<p>UT’s average test scores are only a bit higher that UCSB. Are you just going into your sophomore year? If so, you have a couple of years to pull up your grades and work on your test scores.</p>
<p>How would I pay for a college like UT Austin though? That would end up being 40k+ for all 4 years right…?</p>
<p>
- Aren’t you the one who’s been spending all evening acting as if money is no object when it comes to UCSB?</p>
<ol>
<li>But not that you’ve asked the question, this week is an excellent time to raise this question with your parents.</li>
</ol>
<p>And isn’t total cost in-state around $25K/year now? Obviously it will go up a bit in the next two years, but so will every other school.</p>
<p>I’m on here for support and answers, not criticism. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>In-state for UT Austin is around 10k a year…</p>
<p>
Ummm… UCSB would be over $200,000 for four years, so UT Austin looks like an amazing, incredible opportunity to save $160,000.</p>
<p>Does that include room and board??? If so, at $10,000/year, you could get a Stafford for $5,500, earn $2,000 at a summer job, $1,500 at a part-time school-year job and ask your parents if they could afford the remaining $1,000 - that’s about $100/month.</p>
<p>Your plan should be to strive to earn the grades and test scores you need to be accepted at UT Austin.</p>
<p>You just said $40K in your own post. But the actual costs for 2012-13 were:</p>
<p>Tuition & Fees: $9,790
Books: $904
Room & Board: $10,946
Other Expenses: $3,752</p>
<p>You may not recognize it, but you are getting support. You are getting adults telling you not to do something that you will pay for financially for the rest of your life for the sake of parties and a beach. And making suggestions for more affordable options. And helping you ferret out the real costs (which include things like room & board) of your options. And helping you understand the difference between a CC and a four year school. And suggesting that you talk with your parents about college costs to try to figure out what you can afford. And suggesting that you DO have time to improve your choices for college if you really start hustling this year in the classroom.</p>
<p>If you want posters who will just join you in dreams of parties on the beach, I think you may have to go someplace besides the Financial Aid & Scholarships forum.</p>
<p>Thank you @intparent for helping me realize this a bit further but things aren’t so easy as they appear. I’d rather keep my personal life off the Internet but I guess I’ll just say that I have NO relationship with my parents, haven’t talked to them in months despite living in the same house, not to mention we are broke, so bringing up a costly thing like college to someone you haven’t talked to in ages is a bit inappropriate. That’s why I came here, to ask anonymous people rather than my parents. So again, thank you, but really things are a bit different than some may imagine. </p>
<p>I think now is a good time to discontinue this thread… I don’t really know how to do that sooooo…</p>
<p>The thing is, having no relationship with your parents will have no impact on the price you’ll be expected to pay for higher education.</p>
<p>Until you are 24, or married, or raising a child of your own whom you are supporting financially, or a veteran of the armed forces, or legally emancipated by a court, your state of residence will be their state of residence, and your finances–how much you’ll be expected to pay, how much you’ll be able to borrow, etc.–will be determined by their finances.</p>
<p>If your family is “broke,” there will be financial aid available to you, but unless you’re a top student or a good enough athlete to play a big time college sports, that aid won’t come close to covering the cost of attending college out of state. Nor should it, really. Going OOS isn’t a necessity. It’s a luxury. </p>
<p>If your family isn’t broke, but you just don’t get along with your parents, you’ll be in a real bind. Your costs to attend college will be based on what colleges estimate your parents can pay, not on what they’re willing to pay. This probably means you need to repair your relationship with them as much as possible. </p>
<p>Sadly, some kids are really held hostage by this system. There are, for example, kids who reveal that they are gay, and their parents throw them out of the house. I hope your situation isn’t as dire as that, but even if it is, you need to accept how limited your options are financially. An expensive UC won’t be an option you can afford. Because other people shouldn’t have to pay for you to go to college parties near the beach.</p>
<p>Sorry, but that’s the reality.</p>
<p>Talk to a clergyman or counselor. 16 is way to young to have a broken relationship with your parents. They will always be your parents regardless of where you go to college. Perhaps mending that situation in some way would be worth considering.</p>
<p>In the meantime, get the HIGHEST grades you can, and the highest SAT/ACT you can…take those tests at the end of your junior year so you have time to retake at the start of your senior year.</p>
<p>Look at instate options like UT Dallas.</p>
<p>In-state for UT Austin is around 10k a year…</p>
<p>where are you getting that? </p>
<p>In state COA for UT Austin is over $20k per year.</p>
<p>If you can’t get into UTA, then try for that route where you go to a local UT campus for two years and then transfer.</p>
<p>What is your major? There are other Texas publics as well. </p>
<p>What part of Texas do you live in?</p>
<p>I may be reading too much between the lines, but are you having an issue with your parents over sexuality?</p>
<p>To be fair, the OP hasn’t ever said that. I used gay teenagers as an example of a group whose college options can sometimes be greatly limited by their estrangement from their parents. I had no intention of suggesting anything personal about this poster.</p>
<p>This poster has said more than once that he or she doesn’t want to give details about the reasons for the tension in this family. And, honestly, I think that’s the OP’s prerogative.</p>
<p>I wasn’t basing anything on your post, I hadn’t seen it. I was basing my thoughts on the OP’s posts on a few threads</p>
<p>I also didn’t mean to suggest that the OP needs to reveal anything personal. I was just “thinking aloud” so to speak based on other students’ posts that have had a similar vibe. I certainly don’t expect the OP to verify my thoughts. I shouldn’t have posted my thoughts in the form of a question. I really don’t expect an answer.</p>
<p>If you just need to get away, I’d suggest going to school on the other side of Texas. It’s a big place. Or go to South Dakota. The OOS billable costs for USD are around 15K. You’d be far away from Texas and the weather sure would be different. </p>
<p>As noted, there are dollar limits on guaranteed loans. Private loans require a co-signer, meaning the cosigner is stuck for the amount should you default. I know plenty of parents who do cosign these loans, but not for the amounts you’re seeking. Parents with college aged kids are very award of looming retirements and should avoid 6 figure debt obligations. You say you know it’ll be hell to pay it all back. If you can’t pay it back, your parents may not want to be caught in that same hell. My kids know I won’t be cosigning any loans. </p>
<p>And just an FYI, you catch more flies with sugar. “Blah, blah, blah?” Not very sweet.</p>
<p>If you can commute to UT Austin, then tuition is about 10k/year. But if you don’t commute, and have to live in the dorm, then COA is closer to 25k. May I suggest looking at what kind of non-institutional scholarships you may be able to get? You’re a bit young to get many, but there are some essay contests that give $10,000 prizes and you just have to be in high school. Also, if you can really only afford the $10k, then I would suggest attending a UT campus that you could commute to for the first couple years while you rack up scholarships and money that you would be spending on OOS costs and boarding then transfer to UT Austin for the last couple years. It’s most certainly not ideal, but it works. That’s most likely my only option, too. Going OOS doesn’t work out unless you have buttloads of money to spend. And I don’t know what the personal issue you’re having with your parents is, but you can always go somewhere after you have your education. You’ll most likely be only 22 when you graduate college, correct? That’s not very old. You’ll still have time to move where you want when you can afford it.</p>
<p>But, FYI, if this is indeed a sexuality issue, Austin is a lot better about that stuff than most of Texas. Believe me. I live in a sucky town where I get picked on if I even hold hands with my gf. But when we take trips to Austin, not only do we not get picked on, we get told how cute of a couple we are.</p>
<p>Man, I’d be ticked if strangers kept speculating about my sexuatlity on an internet message board!</p>
<p>Things that will make OOS schools affordable:
- Look for states with low OOS tution (like minnesota)
- Understand your EFC. Fill out the estimator. If your EFC is under 25K then your OOS exposure is mostly financial aid. Find an OOS school that provides good financial aid.
- Good grades and test scores. Many OOS schools will treat you like in state, or even waive tuition, for smart cookies. </p>
<p>GL. </p>
<p>Im not a fan of the state of texas either, but I did find Austin to be relative cool place.</p>
<p>And think about the difference between a $40,000 in-state school two hours away and an $80,000 out-of-state school six hours away: not much. If you are in state, why do you think whatever it is you are trying to escape will follow you to another town?</p>
<p>You keep starting new threads about essentially the same issue.</p>
<p>You say that you have wealthy grands. Ask them if they’ll pay. IF not, and your parents won’t pay, then you only have a small number of options.</p>
<p>If your stats are high enough, you could get a large scholarships somewhere, but not likely at UCSB.</p>
<p>If your family income is low, and you have strong stats, you might be able to get lots of need based aid somewhere…but not at UCSB because you’re OOS and would still have to pay the OOS costs.</p>
<p>or, you can work and pay as you go locally.</p>
<p>ah well, OP gone. My only question was, while “extremely personal” issues should be kept personal, I was just wondering if the extremely personal issues were forcing the OP to leave the state of Texas (as mentioned, it is a really big state) or if the extremely personal issue(s) were drawing the OP to a particular place?</p>