Thank you for this incredibly detailed comment! I’ll see if I can talk to my parents more about this & if they’d help me fill out FAFSA/CSS.
Yes, I’ll admit that my list was primarily T20s & I left out most of the VA schools, so their reaction is justified. After reading over all of the comments on the same post I made on Reddit, as well as on here, I think it’s a finance + control issue that made them react this way
At the same time, they’ve always been supportive of my Princeton dreams so I’m not 100% sure of the 180. I’ll need to talk w/ them more and ask around
I don’t know about the competition. School starts soon, should I ask to meet w/ my counselor asap?
Thank you so much for this detailed post. I’ve never heard about intentionally keeping your 1st year status, but it makes sense.
I’m interested in either math or business–I’m not really sure what career I’d like to pursue at the moment. Maybe a quant trader?
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My parents are US citizens, immigrated in the 90s.
I’ll definitely need to ask them for more info about why CC, and especially at least for their cooperation in filling out the FAFSA/CSS.
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Are they government employees/contractors?
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UW: 4.1
W: 4.53
My GPA may seem high, but I know for a fact that it’s not in the top 5% for NOVA
Yes, they are
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Are either/both at risk of losing their jobs in the current environment? Without getting political, that could explain their reticence to commit to an expensive 4 year college. If, heaven forbid, they were to both lose their jobs, that could be a financial nightmare.
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Not sure, but it is definitely a possibility.
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Math and business are fairly common majors, although math departments can vary widely in what upper level offerings they emphasize (e.g. pure math versus various fields of applied math including finance versus preparation for high school math teaching). “Elite” business (like investment banking and management consulting) tends to be college-prestige conscious.
Accounting is generally a subarea of business, although prerequisites for the CPA exam includes 150 credits (5 academic years) of college course work in addition to minimum numbers of credits in accounting and business courses.
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Princeton - if you’re among the 5% who get in - may actually be the best deal for you if your parents fear for their job, because it’s the most generous with financial aid : it’s free tuition up to 250k (meaning that in the current situation you’d also get some scholarship for housing and you’d only have to pay for meals&books, which with the basic federal loans&a part-time job you start now you’d be able to do) but MOST IMPORTANTLY they adjust the amount of aid to your financial circumstances, unlike public universities, so that you could get a full ride (ie., free tuition, room, and board) if one of your parents loses their job, a full ride+ (free tuition, room, board, books, transportation costs) if your family’s financial circumstances change drastically.
If their concern is financial, generous meet-need colleges are the way to go.
An issue with attending a CC is that you will likely only have 1 year there due to how many advanced credits you already have then you’ll need to transfer to a 4-year university but will have lost your chance at big merit scholarships (since those go mainly to first year applicants.)
If they want you to be an accountant (probably for job safety), you need a 4-year degree and an extra year before you can attempt to be certified.
You should maximize your odds of scholarships applying to every in-state university that offers that major and apply to Honors programs/colleges to increase scholarships.
Ask your HS GC if any VA university offers a “free application” day or “free application if you do this”. Write it all down and complete whatever steps as best you can to stretch your application money.
Can you ask them whether you can apply to Richard Bland Community College?
(It’s got a residential component and an Honors program. So if the issue is control you’d sidestep it while following their decree about CCs yet you’d still have sufficient intellectual challenge and a guaranteed transfer to W&M or other excellent public universities in VA.)
Since you’re living in NoVa and they are federal employees, I immediately thought of two things:
Either they are at risk of losing their job and for sure have seen their friends and colleagues lose theirs; entire depts and branches of the federal government have been decimated
Or
Depending on family experiences or personal life experiences that they may not have shared with you, the presence of armed soldiers&tanks, masked men tazing a delivery guy or throwing random people to the ground audibly crushing their nose, erecting a blockade in the middle of a quiet street to demand random people’s papers (even though the US doesn’t have a national ID system), all in nearby DC and around where they may work, and whether they just heard about it, saw images, or were present for, may remind them of traumatic moments or might echo warnings they’ve heard from family (ie., when x happens, be ready for y and z and act in consequence). Although even without a past, all of this is already terrifying enough (which is the point), if it echoes a family experience it could lead to irrational decisions due to trauma, fear, or PTSD.
Dealing with the former will be different from dealing with the latter.
(If the issue is illness or control, that’s also be different.)
Also, as per official website, in case your parents worry about IDOC or official databases:
“Please note that Princeton does not utilize IDOC, the CSS Profile..”
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If you are the first of their children to apply to college, it’s also very possible they had no idea just how expensive colleges are these days (and especially compared to decades ago…or to their own college costs).
And if they have concerns about losing their jobs, and with a second child starting college during your third year…these are concerns that they probably never thought of previously.
I think your biggest question is…what do they hope you will do after you attend community college for one or two years. You won’t likely be able to pay for the remaining two years of your bachelors program all by yourself. And as a CC transfer, you won’t be eligible for the generous need based aid some of these colleges give to incoming freshmen, and merit aid at those that offer it.
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it is definitely a possibility
We have our explanation.
Your parents are under a tremendous amount of stress. They don’t want this and they didn’t ask for it. It’s not their fault.
You might let them know that you need their help to get applications + FAFSA submitted, but that you don’t have to attend college immediately. Colleges will typically allow you to defer for a year, so tell them that you are willing to take a gap year and to spend that time earning money. You can share with them some of the excellent advice you’ve received here, such as the excellent suggestion about Princeton.
Again, they are under tremendous stress. It’s not their fault. They need time to figure it all out. At certain points in history p, these things have happened. Together you will get through it and you will be better off when you come out on the other side for having gotten through it together. 
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If you can get a 36, you can get a full tuition scholarship to the University of Alabama that also covers housing for the first year.
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OP—did you take the PSAT your junior year? If so, and if you are a semi finalist or finalist, that will open up some merit scholarships.
This was asked and answered. Their selection index was 208 so not NMSF. Good idea, but unfortunately not a possibility.
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OP, you’ve gotten great advice here, the key is you have to apply as usual and then see if/when community college is needed. This is also the first year that there will be less high school students applying, that may not affect the Princeton’s of the world, but you should be in a little better position than prior years. Good Luck!
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Simple.
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Apply to whatever top colleges you can. This is the only part where you will need to pay out of pocket. Alternatively, email the admissions office requesting for a waiver.
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Find out if you get accepted anywhere you want to go to.
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Take a gap year, and work a job.
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Because you have an income, you can (hopefully) be able to attend the college of your choice.