<p>I am 16 turning 17 in a couple months and I don’t know what I have to do to get financial aid because I know for a fact my parents aren’t going to help me pay for my college/university so I just wanted to know? I have a job and it is steady not alot of money but by the time I am 18/19 years old I will be able to at least afford the beginning I just want financial aid it sounds like it will be alot easier</p>
<p>Hi Suevg</p>
<p>There is financial aid out there and there are things you can do to minimize your cost. If you are very limited financially, I would definitely consider a local community college for the first 2 years. Years ago, CC’s were considered sort of the colleges for kids who weren’t serious about school, but with the high cost of school that image has totally changed. You can get all of your general ed classes out of the way at a much lower cost, and then transfer to a college that is suited for your area of interest. You might also think about taking classes while you are still in high school as sometimes the cost is even lower. I know that in California high school students can take classes at CC and the tuition is waived. Also if you have an opportunity at your school to take AP classes, you might be able test out of that class in college and save some money there.</p>
<p>When you are ready to apply for college you will have to file a federal financial form known as the FAFSA- google it and it will take you to a website where you complete it online. You will have to have your parents tax info to complete this form so hopefully they will at least help you get that info. Once you submit that form, you will be considered for federal financial aid. Your high school counselor should be able to help you access that info.</p>
<p>When you start looking at colleges be sure to consider some of the smaller, less known achools. Sometimes they offer great incentives to get good students and will give you more money. Be as flexible as you can when considering schools and open to any school that will offer you money. Also, look for local scholarships that you can apply for- again your high school should be able to help. Ask as many questions as you can and don;t be afraid of bothering anyone!!! As someone who has graduated from college and been in the work force, I can tell you that in general, no one really cares that much where you went to school, only that you graduated. Get your education anywhere you can!!! </p>
<p>Good luck!!!</p>
<p>Hi cktsing!!! </p>
<p>wow thank you this is alot to take in lol but I think it will work in the long run but I do home school so i think it will be a little more complicated than that! Do I still have to do ap stuff if I am home schooled my advisor hasn’t told me anything like that so I don’t know! Yeah I want to do massage therapy so I don’t know this is so hard haha but thank you so much!</p>
<p>sue my daughter homeschooled and took the classes for massage therapy and all she needed was a GED. Since the school she went to for massage therapy was not an accredited college, she didn’t get any financial aid. The cost was around 15,000.</p>
<p>Just keep in mind that the FAFSA requires your parents tax info. If they have a middle class or higher income it is very possible you will not receive aid except for loans and most of these would have to be taken out by your parents. The fact that they don’t want to pay makes NO difference in financial aid amounts given.</p>
<p>I would strongly recommend reading threads on this site. You will learn a lot about the aid process. Some basics, simply summarized, I’ve picked up as a parent (and Iron Maiden hit on a couple). </p>
<ol>
<li> Financial aid is not only based upon current income, but what one should have saved and future earnings.<br></li>
<li> As Iron Maiden said, just because your parents DON’T or WON’T financially contribute to your education doesn’t matter to colleges. If it did, we’d all declare we can’t/won’t contribute and hope for a full ride.<br></li>
<li> There are very few instances when parental income isn’t considered. Unless one is an older student (over 24?) or a non dependent (and it’s VERY difficult to be declared as such), parental income will be considered.</li>
<li> Even if one is eligible for financial aid, one cannot depend the need being fully met. Some of that aid WILL most likely be in the form of loans that will need to be repaid.<br></li>
</ol>
<p>Others certainly will have additions to this list. </p>
<p>I’m one of those parents that relied heavily upon aid (mostly loans) to finance my education many years ago. It wasn’t always easy being constantly broke while in school or paying off the loans after graduation. It left me with the belief that anything worth having isn’t always easy getting. </p>
<p>No one is entitled to a free post-secondary education.</p>
<p>Thank you guys so much this helps alot</p>
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<p>I don’t think that most schools for massage therapy are colleges. They do not award financial aid in the same way, if at all. You might want to check with some massage therapy schools in your area if this is what you are intending to pursue after high school. These types of schools do not have the same application or financial aid processes as colleges.</p>
<p>yeah I was doing some research on the universities for massage therapy and they aren’t as expensive as other majors which is good but still alot of money for my taste haha but some of the universities that I have been looking at are far from home and they do except financial aid if needed</p>
<p>Sue…I have to ask, why would you go to a major university for massage therapy when this is something that can be done through a massage therapy program with hours of work? And just curious…what universities offer degrees in massage therapy?</p>
<p>I know the boat you’re in actually. My parents weren’t going to pay for college either so I had to do everything I could to get money for school.
I looked on a ton of sites for information to get grants and scholarships which turned out to be very helpful.
There are quite a few gov. sites that offer information on grants in general but I found <a href=“http://www.collegegrantstoday.com%5B/url%5D”>www.collegegrantstoday.com</a> to be geared more toward the college student looking for a grant.
I’d suggest doing a search for student grants, there are a lot of useful sites.</p>
<p>Good Luck!!</p>
<p>Thanks guys this really does help because I really don’t know what to do!</p>
<p>Thumper where I live there is a really good college for massage therapy but I don’t want to go anywhere that I live because I want to experience the outside world I always have and I always will so I hope there are other programs universities/colleges/etc. in other states that offer good massage therapy! I might change my major (very doubtful) lol but I am still open to anything right now I will have to decide next year though!</p>