@Gumbymom Thank you for the insight. Just to clarify for most out of state students in the same boat as me (middle-class, out-of-state) - from a purely financial standpoint - attending a UC would only be viable if a merit/institutional scholarship is earned to lower the cost of tuition, correct?
Also, not sure if you would know, but I’ll ask anyway: if someone earned a competitive merit scholarship from a school that is comparable in rank/prestige as a UC, what are the prospects of successfully negotiating for a better deal? I understand that the UCs are a public university system, so the money they would give out to OOS students would be very tight.