Hi, my mom is a bit of a control freak and she insists on coming on my college tours with me. She doesn’t want me going to college in the first place, and I’m scared that she’ll take over the tour or try to sabotage it. I really want to make a good first impression, but also I’ll have to dress in the ridiculous religious way she makes me and I’ll look so stupid. It’s hard enough figuring out college all by myself as I’m a junior in a religious school that doesn’t have a normal guidance counselor, and my parents are making things as difficult as possible for me. None of my friends want to go to college, and I don’t have anybody to help me. I need some advice for how to figure out what school I want to go to even with her giving me her two cents and judging me the entire time I’m on a tour. (Also, she’s really busy so it’ll be a miracle if she ever ends up taking me.)
Thank you so much!
You’re going to have to give us more information about yourself, your interests, your abilities, your grades, your test scores, etc before anyone here can offer suggestions about which sxpchools.
Second, if your mother doesn’t want you to go to college, does your father agree? Who’s going to pay for college?
My dad is okay with whatever I want to do, but he doesn’t have a job. My mom makes all the decisions and runs the house and he just has to do what she says because she has all the power. I will be paying for college myself, as my mom doesn’t want to help. (student loans, i guess) My dad does want to help me, but he can’t. My 9th year grades aren’t good, but I got all As this past year, and will be taking the only two AP courses that my school has to offer this coming year. My ACT scores from last year was 31, but my goal is to bring that up to a 34 this year when I retake it. I am thinking about becoming a PMHNP, and attending ohio university. (I’ve also been thinking about Kent state, Ohio state, and Miami University).
The colleges are going to require that you submit parental income information. They will determine your cost based on on your parents’s combined income.
You can only receive federal loans which will total $27,000 over 4 years. Any additional loans will have to be co-signed by your parents, which means that they are responsible for paying them back if you can’t. Is your mom willing to do that?
If you live in Ohio (?), community college costs about $5000 per year. You may want to start there.
For freshman year, the federally funded Direct Loan is $5500. That might cover the cost of a community college if you can commute from home. It won’t cover the costs of a residential college. Any additional loans will likely need to be cosigned by a parent.
But if you go to a $50,000 a year college and pay totally with loans, you will have $200,000 in loans plus interest to repay. I think you need a better plan.
Do you have a school counselor who can help you navigate the college application process? Any relatives nearby? Clergy? Someone who can help you?
What is this?
I don’t have anyone to help me, as my parents never let me near anybody outside our community. I don’t want to go to a community college, as I don’t want to live at home anymore. I’m hoping to get a good scholarship based on test scores.
Rule of thumb, the person paying gets to go on the tour. If she’s not going to pay, there is no reason you MUST include her. It would be up to you to decide. Perhaps start with a tour of a school you aren’t that interested in and see how she does. Also, most tours will not judge you on your mother.
Most of the best scholarships the colleges offer are based on both test scores and GPA.
Will your family contribute anything towards your college costs annually?
Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner. You need a BSN then to pass a test and become an RN, then to get an MSN with a specialization in PMHNP, then get licensed. It’s basically a therapist and psychiatrist rolled in one. I want to help people have better lives.
She doesn’t let me go by myself. It’s not like I can steal the car and drive off.
Do they have to cosign even though I’ll be 18 when I go?
I don’t think so.
Parents go on tours. You’re a minor. Your tour is highly unlikely to impact any decision on admission. A tour is for them to sell you - ie you learn about them and hopefully like them.
No one from the college is going to judge you on the tour, much less because of your parent. Your bigger issue is figuring out how to pay for it if your parents are not willing or able.
Community college is one option. Another is getting a job that helps pay for college though that would probably be online and not the experience you want. (Example: https://starbucks.asu.edu )While neither are ideal, they are routes to getting you where you want to end up.
If not college, what do does your mom expect you to do when you graduate high school?
PMHNP
So, are you planning to apply to nursing school? Nursing schools are very competitive everywhere these days.
You can do nursing backwards. You can get your RN at a community college first. Then you can go to a 4 year college to complete the requirements for a BSN. With an RN, you can make good money working part time to help get you through the BSN.
You say that you don’t want community college because you don’t want to live at home. You don’t have to live at home when you attend community college. You just might not be living in a dorm but in an apartment. Whether you live in a dorm or in an apartment, you still have costs and have to figure out how to pay the bills. Hocking College is a community college in Ohio which does offer a nursing RN program and it does have dorms.
Your parents do have to co-sign even though you’re 18. Banks won’t lend you money without a co-signer because you have no assets and no credit history.
Tuition, fees, room & board at Hocking College are about $14,000 for a full year. It is located in Nelsonville, southeast of Columbus and not far from Athens.
So what is the “Why” your mother doesn’t want you to go to college? Also what type of community do you live in? This will just help in our understanding.
Miami of Ohio has great merits. Also a great school.
We went on our school tours with our kid’s. I am sure we asked too many questions. In fact my wife was in front asking the questions and me and my son were further back in the pack of people. Lol.
This changed after we got some experience of what the tour is all about.
Department of Nursing | Miami University Regionals Department of Nursing | Miami University Regionals