Like many kids I dream of going to college in California, However My parents Can’t afford the tuition/ cost of living there. Iv’e been accepted into some of my states greatest schools. (of which we can afford) However i don’t want to attend an in state school wishing i had taken the risk of going to California state. (where I was also accepted) My parents aren’t for me going out of state unless its in the mid west due to the mid west exchange. o should i just take out student loans and go to California? Or is it not that easy? Not to mention I don’t have that many scholarships, No where near 30 grand worth. And my combination of test scores and cumulative GPA will not suffice for merit scholarships according to my counselor.
You can’t take out that much in loans by yourself without a cosigner, which would put your parents on the hook for the money anyway.
Move out there after college.
There are some great schools in California, no doubt, but there are a lot more outside of California. I can think of few if any situations in which it is fiscally responsible to go into debt to attend a California public university when you could afford to go to your in-state public.
Your parents have the right outlook on this, and are just trying to keep you from debt that could ruin your financial life.
However, depending on your family’s finances, you might qualify for need-based aid at some nice private colleges in California. It won’t hurt anything to apply and see what kind of financial aid offers you get.
Student loans above $5,500 the first year require a cosigner. Cosigned loans are typically a bad idea for both the student and cosigner.
Go to an affordable college, then seek jobs in California when you graduate (or summer / co-op jobs if you can find them).
Yes to all of the above advice from a Californian. But as for the advice of moving out after graduation, unless you have an extremely high paying job with a lot of prospects… think twice. The cost of housing is insane in the popular coastal areas. So many promising young people are moving out of California because they can barely afford to live here and the prospect of buying a house is nil in some areas.
YOU cannot take loans, your parents would have to sign for you.
So, go do an overnight at the great instate or MSEP colleges that admitted you and choose the best value.
If you haven’t yet, apply for honors colleges if possible.
Kick butt (no partying during the week, going to office hours, joining clubs, participating in Career Center events even as a freshman, finding internships…) and move to CA with a job you got thanks to your college degree!
Go to a college your family can afford. As noted above you can’t take out enough loans to make up the difference in cost. And even if you somehow could, your don’t want to live shackled by debt for decades after college graduation and being forced to make important life decisions based on what you can afford after debt payments.
Get an affordable education. You have the rest of your life to live and work in CA.
It’s great you and other kids have dreams. I suspect your parents have dreams as well (eg comfortable retirement). As there are affordable state options available, consider not being so tunnel visioned about pursuing your dreams and consider effects on parents dreams if they are either faced with actually paying the debt if you default, or simply the stress of just knowing that the debt is hanging over their heads as they get older. I wish you well, but I also wish your parents well, and your dream potentially could collide with theirs and not in a good way for them. Sorry, I’m a parent, I see their side.
You have to pick a college that you can afford. It is never wise to go deep into debt for a dream school. It most likely will not make a difference in the long run.
Most students have to deal with these issues. My son was unable to attend his first choice because of cost also. Many, many kids in your same boat.
IMO go where you can afford to go and walk away with the least amount of debt. Then, when you don’t owe anything, go off on your adventure, if that means California, then go for it BUT like so many others have said, don’t go out on some precarious financial limb (if it is even possible) just to go to school in CA. There are great schools everywhere.
You can make your dreams happen. As others have said, get a job or internship in CA.
Or just move out there straight out of HS and try to find a job. You can always go to college later.
California isn’t at all what it used to be. Take it from a mid-westerner whose family is still there. Granted, there are nice enclaves, but in general it is overcrowded, expensive, dysfunctional, crime ridden, and unfriendly to business (jobs) . That’s why lots of people are migrating out.
The mid-west is a lot nicer. Save your money, go to a great mid-western school, and get a summer internship at Google or JPL if you want to experience it. Even better, take a semester abroad and see something really different.
Your high tuition is California is used to subsidize CA residents. You would be impoverishing your parents, and burdening yourself, to pay for someone else’s education. Doesn’t sound like that is good for you or your family. Some dreams are not worth having.
if you live in california for a year and have a valid address, you will become a local resident which will qualify you for in-state tuition rates, which tend to be less expensive. Hard decision to make : )
@Trogers313 to me the term “risk” implies some uncertainty, as in there is some chance that something bad might happen. If you go to a university that you can’t afford, then “risk” isn’t really the right word, because there will be a near certainty that the debt you take on will haunt you for years after you graduate.
You can’t afford the schools in California. Therefore you can’t go there. To quote a former colleague out of context: “Just forget about it, it isn’t going to happen”. You should be thankful that you have very good and affordable options in-state.
Of course there is the possibility that you could look for jobs in California after you get your bachelor’s degree, or try to get summer jobs or internships there.
@OTTO_thefriendlypony : please don’t say things that aren’t true and create false illusions - if you’re not sure, don’t make it up, check.
For the record: Only if both op’s parents move to California AND s/he doesn’t go to college and works full time for a year AND all of them change their license and voters registration AND only after 12 months of living and starting to work … would op be considered a resident. Residence for tuition purpose at a state’s universities is where parents live since instate tuition is based on the taxes parents have paid to the state; attending college means ‘moving for educational purposes’ which automatically forfeits any right to instate tuition, except in a handful of states which are trying to attract college students.
The Midwest is losing population share in a relative sense as well.
Job-wise, California’s unemployment rate is similar to that of the US overall. Among Midwest states, IL, OH, and PA are significantly worse, while IN, IA, MN, and WA are significantly better, according to https://www.bls.gov/news.release/laus.nr0.htm .
Based on 2014 UCR data, California has violent and property crime rates similar to the US average. The Midwest states are somewhat better on average (some much better, like MN in violent crime), but some are worse (MI and MO for violent crime, IN, OH, MO for property crime). https://www.ucrdatatool.gov/Search/Crime/State/StatebyState.cfm
The Midwest also tends to have a relatively high level of racial segregation in residential patterns.
For students not considered independent for college financial aid purposes, the student’s parents must also fulfill that residency qualification, and moving to California purely for educational purposes does not qualify for in-state tuition.
Even if your parent agree to cosign your loan, your dream would be a nightmare to you and your family financially.
@ucbalumnus , the big difference between California and the midwest are the patterns of crime. For example, in Michigan : take away Flint, Benton Harbor, and a few neighborhoods in the city of Detroit, and the violent crime rate for the state drops dramatically. All of those places are easily avoided. Even the second largest city in Michigan (Grand Rapids) has a violent crime rate similar to the US as a whole. In California, it can be something as annoying as an illegal hit and run accident, which are so common that they don’t even report them anymore or a Kate Steinle which can happen anywhere.
California just has a lot more poor people, with 1/3rd of welfare recipients in the nation. I don’t see how you can be excited about low unemployment rates with so many people on the dole. And I don’t care about racial segregation in the midwest - most every dual income couple (and many one income), even with regular jobs can afford a home. Where they buy it is up to them. Redlining has been gone for 40 years.
Population has been growing because of a tidal wave of illegals, not organic expansion.
It just isn’t what it used to be.
Meanwhile, places like Chicago, Detroit, and Milwaukee still top the lists of most racially segregated places in the US. With external limitations like redlining theoretically gone, the continued existence of high levels of racial segregation suggests that racism remains stronger there than in many other places.
The study at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3704191/ found that, when people in Chicago and Detroit were shown videos of neighborhoods, perceived SES was a strong factor in desirability. However, perceived racial composition (of people visible in the videos) was an independent factor in desirability. Basically, white respondents saw white > mixed > black neighborhoods in that desirability order, while black respondents saw mixed > black > white neighborhoods in that desirability order.