should I use , "This way" or "So" or another one?

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Hi
this is what I am writing:

The tuition fee is very high, I have never thought ,that it is this way

should I exchange “this way” to “So” or another word to express my intention better?

please correct my sentences grammatically if they are wrong.

Thanks

2

I suggest:

The tuition fee is very high. I never thought that it would be so.

or, as a simpler and more straight-forward version:
I never thought that the tuition fee would be so high.