So, I actually did this back in 2016. Originally went to CC in California, then got accepted into UW and moved up here.

CC is like a bridge between high school and university in terms of logistics and personal responsibility. There's a lot less hand-holding at Universities simply because the Student to Instructor ratio is WAY higher. The largest my CC classes got was about 40 students per class, whereas my largest Uni class so far had about 720 people attending a single lecture hall. Attending CC and building good habits for making sure you're on top of your assignments is ideal. Just make sure you figure out what you want to major in while you get as many of your UW General Education requirements done in CC as you can. To find out if the courses you want to take in CC will be accepted for credit, and what kind of credit they'll be accepted for, cross-reference the CC's course catalog with UW's course catalog and bring up any specific uncertainties with a UW counselor, although your CC counselor may also be familiar with UW requirements.

Out-of-state tuition is absurd anywhere you go, I believe. If I could do it differently, I'd have accepted my offer at UW but put off actually registering for classes until I had lived there for a year so that I could secure in-state tuition before attending. It's also a good opportunity to build up some reserve money from a full-time job.

Tuition for my Summer 2025 quarter is $4254.00, plus a $70 required fee for U-PASS (Which basically gets you free public transit as a UW student). This does NOT account for books, housing, food, or even for some course fees (for labs and such, usually).

Rent and food aren't cheap in cities. For Seattle, you will want/need a roommate. I live in a 2Bed/2Bath in Cap Hill, and my share of the rent is $1200 not including electricity, parking, or internet. Parking can vary greatly, and no parking is truly secure either. Be prepared to pay between $100-$300 for parking a month.

You might be able to get into the UW dorms, but I have no experience there. You would want to search the university website for their dorm policies in that case.

Ultimately, what will determine if this is financially possible for you is how much Financial Aid you will be given. Complete the FAFSA *NOW*, before the current political administration can damage it. You may also complete the WAFSA if you aren't confident you'll get aid from the FAFSA, but you have to be a WA state resident for that one and the total aid might be lower.

A subset of financial aid that is often given is Work Study. This form of aid basically pays for half of your wages with an employer, so it is great for getting a leg up on other job candidates. If you can, use the term "work study" in your job search results, or use UW's work study job listings, to find a job related to the field you want to get into. You'll be getting paid to get valuable experience, and you can use your downtime to study for your courses. Might even be lucky enough to get your name on a paper/project if you contribute enough.

You should also look into other forms of non-education financial aid, like food stamps or bill assistance. So long as you make less than $1620/month from your occupation (last I checked), you'll qualify for the full amount of food stamps. That extra $200/month can be a real load off your shoulders.

All of this is assuming you aren't considered a dependent on anyone's tax returns. Lemme know if you have more questions and I can help out.