<p>My advice: wait a year and apply for merit scholarships at Wash U., Rice, Emory, USC, and Tulane. All fine schools, and they might turn out to exhaust less of what your father is willing to pay. </p>
<p>You sound exceptional and could flourish, anywhere, but you deserve peers who are your equal, too. </p>
<p>Best of luck! </p>
<p>P.S. Kids who take a year off, do a Gap year, tend to have less depression, less substance, less normative time getting through college, and have higher GPAs, fyi.</p>