<p>Parents are more likely to be understanding if you have a productive plan for what you’ll do instead of going to college. This could be doing something like working a fulltime job or being a fulltime volunteer for an organization like Americorps, which also would provide you with training and a stipend on which you can live. Americorps also would provide you with health insurance, something that would also help alleviate your parents concerns. For each of up to 2 years of volunteering with Americorps, you get $4,700 that you can use for college.</p>
<p>If you’re emotionally not ready for college, it could help to get support from a therapist who also could help you and help explain your situation to your parents.</p>
<p>As for the housing deposit: Better to lose a couple of hundred dollars than to lose tends of thousands of dollars because a student who wasn’t ready for college flunked out or ended up dropping out.</p>