Yes I was. But it makes the “get hours in a retail job during the Thanksgiving to Xmas season” recommendation even more urgent. 
They would not.
I will have to reconsider medical school, its just not a feasible option.
I think I’m leaning toward CC, why take a gap year if I know the inevitable.
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Yeah, I think this might be the route honestly.
Always joked about this being my route, but that’s the plan.
I think I’m going to try to become a PA, don’t have a chance apparently for being a doctor.
You have to play all your possible cards:
Colleges where you may get sufficient scholarships (from Lafayette to SUNY Buffalo to NJIT and Rowan), commuting&hoping for enough merit to Rutgers, Community College (check which ones have an honors program and a good record of supporting transfers to Rutgers).
PA is another way to practice in healthcare. Decent, steady income.
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But you can apply for competitive scholarships. Troy would be free tuition. Prairie View is an HBCU but you could get a full ride. But they are not auto.
A UAH slightly under $20k room and board included. Central Michigan similar. Or Bama or Ms State low to mid 20s.
Out of the geographic comfort zone, yes, but budget requires that.
Providence has the Roddy pre med full ride.
You need to find Hail Mary scholarships.
But knowing about your family and being close - well CC seems the only appropriate answer. Not sure of the cost.
You might use this thread or our messages as a conversation starter with your folks.
Many don’t consider finances but unfortunately it’s criminal not to.
And more of your friends will be in cc than you realize.
Good luck.
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I will look into the ccs and others during this weekend. Got a lot of rethinking to do.
Hopefully, my parents can understand the situation. They’re def going to be disappointed with what I’m about to tell them. 
I am, I won’t prob get them, but my chances are zero if I don’t apply.
I’m going to keep a list of what you guys are suggesting
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I’ve heard more than a few doctors say that if they had it to do over again, they’d go the PA route.
Another path to look into, if you’re sure you want clinical practice, is to pursue a CC nursing program. This would bump up your earning potential quickly, and then you could go for your BSN and then NP, which is similar to PA in terms of practice options, and in some ways better.
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Exactly.
Ps in our pm I sent you the PA thread earlier today - as something to read.
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Tell them that whatever they can help with, starting to save now, you could commute to Rutgers but since loans aren’t possible anymore you MIGHT have to go through the CC route and will be applying to the (selective) honors programs meant for NJ stars students so you’d be in good company.
Is there another adult they trust, who could support you in having that conversation? College counselor, clergy, relative?
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One issue is that if in April you are looking at acceptances to Rutgers and to a couple of other universities, hopefully with some good merit aid somewhere, and you are also looking at community college as another option, your parents might decide that they can pay something. This looks like a long shot, but you never know.
When you are a senior in high school it is normal for other seniors to be, well perhaps a bit snobby about which schools other students are going to attend. When you get to university or college that mostly won’t be the case. After a month of college or university, even at a community college, you will be surrounded by people who are too busy keeping up with their homework and studying to be too concerned about where you all are (and you will of course be surrounded by people who chose to attend the same school). Then if you ever do get to medical school or to any other biomedical-related graduate programs you will most likely find students where who got their bachelor’s degree at a very wide range of schools (one doctor told me “All over the place”).
One daughter had a friend who was a very strong student. However her mother was not capable of holding a job, her father’s small business was struggling, and they were divorced. This friend went to community college because that was what she could afford. She lived with her father and commuted (she did need a car). After two years of community college she transferred to an in-state public university, not the flagship, with a full tuition scholarship. I just by coincidence happen to run into her one month before her graduation. She had a boyfriend with her who seemed like a good guy and also had a very big smile. She had done very well in university and was graduating with a high GPA and a very marketable bachelor’s degree. I was very proud of her. I can only imagine how proud her father must have been (way back in elementary school I had known him fairly well because we both had been chaperoning the elementary school’s ski program – he was a very nice guy).
Sometimes community college is the best path for a student. There are several reasons why this could be true, with finances being one of the big ones.
There are lots of alternatives to medical school. One daughter briefly thought of medical school as an option, but when in university got into the lab, discovered that she liked it, got into cancer research, and found that she liked research. She is currently getting a PhD in a biomedical field. In general PhD programs can be very, very competitive for admissions, and can take a while (6 or 7 years is typical). However, other than the opportunity to do research they have another plus: At least STEM PhD’s in the US are typically fully funded. This means that the university pays for your tuition and fees and health insurance, and pays you a stipend that is enough to live on so long as you live quite frugally. Thus it is possible, if you want to do it and if you can get accepted, and if you are willing to put in the work over an extended period of time, to get a PhD without needing any other source of funding.
However, you have a lot of time before you figure this out. For now you need to see where you get accepted and what each school is likely to cost.
Once you get to university or college you will need to be careful about how many hours you put into a job. University requires quite a lot of time and effort. Also, if you are interested in any graduate degree related to medicine and biology, then you will want to do very well in your university classes, and some of them are going to be tough.
Best wishes. You sound like a very responsible high school student and I hope that this all works out for you.
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I’m guessing your parents have no idea how expensive college actually is…even instate, and commuting. Perhaps once they see the costs, they will be more amenable to ideas to reach your end goal of getting a bachelors degree (please put medical school on the back burner for now).
College is a journey, not a race. Some students need to take longer to complete the journey because of the costs, and that is OK. There are students who work full time and attend college part time. There are students who attend college part time and work part time. These are fine options if they get you to your end goal.
You can (and should) apply to some of the colleges suggested in this thread, but please, understand that if the money isn’t forthcoming, you will need to decline acceptances to unaffordable schools.
Plenty of folks start at community colleges. Back in the Stone Age…my husband returned to college after a 7 year break. He attended a community college for two years and he said it was a very very good experience. He transferred to a four year school with a coop program to complete his engineering degree.
I want to add…at the beginning of his 7 year break, he took CC courses in CA where his family lived at the time. He says…one mistake he made was not staying at that CC. But oh well.
Please try to think of your end goal. Discuss this all with your parents.
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This is true, but you’d need to feel confident that they are willing and able to commit to a consistent contribution for the whole four years. If they’re just going to dig deep to get you in the door of a university they deem acceptable, but then move the goalposts once you’re there and tell you to fund the rest with loans, that will put you in a very tough spot.
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Thank you I will look into that also
So just to clarify there is an honors program in cc through nj stars? I thought nj stars was in highschool.
I think I can talk to them honestly, just need their time.
I could ask my college counselor or a relative.
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Thank you, I’m happy that she’s successful, hopefully I can too. Regarding the school attitude toward cc, I knew after we all left it wouldn’t matter, just went on a bit of a tangent.
I’ll look into all the options everyone has said + yours (PA, nurse, med school, PhD)
I’m not going to work too many hours, and whatever I have I would probably need to save.
Thank you for the wishes, I also wish that I’m successful regardless where I go.
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Thank you, I will discuss this option with my parents. I’ll also look into all the schools you guys suggested.
Also congrats for your husband, hopefully I find that same level of success.
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