You should consider carefully whether a job will actually help pay for college. It will depend on whether your family was judged eligible for aid, and what kind of package you have been offered. The total cost would be only a fraction of the cost of a private college, and still thousands of dollars less than that of a four-year program at the state college. The student will get the private college degree at a much more affordable price. Obviously, the student would have to get accepted by the private school as a transfer student, and this can be quite difficult.
Outstanding grades are a given.
The undergraduate savings would be huge, but again, whether the student attends a private or a public undergraduate college, a compelling academic record is always very important to ensure acceptance. The family will complete its last standardized need analysis form in the spring of the student's junior year of college. Once that form has been filed, there are no longer any financial aid considerations to worry about. During the summer between junior and senior year, students who want to help out with the last year's tuition can earn unlimited amounts of money without hurting their eligibility for financial aid. Of course, if the student goes straight on to graduate school, then the senior year of college becomes the first base income year for graduate school, and the process begins again.