So I'm a Junior in high school and looking at schools to attend after I graduate. I do NOT want to go to a public Uni (even Illinois), so the price of private schools is something I'm going to have to deal with. Any suggestions for financial help other than the scholarships each school gives out?

Apply for grants/scholarships early. I made almost 7000$ over in financial aid this year because my state/school scholarships paid for practically everything. But don't be picky about private vs. public, there is little difference, especially after you get your diploma. The only major difference is private is about 10x as much, and believe me the education is not 10x the one you will get at a public university.

Several public schools are quite good, Berkeley for example.

I'm pretty much in the same boat as you.

You have private and non-private universitys?

Here in NZ at least all the major universitys operate in pretty much the same way, still costs about $6000 a year in fees though =/

Private College/universities are generally for the rich kids. Rich kids have more advantages over the poor kids due to their silver spoons, trust funds and rich parents.

OP: Good luck for the future - hopefully you secure a college scholarship or you have to work for a year or two before going to college.

When I first went to work in the computer field, I did not have a degree. After I had been working for a while, I decided to go back and finish up. I asked my boss her opinion of what school I attended (she did all the hiring, so I thought her opinion mattered the most).

She looked at me a said "you have 8 years experience. If someone is paying you based on where you went to school, they're not paying you enough. At this point, it's a box checker"

I tell you this, because I think it's important to know when selecting a collage.

Go somewhere that will teach you what you need to know. A good education is far better then the name on the diploma.

Did you/do you go to Berkeley? That's one of the dodgiest places I've ever been to, they have signs that tell students not to walk by themselves for security reasons, the buildings are not earthquake-safe, and there are countless people on the side of the street right outside of the school doing drugs. It's so bad that they have a "drug free zone" where you're not supposed to do drugs. As if it's legal to do it anywhere...?

That was just the anthropology area though, I don't know if it's any different somewhere else. I also don't know about their professors.

If you aren't borned rich, you're ******.
You just end up with a huge debt by the time you finish school like the rest of us :)

They say the name recognition of your school doesn't matter at all until you get to grad-school.