College bound, but how does one pay for room and board?

Paying for College
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<p>Might I say how amazing this community is and you all are?
Seriously, thank you all for taking time to answer my question. It really does help, and I am honestly grateful. You’ve all provided me some fantastic advice which I am going to take into consideration, and more than likely use, throughout my college application process. This process and all of these choices can become overwhelming sometimes, and to be honest, I need all the advice I can get. </p>

<p>@honeybee63 I suggested taking a gap year to save up, but my idea was shot down immediately. Also, I am planning to meet with my counselor shortly. I don’t have test scores yet. I am planning to take the ACT and I’m using free tools to study a little bit each day before taking the test. I was told my family income can vary depending on the year, but that we usually get just under $100,000 a year. My family is very comfortable, the money is just spent on tuition each year for 3 kids. </p>

<p>@KatMT Yeah, I’m considering the Air Force Academy now since @ucbalumnus‌ mentioned it. I’ll look at the Coast Guard because it’s also been mentioned by another user. USAFA has an extremely involved application process, and has a low acceptance rate. But I’ll probably apply regardless.</p>

<p>@NROTCgrad‌ I will just barely turn 17 in my senior year, so I should be fine! How is UMinny’s engineering department? Thanks for all the links and advice, I will definitely look at those options. I’ve heard the AFROTC scholarships are competitive, so I’m certainly not going to put all my eggs in that basket.</p>

<p>@PurpleTitan‌ Do you have more information on the IL Air Guard? Or else I can probably Google it, but any more info would be awesome!</p>

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<p>

It is outstanding. Maybe not quite as good, overall, as UIUC (which in turn might not be quite as good as University of Michigan). But…</p>

<p>You really need to understand how well a school will fit with your own goals and expectations. Rankings of colleges seem to pop up all over the place, and almost all of them are useless because they tell you what you already know; Harvard is great, so is Stanford, but Eastern State University is ordinary.</p>

<p>So, to make a good choice you have to start with what you want, not with what is available “out there.” Do you want a big school or a small one? Do you want one that everybody has heard of, or would a lesser known one be okay with you? How does sports fit into your aspirations?</p>

<p>The truth is that all engineering schools are pretty darn good. Basically they range from excellent (Clemson) to amazing (MIT). The current CEO of Apple, Tim Cook, is an Auburn graduate. Auburn is not amazing, just excellent, but it obviously can be the departure point for going some place amazing. Ultimately it is about you, not the college.</p>

<p>In sum, I would not put extra effort into determining how good a school is. Focus on cost, what majors the college offers, and how much you might simply enjoying being there.</p>

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<p>UMinn has one of the top ChemE programs in the country. Other engineering majors are also good although not in the top tier.</p>