<p>I am currently a high school student who will begin her junior year this August. I was born in California but moved to Arizona in the 5th grade. Now, as a high school student, I wish to be accepted into UCLA, Cal, or UCSD. Overall, I extremely hope to be able to attend a prestige university in California. Education is my top priority which causes me to aim high. </p>
<p>I know that there are benefits for California residents when talking about college tuition. In-state students pay less than out-of-state students. I also heard that if a student is in the top specific percentage of their class, they will get in a UC for sure. </p>
<p>Recently, I was given the offer to attend and finish up my junior and senior years in California by my uncle. However, my parents will not be going with me. They also have to pay my uncle a monthly fee of $300 dollars. My uncle and my grandfather will then be my legal guardians. </p>
<p>**My mother and father’s combined yearly income is only around 25k. </p>
<p>This is where my question arises. Would it be a smarter choice to stay in Arizona and finish up high school or go to California? </p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>If you’re looking to attain residency (most OOSers are) because you save $20,000 a year in tuition, then it would be a wise idea to go finish high school in CA. (residency is not guaranteed, you’ll have to look at the requirements extensively. Here’s a link to get you started: [UCLA</a> Registrar’s Office: Residence Classification for Tuition Purposes FAQ](<a href=“http://www.registrar.ucla.edu/faq/residencefaq.htm]UCLA”>http://www.registrar.ucla.edu/faq/residencefaq.htm)). It should be noted that even if they’re broke, OOSers rarely get ANY financial aid, so I’d recommend trying to get residency if you want to attend a UC.</p>
<p>Additionally, if you want to get a head start on adapting to CA culture and lifestyle it would be a good idea to move. You could potentially make friends who will be going to the same college as you (more likely than in AZ). </p>
<p>However, I would advise not moving if it takes a toll your ECs (some schools have better programs than others) or GPA. Paying $20,000 extra a year to go to UCLA as an OOSer (or a different college) is better than having to settle. </p>
<p>And another thing… The “students in the top x percent of their class” thing doesn’t mean campus of your choice. The only guaranteed campus is Merced, so you must apply to any UC you are interested in, and if you don’t get into any of those, you will be offered admission at Merced (regardless of whether you applied there or not). It’s a little misleading.</p>
<p>If you do get residency in California, a UC education will be a huge bargain with your family income. At 25K a year combined, you won’t have to pay anything in tuition under the Blue and Gold plan at UCLA, and I’m pretty sure the other UCs have similar programs. If your GPA is good enough, you’ll also qualify for a cal grant to cover your entire UC tuition. Plus you’ll qualify for a large amount of other government grants in your income bracket, so potentially, you’ll be able to get UC housing at a significantly discounted price too (if not for free).</p>
<p>Good Luck</p>
<p>What were your sophomore year grades? The top UCs are brutally competitive to get into—if your grades weren’t quite up to par, it doesn’t make sense to undergo a major disruption in your personal life to gamble on getting better grades as a junior.</p>
<p>If you do decide to go through with it, be prepared to face the possibility that you will need to take the community college transfer route. That could involve working and supporting yourself for two or three years before transferring.</p>
<p>Lastly, I’m going to assume by your parent’s income that you plan to be a first generation college student. This will open up a lot of financial aid opportunities for you at many excellent private schools, few of which will require residency. Schools like Stanford, USC, and the Claremont schools are all good targets in California.</p>
<p>For my sophomore year, I was taking 4 honors classes and two regular electives. I got two B’s, one in my honors class and one in my elective class first semester. For second semester I got one B for a honors class resulting a total of 3 B’s… So far I have 5 B’s total for my high school career. My GPA atm is a 4.4 weighted and 3.8 un-weighted. </p>
<p>For regards toward my parent’s financial aid opportunities, I heard that if I am in California alone, they can not continue filing me as their dependent. Would this not mean that I can no longer use their income for aid? They won’t be moving to California with me until years to come.</p>