Abusive family, college experience, and next steps?

I’ve reopened the thread. I had concerns about the validity of the post after reading this, along with a few other things: [quote=“nwb3, post:1, topic:3651621”]
I decided to yell at her for her awful treatment to me again
[/quote]

OP, assuming your post is accurate, you have very serious issues in your life and we are concerned for you. Some of your issues are beyond the abilities of anyone on this website to give assistance. However, there have been good suggestions about how you can address some of the more straightforward questions you’ve asked.

I would like to address a few points.

There are ways to do this, but it is not easy. Edvisors website has a page on this question. You must remember that you’ll have to pay back the money. It is going to be very expensive. Think as much as $100,000 at a public, instate university. It will have to be paid back, with interest, which can add many thousands to that number. Some states have reciprocal tuition agreements with other states so you may be able to get instate tuition at another public. But again, paying to live on campus, along with food and books, etc… adds a lot of cost.

I am not sure I understand this question. Are you planning to visit multiple colleges before you apply? That is expensive. As a transfer student, I don’t think there is any way you’ll get a college to pay for you to visit. There are fly in programs for certain high schoolers who are prospective college freshmen, but that isn’t you. Coaches are usually the cheapest transport option anywhere, but you still should plan to get tickets in advance. Hotels are expensive, food is expensive. I suggest you do as much research as possible online. During the pandemic, plenty of students had to choose colleges sight unseen. Plenty of students still do this, in fact, especially if from abroad.

Really, your main issue is money. Students pay their own way all the time, but they generally start at a community college and transfer. Your private college is almost certainly more expensive than any public.

Please clarify: you have never attended college as a new freshman, correct? I strongly suggest that you not attend the private college next semester if you are somehow going to be stuck paying on your own. If you start and can’t pay, you’ll be forced to leave with nothing to show for it. Worse, you might get incompletes or withdrawal on your transcript. All transcripts must be disclosed to future colleges.

If you decide to go ahead with your semester, ensure you are taking ONLY classes that will easily transfer to public universities. You can’t afford to take any nontransferable credits. So probably focus just on general Ed courses.

If you have never attended college (your sophomore high school class probably doesn’t count because I am assuming it was a DE class or similar?), then there might be more options for you. You can work, save money, and apply as a freshman for Fall of 2024, more likely at this point, Fall of 2025. If you were a good student at your high school with high grades and lots of rigorous courses, there are some colleges that might give you full tuition. Look up colleges with automatic merit scholarships. You may want to start a separate post with your grades, courses, test scores, etc… and see if there are suggestions for where you can apply for next year.

Good luck with your future.

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@nwb3: You need to look into work colleges. Students work at the college for their total cost-of-attendance.

Berea College in Berea, Kentucky is an outstanding school which will give you the opportunity to earn a college degree.

There are several other work colleges with which I am not as familiar. Consider Alice Lloyd College in Kentucky and College of the Ozarks in Missouri.

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Sorry about all of this. The vast majority of us are not professionals, so advice is going to be limited. You might need to seek a professional to help with this situation. For the limited advice I can give, are you able to enlist in the military? A GI bill would effectively solve the problem with paying for college because you would be a fully independent student when you got out with a full 4 year scholarship. Anything else you do is going to require your parents involvement with the FAFSA, because you’re a dependent student.

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I’m not currently eligible for health reasons but I believe that the time summer comes I will be good for rotc.

I completely understand why you closed this temporarily. Yes I’m in a pretty crappy situation (still no excuse for yelling at her though). I am currently working with a mental health professional so things are getting better I guess.

I am attending the college next semester. I enrolled in the fall but dropped a few weeks later and unfortunately had no other option but to move home. I am going to return to this private college for two reasons. 1. It’s super affordable, even for a private college. 2. I can move back into the dorms. (I’m a college freshman)

I apricate that even as a mod, you responded with great advice.

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Well here’s the good news. If you can get through your first 1-2 years of college, an ROTC scholarship most likely won’t require parental involvement or FAFSA. And then you have your last 2 years of college paid for and a good military career.

Have you been working with any recruiters on the ROTC piece? I’m not fully familiar, but from what I have seen from others, it is a process with specific timing. Next summer may be too late to qualify for the 2024-25 school year. I do NOT know that for sure, but I would start working with someone now so that you understand the timing and the many requirements. Also, I have seen unexpected disqualifications for medical and mental health reasons, so you may also want to start the process to see if it is reasonable to expect that an ROTC scholarship could be your answer.

Good luck!

I’d have to be off medication for two years, so realistically when I’m an upper classman I can apply.

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What was your GPA? What SAT/ACT scores did you get if you took any of those?

A merit scholarship is a surer way to paying college costs than ROTC in your circumstances.

The reason people are advising you not enroll in the Spring is that the best scholarships are for "1st time in college’ students. Enrolling in the Spring could cost you tens of thousands in scholarship money because transfers get lousy aid.

If you can prospect and find a job that pays well ($17-20 an hour?) In another town you’d have enough to pay a roommate+save some toward college costs and it’d be cheaper than dorms. It’d give you time to recover and applybto colleges that offer sufficient scholarships.

Look into Berea: all admitted students pay no tuition (then, once they’ve “made it”, they pay it forward for new students). It’s a really good college and if they admitted you it’d be free.
(The other 2 are a bit sketchy.),

Berea College is a great option. Berea College accepts 38% of all applicants.

College of the Ozarks gets great ratings from US News as a Regional College (some years it is ranked #1 Regional College in the Midwest & sometimes it is ranked #3. Ranked #1 as a Great Value by US News.) I think that the College of the Ozarks is the most well known of the 9 or 10 work colleges in the US.

College of the Ozarks accepts about 21% of all applicants.

I just don’t know much about Alice Lloyd College.

Warren Wilson College in North Carolina accepts about 74% of all applicants.

https://www.workcolleges.org/index.php/colleges

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Alice Lloyd serves students from Appalachia exclusively and is non sectarian Christian, it is not in compliance with federal rules loke Title IX nor can its students receive federal loans or Pell Grants. It’s similar to Hillsdale or Grove City.
College of the Ozarks is grounded in fundamentalist Christianity (especially missions) and patriotic values. It does not accept federal funding nor can its students accept federal loans. It has tried to sue the Biden White House over federal dorm rules but the Supreme Court refused to take the case. It’s similar to Oral Roberts (?)

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