I got into UCLA but i’m out of state so tuition is 60K a year. My parents will pay the brunt of this. My 1st year is already saved up for but for the other three years, I may have to take out 20-30K in loans. My other option is UAB ( 20K a year but NO LOANS). I don’t want to go to UAB because I want to go into law and UAB is a STEM heavy school. Going to UAB is great for Pre-med students but thats not what I want to do. Or atleast, I want to have the opportunity or CHOICE to study law.
I know undergrad doesn’t matter that much, especially since I’m going to grad school no matter what ( i’m, also gonna have loans from grad school no matter what). My only major reservation with UAB is that, I wouldn’t have the security blanket of a name brand education and that I wouldn’t have the opportunity to explore Law as much as I could have at UCLA.
How will you pay for law school with $90,000 in loans hanging over your head?
You can literally go anywhere and get into a good law school. You have to do well in school. My attorney went to a tiny unknown school, certainly less well known than UAB and then went to one of the best law schools in the nation.
My advice would be go to UAB, thrive and walk out debt free.
You didn’t just get into UAB and UCLA.
So, the answer is whichever other colleges you got into.
(uclais unaffordable, UAB isn’t good for your major but better than UCLA and debt, the real solution is something else than UAB and no or low debt).
You, as a freshman, can borrow 5.5k. That’s it.
If you got into no other affordable colleges, there’ll be a list in May, with colleges that miscalculated yield or didnt expect the impact of covid. Stay around and be ready to apply quickly.
For law school, you need colleges and majors where they expect a lot of reading and writing.
The person who asked - what else is there is right. btw - you can still get accepted to Arizona by May 3rd and get great merit. Rank wise it’s not UCLA but it’s well above UAB. Easy app - make it happen quick. If you got into UCLA, it’s gonna be cheap.
There was no reason to apply to a UC - they flat out don’t give money out of state. It’s ok you did - but there has to be other options as one person asked.
Otherwise your choice is UAB - and it’s a perfectly fine school - or you transfer later although I think you should go to a school with the idea of staying.
For the record, pre-law is advising - there is no specific law school major although poli-sci gets the bulk. But those who don’t major in poli-sci are therefore potentially more desired.
Go to UAB, get a great education in what you desire, do well on the LSATs and you’ll end up in the same place.
Just look at feeder schools into the top law schools. Sure, there will be more Harvards and Viriginia students…but there’s plent of South Dakota State, Boise State, and Coastal Carolina at the top law schools in America.
100% look at University of Arizona. And if you are serious about law school, consider its undergrad Law major. It’s a unique program that students really like.
UA is a beautiful school in a nice city. PAC12 sports, great outdoor activities, lots to do. It’s a college town but also a pretty good sized city.
Merit aid is easy to calculate - your GPA tells you what you get. And it’s generous. Plus, way cheaper than living in LA.
There are some other ways to eventually attend UCLA, instead of just from high school. You could attend community college in Alabama or in California, but you’d still be paying OOS tuition to CA’s CCs, which looks to be ~ $10,000/year, in addition to your having to find a place to live.
The UCs have made a very clear pathway for transferable courses from the CA CCs but for the OOS CCs, not so much. I think UCB has put together a pretty comprehensive listing of transferable courses – you can ask @ucbalumnus about them – but I don’t know if it applies only to UCB, which might be an option later on too.
You could try to transfer from UAB, but that would be even a tougher route than the CC one. If you show independence from your parents, i.e., get on California’s employment rolls and pay taxes to the Franchise Tax Board, you could set yourself up for in-state tuition to the UC. I don’t know how your ability to get into UCLA now would affect your having to reapply ~two years down the road, but you’re obviously a great student otherwise UCLA wouldn’t have admitted you.
I believe the California CC route by OOS students is more common than one would think because they’ve probably been assimilated into the state as CA citizens, so they show forth as being from in state. If UCLA is a dream college of yours – welcome to a very large club – it is still possible. Whether it’s probable, is up to your circumstances and your and your parents’ feelings.
Many who go to law school are STEM students. The guy who sat next to me my first class is an engineer. The guy who was next to me alphabetically was an ER doctor. He worked weekends (only) and basically went to law school and fishing all week.
Lots of business majors, a few language majors, poli sci, and a whole bunch I have no idea. Law school is a whole new world for most.
If you show independence from your parents, i.e., get on California’s employment rolls and pay taxes to the Franchise Tax Board, you could set yourself up for in-state tuition to the UC.
The OOS tuition at UCLA is about $30K/year
As for in-state tuition, that’s basically not going to happen. At 18 it is hard to find a job sufficient to support oneself. By the rules at Ten things undergraduates need to know | Understanding residency for purposes of UC tuition not only do you need to live in CA for 1 full year but you need to be financially independent for 2 years. That means no money from mom and dad, no co-signing on loans to attend college, no living with relatives, etc.
Furthermore if you leave the state, say to go home during the summer or maybe even over Xmas, then that also can be enough to mess it up
If a student returns to the former place of residence (outside California), that student is presumed to be in California solely for educational purposes and only strong evidence to the contrary can refute this presumption. Classification as a Resident | UCLA Registrar’s Office
Go to UAB. Undergraduate major is irrelevant. GPA and LSAT are what counts.
If you want to go to law school, you will want to attend the best law school you can get into. That will most likely be expensive. If you are not getting into a top national law school, then you will want to pick the best regional law school in the city / state you want to live.
Nothing in undergrad will really specifically prepare you for a career in law - though STEM courses are actually helpful for the logic and problem solving required for the LSAT and law school. UCLA will not benefit you more than UAB.
You may wish to consider working a few years between undergrad and law school as well. When I’ve participated in our hiring and interviews of law students for my 300 attorney firm on occasion, the ones with a year or two of work experience (even if totally unrelated to law) always crush the students going straight through. Those 1-2 years of maturity can make a difference in the confidence in which you present yourself and give you some anecdotes beyond campus activities.
Do not under any circumstances go to UCLA at OOS rates for prelaw. (Prelaw is not an undergrad major.) Law schools only care about GPA & LSAT score. You can major in anything and attend law school.
If you had GPA to be accepted at a top UC, I’m assuming UAB threw plenty of merit money your way, so it would be extremely inexpensive.
I don’t think just because you attend CC in state, you’d get residency. It’s a very narrow path and you’d want to follow the rules and seek counsel. It likely involves renting, driver license, job, etc.
Undoubtedly, because with fees of ~$13,000 it would total to ~$43,000/year.
I’m not saying that for most people that coming from OOS and, presumably, in this instance, Alabama, it would be practical. But perhaps for @bluepeeppieee he/she really wants to experience CA as a possible place to live, and this is one of the reasons why UCLA is a dream college for many people.
It is at least something to ponder, because UCLA and the UCs give people transfer options. Additionally, the residential rules are stated to deter people, but it doesn’t work for a number of students. You’ll find a decent number of OOS students at the CCs in CA, as well as International students, but the latter are willing to pay full price. And lest @bluebayou misrepresent what I state, {edit: insert emoji} , I’m not even remotely stating that here. At the options presented as a soon-to-be graduate of high school, UAB is a million times better option for the OP, given his/her situation.
Good points, but if you check the rolls of the CCs in CA, there are a good number of OOS students who’ve become residents of CA. I’m sure that they are typically a good couple years older, but it does occur.
Yes, many categories of non traditional students may have originally been from out of state. However, many of them are no longer considered dependent students (see the FAFSA test for that), so the barrier to California residency is lower for them (and they are more likely to actually be financially independent of their parents anyway).
yeah, it essentially does mean ‘no money’ including no health care insurance from parents’ policy. Unlike teh community colleges, many of which will look away from OOS residency with a good story, UC is rather strict in following the rules.
, I’m not even remotely stating that here. At the options presented as a soon-to-be graduate of high school, UAB is a million times better option for the OP, given his/her situation.