<p>I will be enrolled in high school, wouldn’t that make me youth still? </p>
<p>And like I mentioned in my description, I have the toughest schedule I can possibly have, at the largest high school in Oregon. It’s a rather poor school, not high level at all, and I actually had to go through administration to have the schedule I have; 2 AP Classes, 2 College classes for which I will take the AP test, so they are equivalent to AP, and the rest are advanced core classes such as Adv Chem and Adv English III. I will take 5 more AP classes next year, and I took 1 last year on which I scored a 5. I expect a 5 on every AP test I have yet to take, with the possibility of a 4 on especially difficult AP’s such as physics. I am #1 in my class and school both in terms of difficulty and GPA, with a 4.0 UW, and I’m not sure about weighted. Im 1/750+. My EC aren’t spectacular, but I am on the Rocket Club, I volunteer at OMSI (Oregon Science Museum), I also work to support myself and play in my church orchestra. As for test scores, I am currently preparing for my first SAT’s, and am expecting a 2100+ (an estimate from the practice tests I’ve taken and such). Essentially, for my area and my situation, my academics very good, my EC’s average, and I am a Romanian minority (2001 immigrant).</p>
<p>Actually as long as he is still in HS after he turns 18, he can qualify as an unaccompanied minor. As long as he is in the shelter system on or after 7/1/2013 (right before his senior year)</p>
<p>See page 9</p>
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<p>Denis, keep in mind, if you are not a US citizen/Permanent resident, you will not be eligible to file the FAFSA (making everything else moot for federal aid). You would be dependent on receiving merit or institutional aid</p>
<p>There are social workers in the shelter that are obligated to contact the school and ensures that he attends school. The school will record that he is a student in temporary housing making him automatically eligible for free/reduced lunch and the benefits that come with it (fee waivers for SAT/Applications).</p>
<p>Is your father a legal resident or a citizen? If he is a legal resident, and his behavior is considered to be criminal, he can be deported after he is convicted. Would it be worth it to your siblings to investigate that possibility? If one of the adult siblings is considered to be sufficiently competent, that sibling could be named legal guardian of the ones who are still minors. Talk with a lawyer or social services and find out your options.</p>
<p>I work in a high school with many students in similar situations. The McKinney- Vento act is very strong legislation. It supports students in transition/homeless. Your school should review your circumstance to see if you qualify (sounds like you do). Don’t be afraid of homeless title. Your school then provides information on how they classified you as independent and homeless. This will allow financial aid to work with you without parent info. The key is for your guidance counselor to really know your story. This will help with any follow up questions or calls. We do this a lot.</p>
<p>Happymom; Well that’s exactly what we don’t want. None of my older siblings would be able to drop everything and care for my little siblings, and we don’t want my father to lose custody or they will be placed on foster homes. </p>
<p>Poppyseed; Yes that is sort of what I plan on doing now, seeking the homeless title. I will google that legislature you’re talking about! Thank you!</p>
<p>But Denis…at this point you are NOT homeless. You have a home. Perhaps someone will correct me, but I don’t think these things apply if you CHOOSE to be homeless when in fact you have a parent who is supporting you.</p>
<p>Has child protective services ever been involved in your situation? What evidence can you provide that will support your claims?</p>
<p>I do hope you consider all options, including working and going to college. Are your grades/SAT scores such that you are a competitive admit to schools that meet full need? If so, look for schools with good guaranteed merit aid.</p>
<p>Thumper, I am by no means choosing to be homeless. Haven’t you read through previous posts? I have been kicked out before, and the only reason I have a home now is because my father got in trouble for it because I am a minor. I do not have a parent who supports me, I support myself, and I am living under my fathers roof until I am 18, after which he has already set his mind in kicking me out. My father is by no means supportive, as I mentioned in my initial post, my mother committed suicide because she couldn’t handle him anymore, and being close to a fundamentalist Christian, she didn’t see divorce as an option. And child services has been involved, a case was opened twice on my family, unfortunately every time me and my older siblings decided it would be best to cover everything up from them so that my younger siblings could remain together. I’m not sure if child services still has any files on our situation or anything. But my school counselor knows my situation relatively well, as do a couple of my teachers, so I have people who can absolutely confirm my story, it is only a matter of getting official documents to confirm the same.</p>
<p>As for my grades/SAT’s, I have not yet taken my SAT’s, however my grades are superb, as I mentioned in a previous post, I am #1 in my class/school at the largest high shool in Oregon. Both in terms of GPA and schedule difficulty, and estimating from a few practice tests I have taken, I will get around 2100 on my first SAT, and hopefully higher on my second, after a summers worth of studying. </p>
<p>And I am not really considering other options, I will apply ED to Amherst (or an equally competitive LA college, such as Williams), and ED2 to Reed. I don’t believe it is fair to lower my standards because of my fathers actions, I have worked too hard to give up now due to some legal issues.</p>
<p>Denis, please persue dependency override with the schools you like. It <em>sounds</em> like you would have a convincing case. I would call the financial aid offices as a starting point. Tell them what’s going on; they’ll tell you how to proceed.</p>
<p>Thank you vonlost, if I cannot be declared homeless and apply independent, I will peruse dependency override. I just want to try and apply independent if I can, in case the dependency override option won’t work. Because I won’t be applying till fall of this year, that’s quite a ways away, I want to be doing SOMETHING to prepare right now, and trying to gather official documents/try to be declared homeless will help with the dependency override even if I can’t apply independent.</p>
<p>Just understand that if you try to get yourself declared independent, it might open the door for Social Services to be involved again. If they investigate, it may be a matter of choosing between your desire to attend Amherst, and the desire to keep the younger siblings together. If Social Services is involved and decides it is not an abusive situation, Amherst (and Reed) may not be likely to give you an override. If they declare you independent, it will likely be because they decide he is abusive, and not competent to care for you or your siblings. Are you prepared to face that choice?</p>
<p>Yes, it is a hard choice, but you will not be the first or last to face it. The system doesn’t seem fair from your perspective, but you know how the system works. Many students face a situation where their parents are not willing to support them - and it is far worse for someone with wealthy parents. It’s particularly lousy for the student whose custodial parent remarries into money, because the step parent often feels no obligation toward that student, but causes the student to have a high EFC. It is what it is.</p>
<p>As others have suggested, keep an open mind regarding schools that will give you a full ride based on your stats. If you’re planning on graduate school, a solid degree from one of those schools will serve you well. Quite frankly, even if Amherst or Reed were to give you a full ride, there are expenses that won’t be covered - you are likely to be a fish out of water in that atmosphere. I know a few students of significant need who went to top LAC’s and it was a struggle to fit in - not only can’t you afford pizza every friday night, but you struggle just to afford appropriate clothing and school supplies (one started a program where other students donate unused notebooks and other supplies at the end of each semester, so other students wouldn’t struggle the way she did). We all understand this is your dream, but you need to understand the downside to independence.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, in many jurisdictions, ACS (children services) will not get involved with parent child conflicts (including educational neglect of a child) if the child is 17.5 years old unless something happens in the home that directly involves the other minor children (a fight breaks out between the parent and the 17.5 y/o and the minor child are in the actual room. They can be in another room of the house and ACS will not get involved because the other minor children were not involved in the incident.</p>
<p>I get it that you and your other older siblings do not feel ready to take on the responsibility for the younger ones. However, you need to think carefully about how you will explain that choice to the younger children in the future - in particular if your father shifts his abusive focus to one of them. Do you truly want them to learn that keeping silent about abuse is the best way to go?</p>
<p>Find out what it would take for one of you to become their guardian. Please.</p>
<p>I am ready to make that decision. So far covering up my fathers choices hasn’t threatened my entire future as severely as this is, but if I must choose between learning and covering for my father, I will let social services know what has happened, an he will face the consequences of his decisions. </p>
<p>As for expenses in college, I am under the impression Amherst and Reed both offer to meet 100% of need, so whether I apply independent or dependency override, my EFC will be 0, and I barely make enough to support myself, thus the colleges will pay for my education. And as for expenses not covered, I wouldn’t mind holding a 10hr a week job during college as I do now. </p>
<p>And I do understand the downside to independence (at least I think I do). But I have no choice, please don’t misunderstand me, I am not a bratty teenager who’s angry at my father for not letting me party, it is out of my control. Even after my mothers suicide, I tried to fix things with my father to the point where we could at least say hi to each other, and I got pastors to try and help, but there is no reasoning with my father. And I’ll be fine not ordering pizza every night in college, I’ll be fine with living in a run down hut while in college. The village I come from was MUCH worse than anything I’ve seen in America, even poverty here can’t compare. </p>
<p>I just need a way to prove to colleges I am really in need, because I truly am, more than really anyone I know going to college. Independence or a dependency override is the only way that seems possible. If I can estimate figures on the FAFSA, I can apply dependent, and I can estimate fairly accurately, I know my father makes roughly $10 an hour, 40 hours a week. But I assume you have to send in the W-2 form and stuff to prove it, which I can’t get, legally at least.</p>
<p>Sybbie; Conflicts have happened many times with other minors in the room. And I have spoken with my younger siblings teachers, and they have told me sometime my little brother will randomly start crying in class, and she asked him about it, and he just says he wishes his father would stop fighting. So if anything gets out, child services would absolutely get involved. </p>
<p>Happymom; I suppose it must seem heartless to leave them with my dad, I guess me and my older siblings are just assuming that since we were able to get through the abuse and are going on to pursue our dreams, they will too. And it’s not as if we just abandon them, we would still talk to the little ones and make sure things don’t get out of hand. I don’t really know, I guess I’m just hoping things will work out at home. And besides, it’s not my call to make, the youngest in my family is in 3rd grade, and the second youngest is in 5th, they are old enough to decide when they can’t take it anymore.</p>
<p>That’s sort of what I will do, try to get both options to work and hope one makes it through. Try to gather enough papers to apply independent, and if I can’t, hopefully I will have enough evidence to secure a dependency override.</p>
<p>The problem with this is that teachers are mandated reporters. If the teachers did not report the incident to children’s services, then children’s services would have not done anything. The teacher was responsible for contacting child services (and it was dereliction of duty if s/he did not do so).</p>
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<p>I am a more than a little disappointed by the selfishness of this comment ans a 8 year old and a 10 year old are not in a position to advocate for themselves. As an older sibling who was guardian to a younger sibling after our parents passed, I could never imagine having my younger sibling “decide for them self.” So on that note, I am bowing out of this thread, because I do not feel it is worth my time or efforts to assist someone who has no regard to leaving their younger siblings in a precarious situation.</p>
<p>Yeah I know they have to report it, and they did once, that was the first time social services opened a case. But it was closed, so this time the teacher just tried asking us what’s going on and stuff, because she said she tried talking to my father but he wouldn’t listen. I’m not sure, I think social services is so busy anyway, unless there is some indisputable physical abuse they just leave the case alone.</p>
<p>Not true. As a mandated reporter, you can report to social services or the police department 24/7. If this teacher had worked in my school and gave this as a response she would no longer be employed.</p>