Op may not have a choice. S/he may not have “taken a stand” but just let it slip and isn’t able/allowed to take it back.
With God and Dad absolved of their responsibility, you should focus on colleges with merit scholarships. You are high stat, URM and lower middle income. Aim at top colleges with big endowments and generous financial aid. Princeton, Amherst, Rice are some of the generous ones.
For lower tier safeties with easy merit, UTD, UF, UNT, University of Alabama are always willing to buy SAT scores to inflate rankings.
Middle tier privates like Northeastern, Baylor, Tulane are likely to give more than enough merit to cover the gap between cost and aid.
@computergeek1239, your stats and status as a African American puts you in rarefied air. I am a poster that hopes that you and your parents can find some common ground, but you have options if you apply strategically to schools that may fund your education.
My daughter had slightly lower stats than you and found a few full ride offers and the one she chose afforded her an astounding amount of independence (I only pay for her plane tickets home and to keep up her hair care costs at this point). She doesn’t even need that, but it is our way of contributing and seeing her on a semi-regular basis. She is independent enough to take a trip abroad before coming home for Christmas break despite not working during the school year. My daughter also left very quickly after high school graduation (17 days) to start her summer bridge program where she took 2 classes and got acclimated to her college campus. She was only home for 2 weeks after her freshman year in college (summer research) and could have easily not come home at all.
So you can make it without your parents support (financial/shelter) after graduation, but it would be very helpful if your parents supported you in other ways (Help moving into and out of dorms, filling out the FAFSA yearly, and telling our kid it will be okay after a tough Organic Chemistry test are the ways we truly support our daughter today). Good luck finding your dream school (financially and fit) and I am rooting for you.
I read through the thread and was surprised nobody offered up HBCU’s (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) as a great financial fit.
Your stellar ACT and GPA could give you a full merit ride (including room & board) to many of these schools and financial aid would be generous if your parents actually kick you out.
Good luck, you sound like a smart, motivated student.
These full rides were mentioned upthread in replies #9 and #18:
https://www.pvamu.edu/faid/types-of-aid/scholarships/university-scholarships/
https://www.tuskegee.edu/programs-courses/scholarships/freshman-scholarships
https://www.aamu.edu/admissions-aid/financial-aid/scholarships/_documents/academic-scholarship-brochure-2018-2019.pdf
They all happen to be historically black schools. However, full rides have become less common or more competitive generally, including at historically black schools as well as other schools.
Doesn’t OP need their parents’ assistance with financial aid paperwork for the next 4 years? Or are there schools that don’t require parent information?
Aren't schools differentiating between AA and 2nd gen immigrant black students? I assume the HBCUs really pay attention to this aspect.
@austinmshauri We have not been required to fill out FAFSA for most of our kids’ scholarships. Only 1 school, our oldest’s, required FAFSa for merit even though there was no need component. (Taxes, otoh, have necessitated our info.)
I don’t have any advice to add but just wanted to say that I hope you find a way to the education and career you dream of. You sound like a fantastic kid and it’s too bad your parents are letting their religion get in the way of supporting you.
Merit scholarships do not necessarily require FAFSA, although a few schools do require FAFSA for merit scholarships (hmmm… Tuskegee’s merit scholarship page says that they want FAFSA, so that may not be possible without parental cooperation). OP may want to verify with PVAMU and AAMU that the full ride merit scholarships are not contingent on FAFSA or anything else other than his/her high school record, GPA, and SAT/ACT score.
Doesn’t look like PVAMU and AAMU have any requirement or preference of student ethnicity or heritage for either admission or full ride merit scholarships.
Did your gc or school social worker have any housing resources for you? In central ohio Huck House is a good resource. You may want to reach out to them and ask if there are similar resources in your area.