How difficult is it to get into a college on the west coast if I'm stuck in the east?

I've lived in the same state my whole life, on the east coast, and my parents plan on me staying here, going to college here, having a job here, and probably being buried here.

What I really want to do is go to a school on the west coast, and I REALLY want to major in photography. It's something I've always been interested in. I've been looking online, but I'm still not sure which colleges to even look at.

So are there any colleges in the west with a good photography major and acceptance rate of out-of-state students? I've been asking around, but people aren't taking me very seriously since I'm a freshmen. They say I have "a long time to think about it", and my parents have already put together an in-state tuition plan for me, or something like that.

I really just want to start taking control of my own life.

I have good grades, honor roll student, lost of extracurricular. I just want to start looking around, and get an idea of my chances.

Major in photography? I don't know of any elite west coast schools that has a photography program. If you want to get in the photography business, the best way is to intern with some production company. But you are facing an obstacle if you still want to attend a PUBLIC west coast school. For the University of California or any competitive public university that belongs to the state, they will judge you with a much higher criteria than a state resident. For example, UC will let in a Californian candidate who is slightly less impressive than you just because UC is a state institution that serves Californians first. But there quite a few out of state students when I went to school so this shouldn't discourage you if you really want to go.

It really doesn't matter where your from, thats not what the college looks at. As long as you have a high GPA and test scores ( which it sounds like you do ) you should do well!

Living on the East Coast doesn't affect your chances of getting into a West Coast school. This isn't rap music.

I definitely understand your desire to get out of where you live. I live in the Midwest and am considering the East coast.