What’s your SAT/ACT?
What’s your budget?
Do you know your EFC?
Is 3.5 unweighted? What AP classes have you taken (or dual enrollment, IB…)
What makes you want to leave Arizona?
I have not taken the ACT yet, but I will in October. My budget has to be somewhat low, and my EFC is unknown but my parents won’t be able to help me at all with college. The reason i want to leave Arizona is primarily due to personal reasons, but of course the heat and backwards mentality are definitely reasons! My GPA is 3.6 weighted, as i’ve taken 2 honors classes and currently taking dual enrollment classes (college). As for NAU, I do qualify for the full ride scholarship (still paying for housing), but I just don’t want to stay in the state any longer, for the better of my mental health. Sounds crazy i know haha
You will not be able to pay or take loans for UC schools without your parents help. If you are low income, then run NPC of some private schools and check if the aid is reasonable. UC’s do not offer fin aid to OOS students. Are you NMF? you could try one of the full merit schools (search for NMF schools) if you really need to leave Arizona for personal reasons.
Make sure you apply to NAU, too. Full tuition is a big deal. Don’t let that opportunity pass by. You’ll want as many options as possible to choose from in the Spring when you have to make your decision and your priorities may change a lot over senior year.
Colleges in WUE list charges less tuition for out of state students from member states. In California it so happened that most of WUE member colleges are CSU system and CSU colleges are cheaper than UC colleges.
What is NMF? Also, would the WUE be affordable? I was considering CSU northridge, or even University of Hawai‘i Hilo. I can probably pay for $12,000 in Loans, FASFA, and personal contribution. Would it be cheaper to opt out of a meal plan? Thank you!!
When you file the FAFSA, you will find out if you are eligible for any aid other than the standard federal loans. The maximum freshman year loan is $5,500. To borrow more than that, you will need cosigners for a private loan.
FAFSA doesnt give you money. It does tell you whether you are eligible for Pell grants. You aren’t really listening to what people are saying. Your stats are too low for big merit aid or admission to top schools that give good need based aid. You have a very small budget. AZ is a big state. Not everyone in it is “backwards”. Look at your in-state public schools.
You’ve gotten good advice. You must start with what you can afford. I may have a million reasons why I don’t want to live in this house or live in this town, or why my life would be so much better if I lived in that other house in that other community…but I am where I can afford to pay my bills & have a little left over. I have options, but I don’t have sky-is-the-limit options.
One of my kids did community college to state flagship. The other kid wanted OOS unaffordable private elite schools.
A lot of suffering can be avoided if you focus on what is affordable, early in the game.
Best of luck to you!
for a WUE program, you will pay 150% of the instate tuition. In wyoming, that’s about $6500; in California, that’s much more. My niece and nephew did go to Hawaii using WUE.
By going OOS, you are often giving up more than instate tuition. Some states have scholarships or funding that can only be used instate. My daughter went to a private school in Florida, but was able to use bright futures (a merit scholarship), got a Florida resident grant, and there were a lot of scholarships that could only be used instate from civic groups or local businesses. Her private school ended up costing less than instate public but she was getting about $10k more than kids from OOS at her school just because she was instate.
Please don’t get the mindset that ‘I have to OOS to college.’ You will be letting a lot of good opportunities get away. If you don’t like UofA or ASU, look at Northern Arizona.
You still need $30K per year for WUE at the Hilo campus.
I am assuming that you haven’t done much research for UH? and that you haven’t visited the Big Island? Hawaii is VERY expensive and by that I mean VERY expensive. EVERYTHING needs to be shipped or flown into the islands; that translates to some very expensive costs, flights and other expenses.
Yes they have some scholarships that are open to non-residents, but they are competitive and they only cover tuition, that’s IF you are able to get one. You would have STILL to pay all of the rest of the expenses which would really impact your budget. You won’t be able to get much funding for UH, from the State of Hawaii if you are not a Hawaii resident.
Hilo is a “small” community, much like the Flagstaff area, except for the fact that Hilo has about 30K less residents than Flagstaff.
We understand that you want to leave Arizona, but if you don’t have the money, how will you pay your bill on your own? The bill is due upfront; you can register for classes, but if the bill isn’t paid, they drop you from the courses.
A lot of kids from California go to Arizona schools. Your two instate large publics are popular.
I know about 10 colleagues and coworkers who attended NAU. Each of them loved it.
@HImom is on the islands, you can ask her more info about the expensive costs of living in Hawaii.
A “state” is defined by a man-made boundary. What would change if you stepped over the line between Arizona and California? Avail yourself of the best financial options, which are in the state of Arizona.
BTW: Northridge is known as a commuter campus.
Your costs will still hover around $30k, and that’s with WUE. It’s also without expenses.
I don’t think you are understanding what everyone has said on this post.
You won’t be able to afford your western OOS choices.
You can’t opt out of a meal plan.
What do you want to study?
It’s very late for taking tests; you need to prepare at least one hour a day, preferably more, and plan to retake.
Use your fee waivers for two SAT dates and one more ACT date. Study with Khan Academy, Question of the Day, and any prep sessions your high school offers. Study with Erica Melzer’s English books as well as books such as PWN the SAT Math (borrowed from your library).
NMF is a scholarship program for kids who rank in the top 1% of test takers as juniors. Since you don’t have test scores, it wouldn’t apply to you.
My assumption, since you think you’ll get a $5-6,000 federal scholarship (“Pell Grant”), is that your EFC is zero. However it’s just an assumption: Before we can suggest any place, you need to calculate your EFC and how much federal money you can receive. After that, most money comes from the college itself. If the college doesn’t offer financial aid to OOS students, you’re out of luck. That’s why you need to target OOS colleges that match your academics and do offer financial aid to OOS applicants.
Please use the links below and come back with the answers:
http://www.finaid.org/calculators/finaidestimate.phtml
https://fafsa.ed.gov/FAFSA/app/f4cForm?execution=e1s1
NMF is national merit finalist. It is based on PSAT score taken in October of Junior year.
You are totally behind the eight ball on this.
Frankly, you have no idea if you are even a competitive applicant for these schools. You haven’t taken the SAT or ACT tests yet. WHY?
What is your GPA?
I think you have to be very realistic. Out of state college in California is not going to be affordable…unless you get a tippy top ACT score, and have a TIPPY top GPA and get accepted to one of the Claremont Colleges, Stanford, or some other college that meets full need for all accepted students. But don’t count on that.
Even OOS costs in Oregon and Hawaii are not going to be a bargain. Remember to add in transportation to these places. That’s not free.
The colleges in Arizona are likely your best bet…unless you get a really really high ACT score.
How do you know you qualify for a full tuition scholarship at NAU without a standardized test score?
Do you have a sat score, just not SAT?
This score is very important because it opens up the possibility of merit aid.
However without your EFC not a score it’s hard to help you.
One last piece of advice. Even if you could don’t skip on the meal plan. To many kids think they will save money and become food insecure. That’s a nice way of saying they can’t afford to eat. Many schools now have food pantries. You don’t want start your college experience hungry and looking for your next meal. College is hard enough.
I think the consensus is pick a school instate. Your options of out of state are like 0 at this point. Get great grades and consider transferring but again without parent help that most likely won’t happen. I went to community College my first year. That was my reality. I then went to the local college instead of going away. Again, that was my reality. I was fortunate since most my friends where within an hour away at Michigan State or University of Michigan as I was at a college in Detroit. I went up to see them often to get that experience. Again that was my reality and ended up just fine. Plus my college was a whole lot cheaper and affordable for me as I worked through college.
You need to face your reality now so you have time to plan. It’s nice that you have good local options. Not everyone is so fortunate. Also your grades are fine. You should be proud of that. It’s just not as high that is needed to apply to the schools you want to get accepted to. If you have no financial help then your only logical options are your local affordable schools. As mentioned do co-ops, internships, etc out of state.
- What is your EFC?
- What are the net price calculators saying about your net costs?
- Did you take the SAT? If so...what was your score. If not...WHY?
- What is your GPA?
- What is your family income?
- You say your parents can’t help you at all? Does this mean $0 in money for college costs?
- Given the above information...folks here can help you with some realistic options...and there might be some.
- Have you looked at test optional colleges? Fairtest.org is where you would look.
- Will your parents complete the FAFSA and Profile forms? Are your parents divorced? Remarried? Still married to each other?
I’d add that the WUE benefit varies a lot by state. We are from CA and my son is on WUE in Colorado (Ft Lewis College in Durango - a small LAC best known for mountain biking). There, like Nevada, they tier the grants - so someone like you with a 3.6 gets a bigger aid package than someone with a 3.0. In the Peoples Republic of CA, the grant is one size fits all. For my son, UNR was a little cheaper than a CSU (my other kid just graduated from Chico so, i know that bill well. On the surface, it is probably $3-5k cheaper for you to go to UNR than a CSU with a moderate cost of living like Chico.
UNR’s 2 tier policy
https://www.unr.edu/tuition-and-fees/tuition-discounts#Freshman%20Programs
Ft lewis has a 3 tiered program
https://www.fortlewis.edu/Home/Cost/Scholarships/FreshmenScholarships.aspx#22162551-freshman-tuition-merit-scholarship—fall-2018-spring-2019
Chico’s policy - note the major restrictions
https://www.csuchico.edu/admissions/apply/out-of-state/wue-exchange.shtml
Those are the ones I know well but, my point is you need to research carefully. Just google the school BSU WUE or Southern Or WUE, etc and you will find what you need.