<p>Chicano … I advise applying to schools outside of CA! It may seem that CA schools are more afordable, but schools outside of CA will want you and will give you good merit scholarships. I don’t know much about need baised aid yet, but I think you will get plenty of need baised aid, that in combination with merit schoalrships, should make schools outside of CA a very good choice for you. We live in CA, my daughter with test scores less than yours, has not applied to any UCs or CSUs. And is being offered merit scholarships (she is a National Scholar, but some scholarships are just academic/merit).</p>
<p>Other states want students from outside of their states, large public schools, and small private LACS. Just one example: University of Alabama with your ACT, they would give you a full tuition scholarship. Deadline was Dec 1, if really interested you may be able to contact them. Other big state schools may have simlar offers. </p>
<p>Do some reasearch, just google search, and find schools that offer a lot of merit scholarships. Many private schools will have free applications on the Common Application.</p>