Fill out the FAFSA-on time! Ideally, fill it out before February as some college's deadlines are different than the federal deadline. Most (if not all) colleges base the financial aid you will receive on the FAFSA.
If you know you will transfer after a year or two, only take the classes you know for sure will transfer to the new college. The college you are at may accept your AP/CLEP scores, but the one you plan on transferring to may not.
If you go out of state, see if the state you're going to has a "good-neighbor" policy with your home state. I know California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and Arizona (and possibly Utah) have this agreement. If you are from California and go to school in Nevada, the university you attend will offer you a discount on your tuition.
When applying to a school, look at how many people in the school are working towards what major (Newsweek Best Colleges offers this information). Apply as a major that has the least amount of students. For instance, if only 1% of the student body is majoring in Engineering, apply as an engineer major. You're more likely to get in and will likely get scholarships offered only to that major. Then, stay as an engineering major for a year or two (but no more than that!) while you take all the core classes and some of the prerecs for your desired major. Once you know what you want to really major in, change majors. You'll lose the original scholarship but will most likely get one (or more) for your new field.
Throughout all of college, constantly be applying for scholarships! If you get too much scholarship money, that money is handed directly to you.
Cassandra
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