Should I apply to the UC schools if I'm out of state?

I believe you posted this question twice — I answered on the other post, but do try to avoid doing that in the future! Otherwise the forum can get very cluttered.

The gist of what I said on the other post is that, if you're low enough in income to qualify for a fee waiver (which, maybe I'm wrong, would mean your family's income is below $50k/yr?), then I would really advise you against applying to the UCs. Unless you're able to get a Regents scholarship (which requires an additional application and an interview process, and is extremely competitive), you'd almost certainly be asked to pay full price. The UCs rarely, if ever, offer significant need-based aid to out-of-state students, and outside scholarships are not going to be able to make up the 60-70k/yr these schools cost, considering the vast majority of them are worth less than $1k total. (I.e., on average, you would need to earn literal hundreds of outside scholarships to cover the cost of UCLA—and you'd need to apply to many more, because even the small ones are competitive). The UC application is time-consuming—it requires you to write several new essays and fill out your courses and grades in a unique system, among other things—and I think that time could be better spent applying elsewhere.

For a student in your situation, you should prioritize a) your flagship state school, and b) private schools that provide good financial aid. If my guess of your income level is correct, you'd be able to attend any of the Ivies and most other top 20 private schools effectively for free. Some might include federal Stafford loans in that package, but even then you'd likely be graduating with ~$20k debt as opposed to the ~$200k you would need to pay for four years at UCLA. You'd also likely get a lot of aid from your state for in-state schools, and if you live in a state with a strong flagship (e.g. UMich) or a state that has tuition reciprocity with a strong flagship (e.g. New Hampshire, Rhode Island, or Connecticut with UMass-Amherst), those would be a much more worthwhile use of your time and attention than the UCs.

If you love one of the UC schools I’d say it’s worth it if admitted you should compare the award given to you before you dismiss it and you never know about a full scholarship and there are always outside scholarship. Also the UCs don’t participate but you may qualify for quest ridge a VERY competing program that garuntees full scholarships at many ELITE ELITE schools think Harvard Stanford Rice etc and is worth a look.

The only reason I’d say no is if you prefer all other schools over UCLA and Berkeley but if you are keen on one and really like it it doesn’t hurt to try also if you just don’t have time but I would focus a lot more on more reasonable prices schools.

Hope this helps!

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