NPC is the “Net Price Calculator” that pretty much every US college has on their website, in which you fill in your financial data and they give you an approximate calculation as to how much it will actually cost you. There are some variables that make it less accurate- lots of property investments and owning your own business are two of them- but if you didn’t run them you didn’t do your own homework well.
A HELOC is a Home Equity Line of Credit- basically borrowing against the equity investment in your house (or other property).
If you didn’t know that state universities in general, and the UCs in particular, do not give out of state students financial aid I am sorry…but again, you didn’t do the homework.
Neither of your parents have been employed for the last 6 years, yet Brown- which meets 100% of demonstrated need- estimates that they have sufficient income to pay $40K pa. Brown is quite specific:
[quote]
For families (including both parents) with a total income below $60,000, and assets less than $100,000, no parent contribution is calculated towards the Expected Family Contribution (EFC)/quote
Clearly, your parents have substantial assets and/or unearned income (from your own post, enough to holiday in France while unemployed). That they don’t feel that they want to spend the money for Brown or Cambridge is their choice. Of course, it is their right to make that choice, but excoriating the US government and educational system for your parent’s choices is not reasonable.
Finally, I’m pretty sure that you can’t transfer in to Cambridge for Physics: you come as a first year or not at all.