The obvious decision seems like Penn State but cost of attendance is considerably higher than UH Manoa and CSUF because of out of state tuition. I live in California. With UH Manoa I get WUE which reduced the cost of tuition GREATLY, and I’d be paying the close to the same amount as UCLA. Also, I love the location, diversity on campus, and the campus itself. Cal State Fullerton is the cheapest option and a great school but it is a commuter school that was my last option; commuter school with people I grew up with at my high school. It’s hard to picture myself there happy; It’s too close to home, has whatever student-life, and a whatever alumni network. Here’s my cost of attendance at each institution:
UH Manoa: 34,000
Penn State: 51,000
Cal State Fullerton: 27,000
My parents can afford UH Manoa without taking out loans, but for Penn State they would definitely have to. Any suggestions?
(P.S. I plan on law school after my BA)
May depend upon your intended major.
If you want to attend law school in Hawaii, then you need to start a connection with that state ASAP.
Then UH Mania 
Congratulations!
@Publisher My intended major is History. I don’t plan on attending law school in Hawaii, I just want to get my BA there.
Bad idea for a prelaw student to build up a bunch of debt for undergraduate. (Why did you apply to Penn State but not any California publics besides CSU Fullerton?)
CSU Fullerton has 28% of frosh living in the dorms, so presumably mostly commuter. UH Manoa has 53% of frosh living in the dorms, so probably about half resident and half commuter (a large percentage of the state population lives nearby).
Here are the history courses at CSU Fullerton and UH Manoa:
http://hss.fullerton.edu/history/academics/courses.aspx
http://www.catalog.hawaii.edu/courses/departments/hist.htm
Btw when you speak of UCLA costs do you imply you got in?
@ucbalumnus LOL, you don’t think I did? I applied to SDSU, CSULB, UCLA, UCD, UCI, and UCSB and I only got waitlisted to UCI… I also got into Chico and Cal Poly Pomona, but Fullerton seems to be the standout out of those Cal States. I’m not expecting to get into UCI, plus I won’t know until after May 1st. Trust me, going to a UC was my plan after high school…
@MYOS1634 I did not. I did however receive my financial aid package after I applied, and my estimated Cost of Attendance was over 30,000.
Actually, CSU CHico and CPP are pretty good, up-and-coming colleges, relatively more residential than typical CSUs. Both Pomona and Chico have excellent honors programs, did you get into them/apply?
CPP’s program should have let you know by now, and you can still apply to CSU Chico’s especially if you took AP classes in high school - priority deadline is April 11 so HURRY AND COMPLETE that quickly!
mailto:honorsapp@csuchico.edu
https://www.csuchico.edu/honors/_assets/Honors%20Application%202018-2019.pdf
Fresno has an honors program but the deadline was in December.