Expert: Todd Johnson - 5/18/2009

Question
Hey todd.
I've been reading some of the questions you answered in this category and i realle liked what i saw, your answers solved many of my doubts, and that link you posted with some college essay tips was great.
So all my family is mexican, but I was born in Michigan, and when I was like 6 months old, my parents came back to Mexico. I was raised in Mexico my entire life.
Now I'm about to finish highschool here in mexico and I want to study in California, actually i'll try to apply at Stanford and Berkeley.
My father told me that US universities aren't cheap, but the tuiton for state's residents is way lower than for those who are not, and a good idea would be going to California and try to make my way into any college for one year, and since I'm an american citizen, I would be considered as a state resident after one year right?, then, the university tuiton would be cheaper.
But is this a good idea? is this the best option? and will this really work as we expect it to work??
I'm planing on studying civil engineering at any of those 2 unversities I mentioned, or any other good university that accepts me. So which college would be a good choice? is there any possibility that the college that accepts me, somehow revalidates some of the classes in college so i don't have to take them again in university?

thank you, and sorry if i made any grammar mistake while writting this question

Answer
Bill,

Thank you for writing. The question you ask is not a black and white one. Stanford and UC Berkeley are both excellent schools but you are correct that they are both very expensive and very difficult to gain admission. Berkeley is a state school and is more expensive if you are from a state other than california. It is also much more difficult to gain admission to if you are not a resident of California. Stanford is a private college and as such the cost depends on your family income and assets.

Although you are technically a US citizen, many colleges may view you as an international student since that is really your background. The biggest problem with that is that the admission standards for international students are generally higher than for US students and financial aid is more difficult to get if that is an issue.

As to your thought of going to California to live for a year to get in state tuition, it is not necessarily as easy as that. Different states look at different factors to determine whether you are a resident of that state for purposes of in state tuition. I would suggest that you contact Berkeley admissions directly and ask them what they require to view a student as an in state resident for tuition purposes.

I think your best option is to put yourself out as a US citizen so that you qualify for financial aid. However, you should emphasis your diverse background as one of your strong attributes in the college admissions process.

I am not sure I understand your last question about colleges and universities but in the US they are basically the same thing. The major difference is that a college just has undergraduate education or the first four years. Universities also have graduate programs such as medicine and law. When you complete your undergraduate 4 year degree you then apply to graduate school for additional education. Universities do not give preference to graduate school to those students who went to undergraduate at that school. In fact, some of the strongest colleges for getting into top graduate schools are the top liberal arts colleges such as Amherst, Swarthmore and Carleton.

There are many potential issues that can come up with your particular situation and I would suggest that it may make sense to hire a college consultant to work with you in this process.

I hope that helps.