include any part of a Pell grant, which leaves federal direct loans. You have four plus semesters of Berkeley to finance. You can do a pretty good job of estimating the costs. If your OOS status doesn’t change, how many $ short are you?
And I’m still waiting for you to get more specific. Answer the question at the end of post #41. Assume that you will get $0 institutional FA from Berkeley.
I think your best bet would be to contact the UCB Residence Deputy that is listed under “campus contacts” on the link I previously provided for you. The Residence Deputy will be able to provide you all of the information you will need in order to possibly gain financial independent status for CA residency purposes. You should note that this is mosly likely separate from obtaining independent status for financial aid purposes. I admire your gumption, but I hope that you have a back-up plan, as it even states on the UCB residency (for tuition purposes) page: “Virtually all nonresident undergraduates with nonresident parents remain nonresidents for the duration of their undergraduate career at UC Berkeley.” I’m sure you will do fine no matter where you go to college. Good luck!
@BelknapPoint If my residency status doesn’t change that will leave me with roughly a $30,000 bill for each of the two years I am there. I will cover this by working as much as I can during the school year and working two jobs in the summer. With two years experience in digital marketing and two years in fine dining I can make that amount as long as I commit to working hard, something I have done since I was 15 and am not afraid to continue doing.
@khmama Thanks! I’m planning on calling them tomorrow during lunch! Thank you again for the link. 
You’re welcome.
Well then, you have a plan for the worst case financial scenario. Why are you asking for advice, if you already have this figured out?
My advice was/is to not dig yourself a financial hole, maintain at least some quality of life, and not commit to working crazy hours while being a full-time undergraduate at a demanding school. You can do this by attending a much less costly but still perfectly adequate school that isn’t Berkeley, but you refuse to consider this. However, it’s all good, because you have a plan for paying for four + semesters as an OOS student at Berkeley.
@BelknapPoint If you reference my original question I’m asking for advice from people who have experience or knowledge of people gaining instate status after attending. If you have nothing to add to that discussion, please feel free to leave the thread.
However thanks for your insight, it is appreciated.
You should know by now that that demographic is a very small number, and finding someone who fits that description on CC is unlikely in the extreme. You would have better odds asking in one of the UC specific threads, in which case you should feel free to leave this thread.
Dude, you’ve jumped the shark. But I now understand that Berkeley is your only option, after all your other applications were rejected (except for that waitlist at UChicago). So, given that information, I can see why you are trying so hard to make this work. Again, good luck.
*Got into the college of letters and science!!! So relieved, after rejections at all of my other options save a waitlist at UChicago.
in UC Berkeley - Class of 2020 Waitlist Comment by UniqueNewyork May 11*
I also got into UT for Econ (and a waitlist at Vanderbilt) but didn’t bother mentioning that because anyone that applies themselves can get in there. Sorry, I got rejected at Stanford and Northwestern like the significant majority of applicants, but I feel honored that you’re taking the time to stalk my posts. I’m laughing, I didn’t know this place could be so much fun.
Don’t mind the fact I went through high school and the first two years of college without parents and have worked full time since I was 16.
The world is full of interesting people. I’m glad you’re a part of it @BelknapPoint you made my night.
Getting instate status after attending is rare, so you won’t get much advice from those people here if there even are any. The process itself for UC from the FAQ the person provided is already crazy as it is. But with the situation you’re in, I don’t know.
Just a couple days ago, I myself was doing research regarding getting instate from OOS and colleges have basically seen every excuse. I’m sure this fall, there will be a bunch of threads from seniors asking how to get instate tuition as well. I’d like to see gumbymom’s and mom2collegekid’s advice to you. I lurk their posts and have learned more from them than my entire knowledge about college from junior year lol.
Awesome @RiceFarmer thanks for the input! I shall check them out.
I have to agree with the other posters. The reason you can’t find other posters who have done this is because very few people get in-state residency after transferring in from OOS. Usually, the only ones who have succeeded are our military with a paper trail.
Coming in for educational purposes with OOS paperwork will not get you instate residency, especially because you do not have a current paper trail of 540 tax forms with at least two years of paid taxes from the State of California.
California is a strict state, and what one person says to you doesn’t mean a hill of beans. The residency review committee is not a party of one. The state wants their money, and since you’re willing to pay it, they will take it.
Your plan is based on:
1). getting a job in resume-laden, Bay Area of California, where the competition is fierce for jobs (doesn’t matter what your experience is since everyone comes to California looking for jobs).
2). Finding an off-campus apartment that is at market-rate. The state wants to make sure you are paying market rates, any discounted rents will be questioned by the residency committee.
3). Going to Berkeley and competing for decent grades, with students who won’t be working full time, will be tough. There is a reason why it is a good public university.
If you are already making a livable wage in Texas, you may want to stick with that. California real estate and taxes/fees with cost of living is going to blow you away. Sorry. Make sure you have good rain gear.
I didn’t even address transportation. You might have difficulty finding housing near BART. It’s very competitive.
There are people posting all the time about their plans to get instate residency at a California school. Some are moving there to live with an uncle, the parents are buying a house there, they are getting married, one of their parents lives in CA but not the custodial parent, they are going to live there and work for 5 months but they promise they are never going to leave.
Do these work? Well, we don’t know because they don’t come back and tell us if their plans or their appeals were successful.
Why do you only need to go to college for 2 years?
Stalking? Excuse me? Every time you make a post and include the “@BelknapPoint” I get a notification. You’re literally calling my attention to what you’ve written. If you want me to go away, stop referencing my user name in every post that you write. Sheesh.
@twoinanddone I started taking classes when I was 14 and have over 60 college credits at Texas schools. I have to wait for them to approve the courses and apply them to my degree plan but it will likely leave me with 4 - 5 semesters.
Thanks for the input!
@BelknapPoint You were the one who re-posted one of my posts from months ago… that’s what I’m talking about. And with that can I ask you to leave and stop responding to me.
@twoinanddone I can vouch that my brother moved in with an uncle, registered to vote, got licensed, for CSU SB and still couldn’t get instate since he was still claimed dependent.