Dear Los Angeles College Students: How the heck are you surviving, please teach me your ways

So i’m currently a 10th grade high school student looking at art colleges in Los Angeles. For me, there are several great reasons to go to college in LA due to the fact it is an international hotspot, a major hub for the arts, and there are endless opportunities to intern. Not to mention there are plenty of places to shop and eat that I am used to and I won’t have to worry about making any huge changes. It just seems like the perfect fit for me.

Problem is, I don’t live in California, and I don’t have anybody I could stay with either, so I would have to rent or buy, and pay out of state tuition. I plan to stay in Los Angeles after college at least for five years if I like the area, so i’m curious what the best option is for housing. Since I would be a college student the best job I could probably get would be minimum wage (unless knowing 3+ languages helps at all in getting a good job there. I’m studying Korean, French and Japanese), and as of right now I would be supporting myself entirely. I hear that some utilities are more expensive than average and others are far cheaper than average. I also know that the traffic in LA is something of nightmares, and that’s a bit of a drawback since I’ll definatly be commuting several times a day. Obviously, this could definatly cause some huge challenges. I’m also struggling to find out more information about the cost of living. So what better way to find out than by asking LA college students?
So, please, do give me some advice. Will knowing other languages help me get more than minimum wage? Rent or Buy? Take public transportation or drive? Is it worth out going to LA for college, or would another metropolis such as Atlanta or Seattle be better? Do you like LA?
ANY kind of opinions or advice would help me tremendously :slight_smile:

You won’t survive here in southern California on your own, especially coming from out of state and working minimum-wage.

Good to know, thanks :slight_smile:

read:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/california-colleges/1802004-so-you-want-to-come-to-california-for-college-p1.html

rent or buy… really?

https://www.zillow.com/

Unless you can swing a merit scholarship at a private school like LMU, it really is undoable. Go to school where you are and move to CA after you graduate. We’ll still be here.

So… your parents won’t help with college costs? That’s what I"m getting from the original post.

@Kamina_Blue2020
An out-of-stater moving to LA faces the following formidable obstacles:

(1) the cost of living in LA is high.
(2) the cost of college in LA is high.

A single person working a low-wage job will have difficulty affording either (1) or (2) alone, and certainly not together.

The most popular way for students to get an inexpensive college education in LA is simple: grow up in LA. The approach has the following advantages:

(1) you can beat the high cost of living by staying at home for free and commuting to school.
(2) you can beat the high cost of college by paying low in-state tuition at a community college, CSU, or UC.

So that’s the “secret”. Unfortunately, it probably won’t be of much help to you.