<p>I'm a Northern California resident who hasn't had much luck with the UC and CSU system. I got waitlisted at Davis, but so far that's been the only semi-good news from in-state universities. So, it looks like I'm going to have to either pay OOS tuition or go to community college. Assuming that I don't choose community college, I've narrowed my choices to two so far: the UDUB and UW- Madison. I want to get a degree in bioengineering/biomedical engineering, and I'm wondering if anyone has any advice. Finances are a factor, and I've figured out that I would probably get residency at the UDUB after a year (by taking fewer credits and getting a job to raise money for school). This would actually make the UDUB cheaper than UW-Madison and the UC's even. I still haven't figured out a feasable way for me to gain Wisconsin residency so that would be more expensive for sure. But, is the extra cost worth it in the long run? Is UW- Madison's college experience and engineering program worth the out of state debt? </p>
<p>Thanks to anyone who took the time to read through this post :)</p>
<p>You didn’t apply to Minnesota or NCSU, whose OOS list prices are about as much as UC in-state list prices?</p>
<p>Community college is certainly a option worth considering if cost is a major concern. See [Welcome</a> to ASSIST](<a href=“http://www.assist.org%5DWelcome”>http://www.assist.org) to check where you can take needed prerequisite courses to transfer to the desired schools.</p>
<p>The UW college experience is pretty awesome. Much better than Udub.</p>
<p>@Barrons Would you say that it’s relatively easy for students to get jobs at the university? (To help cover costs)</p>
<p>Yes, on or off campus.</p>
<p>You’d have to move to Washington and take fewer than 7 credits a quarter, and work more than 30 hours a week. Basically you’d have to work full-time and go to school part-time to establish Washington residency and prove that you didn’t just move there to go to school. You also need to establish legal ties in WA, AND you have to be financially independent - you have to submit your parents’ tax returns if you are under 25, and they cannot claim you as a dependent for that tax year. That means that your parents cannot give you any kind of support in the 12 months that you use to establish residency in WA, because you have to submit pay stubs proving that you make enough to support yourself.</p>
<p>I think becoming a Washington resident will be a little harder than you think. Not impossible, of course.</p>
<p>Finances are a factor, and I’ve figured out that I would probably get residency at the UDUB after a year (by taking fewer credits and getting a job to raise money for school). This</p>
<p>???</p>
<p>What are the residency rules at UWash? I thought it was quite difficult…to prevent OOS students from trying to get residency for SOM purposes.</p>
<p>I doubt you’d be able to earn enough to pay OOS rates for your first year (even with only 7 credits) AND earn enough to completely support yourself…rent, food, car insurance, cell phone, internet, clothes, gasoline, etc, etc. </p>
<p>And, I’m not sure if that would get you residency.</p>
<p>You have an ACT 30 and about a 3.75 GPA. Are you sure that you won’t get in anywhere in Calif??? You could have gotten good scholarships elsewhere if you had applied to schools that give merit for those stats.</p>
<p>What is your career goal? medicine?</p>
<p>I forgot to say which schools I’m applying to.
UCLA
UCSD
UCI
UCD
Cal Poly SLO
(San Jose State Mechanical Engineering)
University of Wisconsin
University of Michigan
Univeristy of Washington
Northwestern</p>
<p>Have you heard from SLO and SJSU? What about UCI? </p>
<p>Does the UC system offer admission to - say - Merced - if a qualifed student isn’t accepted to his/her UCs???</p>
<p>@juillet I actually have a friend who did it last year, which perhaps made me a little jaded. She said that it was relatively easy, but they’re probably getting stricter as time goes on…</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids I ended up applying to Oregon State instead of SJ State because a rep from their school said that I qualified for many scholarships and that I’d be a shoe in to win a $15,000 scholarship. In hindsight, I should have looked up the statistics on how many students receive scholarships…I would like to be a biomedical engineer and I plan on getting a job immediately after college (assuming there will be jobs in this economy). So, I don’t plan on going to med school or anything like that afterwards. I was rejected from Cal Poly and I haven’t heard anything from UC Irvine. I feel like I probably got rejected from Irvine at this point because all of my friends have heard back and I was weightlisted at Davis. The UC system does offer ELC which means that if you are in the top 10% of high school students state-wide and/or in your graduating class you are guaranteed admission to Merced. Unfortunately, I am not in the top 10% of either, so that’s not an option. Either way it looks like my financial situation may have gotten a little bit brighter because my grandfather called my aunt out the blue and told her that he wanted to help me pay for college, but we’ll see. </p>
<p>Thanks for all of your input! :)</p>
<p>Forgot to mention…Oregon state did give me $3000 off of out of state tuition, but it wasn’t what I’d hoped. I applied to the UDUB honors college, and they have a lot of scholarships that I could receive (if I’m accepted). </p>
<p>I was really stupid when I was choosing schools to apply to, and I didn’t really think about the costs. I was focusing more on basically everything but the price. So to any high schoolers reading this…LOOK AT PRICE of each college with consideration to FINANCIAL AID. I made the mistake of not applying to a lot of privates because they “were too expensive” when they’re actually cheaper.</p>
<p>Oh and thanks for the info @UCBalumnus</p>
<p>3.75 GPA + 30 ACT would have given you a CSU eligibility index of 1050, which was sufficient to get into SJSU in any major except occupational therapy for fall 2012:
[SJSU</a> Admission](<a href=“http://info.sjsu.edu/web-dbgen/narr/admission/rec-1328.html]SJSU”>http://info.sjsu.edu/web-dbgen/narr/admission/rec-1328.html)</p>
<p>UW Madison is a very nice campus and great college enviroment. (my parents and cousins are grads)</p>
<p>That being said, residency is very hard to establish there so I don’t think it would be possible for you. I am not sure how much scholarship money is available at Wisconsin.</p>
<p>They don’t have a biomedical engineering program at sj state which meant I would have to study mechanical engineering which is something that I don’t want to do at this point. </p>
<p>@rushedmom I don’t plan on being able to establish residency at Madison, because it seems impossible to do really. They also have practically no scholarships there. That being said, there’s a possibility my family could still make it work with my grandfather now helping pay. I visited the campus and Madison and I absolutely loved it there. I also really like that they have a lot of hands on opportunities and a “learn by doing” sort of mentality. At least it seems that way…</p>
<p>Not quite correct that they have no scholarships at Madison. But most are targeted to returning students and OOS minorities.</p>