Because I can’t leave well enough alone, there is a way for you to be considered independent, and in retrospect, may have been the way that I was able to do it: Federal Student Aid
If you are self-supporting and at risk of becoming homeless, you can be declared independent.
In my case, I’d already been kicked out and had dropped out of school. I was working as a live-in nanny, so my housing was entirely dependent on me keeping my job. Given that your parents have threatened to throw you out if you so much as visit the school they don’t like, you may have a case if you move out and get a job. Probably won’t work for first semester of freshman year, but maybe you could ask for a deferral for a year and see if you can make it all work?
Take another year; shore up your relationships (both inside and outside your immediate family) and re-focus on colleges whose requirements for applying as an independent are not so stringent. A side benefit might be a change of mind about you’re not being “old enough”.
EDIT: I cross-posted with @Momof242729 , but I think the two of us are literally on the same page.
You can only borrow $5500 the first year - and you cannot make up that delta.
Crazy thought and if it’s not in your head you should never do it - but the military might be an escape - you get job trained and educational $$.
But gay and the military doesn’t necessarily work.
I don’t see how you can be independent - as you are a dependent of your parents.
You’re really stuck here because without money, you can’t do things - and a loan and a part time job won’t give you enough. Maybe you can work full time and take a class or two - otherwise take a gap year and apply to colleges like Prairie View where you can get a full ride.
If I understand properly, you came out to your parents and they do not accept that you are gay so are trying to keep you home in order to control your social life and most especially keep you from meeting other gay kids and potentially dating.
As a result, even a university as conservative as TAMU will not satisfy them that you won’t meet other gay kids and they won’t pay for college there - nor have they saved for any college.
Is that a fair summary?
First of all, do you have a LGBTQ support network - Helpline, gay/straight alliance, supportive relatives with whom you’re out, community resources, (even access to books/media)? It’s very important you can talk with others - peers, adults, supportive trained professionals- and process all this with supportive people.
Second, does your uncle live near TAMU so that you could commute? Were you admitted to any college where you could commute from your uncle’s? If not, would you be willing to attend a community college near your uncle’s if he’s willing to take you in?
Third, you seem to be doing very well at your current job. Can you tell your supervisor you’re going to leave for college (something s/he is likely aware of already/has assumed already) and politely ask whether they’d write you a recommendation for a similar position at a similar company/in a similar job/at another business branch? Since you’re a good employee and assuming a basic HS job, you should be able to find another similar job wherever your uncle lives so that’s the least difficult issue - but having a recommendation may help speed things up.
Others may correct me - but for this fall, how will you pay?
Are they unwilling to send you to college or unwilling to send you away?
Schools is no longer free - it has a cost - so you have to attend a school you can afford.
And even if you can afford, where do you go when you’re not in session, etc.
But yes, that’s how I see it.
That’s why I suggested - if you can get hired by Starbucks, they will send you to Arizona State (online) for free.
Or join the military - but that’s got other challenges/problems - and isn’t desiring gay members so you’d have to stay closeted. Not saying you should do this - just thinking of ways to fund.
You said they want you at home for two more years. Maybe they really don’t think you are ready to leave - irrelevant of sexuality.
Nonetheless, there are less expensive schools than A&M - and at Prairie View you might be able to go for free. And @ucbalumnus put up a few more. But you might need a gap year to qualify as it might be too late.
You are correct, but is it necessary to have zero debt after college. Like is there not an acceptable amount? Like I know 100k in debt is bad, but if i get it down to under 30k, it should not be too bad. I’m going into Computer Science, and the job rate is 93%, so I feel it is a safe investment.
As a student considered dependent for financial aid purposes, your parents’ financial circumstances and choices are the main limits on your college choice. If your parents will not pay and are not poor and cooperative with financial aid forms, then you basically need a full ride merit scholarship to attend college immediately after high school. Otherwise, the paths would be nontraditional ones like waiting until age 24, the Starbucks ASU thing mentioned above, military service first, etc.
The rules are federal/national. There are no colleges where applying as an independent is less stringent.
Unless the student is homeless/has been kicked out or a judge has decided that the parents are abusive (in TX I’m not sure a judge would consider “negate your kid’s identity” as abuse the way it could be in some states where LGBTQ kids have more protections), they can only be considered independent if they’re married or are responsible for a child themselves - and that only means they can have more loans, basically.
I mean the question above is my main question. Like is it necessary to have zero debt if I’m going into a high paying career and attending a college with many connections.
Do you have supportive relatives that would let you stay with them during college (perhaps in exchange for something, depending on what they need)?
You may not be able to attend TAMU but if you can attend a local college (CC, state college) then transfer in 2 years it may be a solution.
1/ talk with your relatives most likely to welcome you (most likely to support the idea that with a 3.9/1330 you do not need one extra year of HS and should be starting college)
2/ then, look at public community and public colleges within 30mn public transportation or driving distance. The ideal would be relatives living in a city with public transportation so that you can delay buying a car and can thus save the money towards tuition.
Lots of kids start at CCs and transfer to good colleges. Some CCs may still have their Honors program&scholarship applications still open.
You’ll need your parents’ cooperation to get federal loans - they need to sign FAFSA forms so YOU can get the loans (signing the forms DOES NOT commit them to anything). That amount is 5.5k for freshman year. If they agree to sign for YOU to take on these loans (no burden on them) it’d give you more wiggle room.
The federal loans are the only ones you can get because you’re not an adult yet.
Everyone’s cross-posting with everybody else. It’s February; the OP is just beginning to realize that his dream school is unattainable. He can either take a deep breath and regroup with next year’s admissions cycle in mind, or he can scramble to cobble together merit money at a lot of schools he’s never heard of. That’s a lot to put on one kid’s plate.
Yes.
And that comes with the traumatic situation of your parents wanting to change who you are.
But being an independent for application purpose is not a path open to OP.
OP getting support from various LGBTQ groups is essential both for his psychological wellbeing&safety, and because it’s a situation they’ve alas encountered many times before and therefore will have direct suggestions for.
