I'm thinking of transferring out of state... Any tips?

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Alright, at the moment I go to college in my hometown. I really hate it here, and I want to look into transferring to the University of Minnesota (Twin Cities). They have a better Econ program anyway (as does almost every great lake state).
So here's some things I'm needing help with:

- Financial Aid. For out of state, Minnesota's a great deal, but with tuition and dorm it'll still run me about $22K/year. Does anyone know how much FAFSA money I'd get for living with one parent that takes in about $33.5K/year? Do they give you more for going out of state? Then for scholarships, how easy is it to get one as a 3rd year transfer student? As far as I know, most scholarships are for freshman...

- Getting in. Okay, so I kind of slack off a bit (and I've been screwed over a few times). My GPA at the moment is a 3.06 (2 of my classes for this term haven't been graded yet, so that may go up or down a bit). How badly will that affect me being a white male who isn't good at sports? I also have a couple W's (withdrawals). The bad thing is that one of them is for one of my major's classes (Econometrics). That's just a story of college screwing me over (as if it hasn't enough already). The other W is in Political Science, so hopefully they don't care about that one as much. Besides my Intermediate Macro Theory class (which is another 'I got screwed over' story) I've gotten A's and A-'s in my other Econ classes. I also got a 30 on my ACT (99th percentile), but will they even look at that? What do you think my chances are of getting in?

- Transferring credits. How was your experience getting all your credits transferred over? Did they make up stupid excuses to not take the credit you got from your first university?

- Dorm life. This is my biggest worry about going far away. What is/was it like for you to live in the dorms? Good? Bad? A mixed bag?

- What is U of Minnesota like? If any WP members go/went there, enlighten me.

Sorry I personally wasn't an out-of-state transfer student, but for some of your questions I'd suggest contacting the Economics department directly at your desired transfer destination and ask them about stuff like the acceptance rate of transfer students into their major, typical GPA of admitted students, and what they would think about the W's on your record. They may or may not look at your ACT or other standardized test score, but they'll be able to tell you what their requirements are for applying as a transfer student.

Their financial aid office may be able to answer some of your questions regarding scholarships available to transfer students, though of course since you aren't a MN resident you won't be eligible for anything requiring MN residency. I might be wrong but I think the federal financial aid (e.g. FAFSA thingy) is need-based, so when tuition is calculated they'll see that yours as an out-of-state student will be higher and will calculate financial need accordingly.

I did stay in the dorms while I was a freshman undergrad at UC Berkeley and it was a mixed bag. I lived in a triple with two random roommates who ended up not liking each other, and they were constantly fighting. The whole floor was all guys and they were constantly getting drunk, and there was a constant smell of vomit... luckily my brother's floor was a lot quieter and more focused on schoolwork so I ended up hanging out on that floor most of the time. If anything, I would assume that living with other junior transfer students might be easier as they would be more mature (if that sort of thing is what you want), but in the end there are no guarantees and you could end up with great or miserable living conditions either way...