<p>I am currently a junior in high school. I have aspirations of attending an Ivy League college. I have a 4.0 gpa with all my main subjects AP courses. I haven't taken the SAT yet, but on my practice tests I am usually scoring around a 2200 (I will be taking it in march). I have loads of extracurricular's which include a job at Staples as a technician part-time, varsity basketball, many clubs (2 which I created and am President of), and many more. I started my own company also, doing website design, app development and a bunch of other services, which generates thousands of dollars of income for me in addition to my job at staples. I also invest in a teenage investment firm (hedge fund) in which I am the company's CFO. In addition to that I am a lead guitarist for a band as well. I'm looking to go to college for business administration and bio-medical engineering (as a double major). I have many other accolades (too excessive for this purpose); however, my point is, I am really looking to get into Stanford. It has everything want, and it has been my dream school for a while now. However, my parents are extremely against everything I do. They yell at me for studying too much, they take money from me for things like leaving the light on too long, or for medical expenses, etc. In basic terms, if I need to get something done or accomplish anything, I have to do it on my own. They candidly hate me (don't respond saying "oh, I'm sure they love you...I've heard enough of that). My Dad tells me constantly that I would be lucky if I get to ride my bike to my county's community college (as he did not allow me to get my permit or even my license [I am 17]). I will be having to already pay for half, if not more of my college tuition and take out multiple loans, although my Dad makes well over $200,000 a year and has millions in the bank. I brought up Stanford once, as a possibility, and my parents are telling me that they will not allow me to even apply, even to schools that are close-by to my state (NJ). I am only "allowed" to apply to colleges that are in or in the states surrounding NJ, which for Ivy's doesn't really limit my choices (because I can probably convince MA to be close by according to their standards), but there are many other schools that are amazing for biology and business (i.g. UMich, UC-Berkley, etc). I don't know what to do. Please respond with serious options and advice. </p>
<p>If your dad does indeed have “millions in the bank” you won’t get any need based aid. In addition to that Stanford offers no merit aid. Which leaves yourself footing the entire bill.
My advice. Your mother .</p>
<p>Truth is there are a fair number of ivy’s around you. Cornell, princeton, columbia, Yale possibly, are probably great options. And im sure if you talked to your parents theyd let u go to stanford on your own dime atleast.</p>
<p>If Stanford is your dream do whatever you have to do to go there. You should really be proud that your determined enough to have dreams of going to ivy league schools and it is a really good aspiration. Dont break your back too hard to go there though like i said there are great, and id argue greater, options around you especially if your paying less in loans.</p>
<p>If your parents are wealthy but unwilling to contribute to your college cost, you are not going to college unless you have one of the following:</p>
<p>A. Age 24.
B. Married.
C. Military veteran status.
D. A full ride merit* scholarship or close to it somewhere.</p>
<p>*Including academic, athletic, ROTC, or anything other than financial-need based.</p>
<p>Any of A, B, or C is necessary to get your parents’ wealth out of the picture for financial aid purposes. D would obviously avoid the financial aid issue, but Stanford does not give merit scholarships (other than athletic).</p>
<p>Note that you can only borrow a limited amount (far less than half of the full price of even most state universities) without a co-signer (i.e. your parents), and borrowing more than that in student loans is usually not a good idea anyway.</p>
<p>Stanford is not in the Ivy League; it is in the Pac-12.</p>
<p>Realistically, it looks like your options are to defer college until A, B, or C is true for you (perhaps continue with your web design business and hedge fund if those actually make money, or consider military service if you are so inclined), find a full ride scholarship somewhere (option D above), or do whatever your parents want you to do for college or not.</p>
<p>What type of school do you currently attend - public or private?</p>
<p>Stanford is not an Ivy.</p>
<p>If you live in NJ, you have Princeton, Columbia, Cornell, UPenn as part of your surrounding states. Are your parents willing to let you apply to them?</p>
<p>For an undergrad, it is almost impossible for you to get the loans to attend any school unless your parents cosign the loan. I believe you are limited to 5000 or so on your own. So if your parents don’t want you to go to some school with a large price tag, it might not be possible for you to borrow it on your own. </p>
<p>The schools are tough to get into with 7% admit rate. However, you can’t get in unless you apply. No one can stop you from applying, including your parents. </p>
<p>Your issue is mainly whether you can attend an expensive school without their support which might prove difficult. You don’t actually need to worry about it until 2014. You should have some discussions about what your parents are willing to let you do during this year.</p>
<p>You can also consider joining the military to let them pay for your education and then serve as posters above suggest.</p>
<p>That’s all not a bad idea, but I’m not considering anything other than college right after high school. There’s no way I’m waiting until then. Anyway, another option I found was to legally (somehow sue or something like that) break the relationship of “parent” from my me and my parents, and that would allow me to qualify for finaid</p>
<p>@texaspg I did very poorly on the psat. I got an 1850, but like I said, my practice tests are up to a 2200. And I’m not going to join the military, no way, or even ROTC. And also I go to a public school in Bergen County, NJ</p>
<p>Your situation is not that bad. You have amazing colleges and universities nearby. Columbia, Haverford, Johns Hopkins, Princeton, Swarthmore and Yale, as well as the #1 Business school in the country (Wharton) and another top 5 BBA program (Stern). </p>
<p>I agree that you may want to butter up mom. Mothers are usually big-time pushovers! ;)</p>
<p>If none of that works, then you will have to rely on schools that give merit scholarships. If you can complement your 4.0 GPA with a 2300+ on the SAT, some top universities (Michigan and North Carolina come to mind) could give you very nice scholarships, but apply to them early action to improve your chances of getting a scholarship.</p>
<p>@Alexandre good point. I’ve been studying really hard for the SAT’s so hopefully I can pull that off. And yeah I cant try to butter up my mom, except she doesn’t want to me go far (my dad’s more about the money aspect).</p>
<p>No, you can’t break from your parents for the purposes of qualifying for college financial aid. You have to be provably estranged, have had no contact for long periods of time, establish restraining or separation orders, etc. etc.</p>
<p>That system is meant for kids who have had horrendous family problems growing up and who suffered from neglect, abuse or other serious parental failures. Not kids who are mad that their parents won’t pay for the college they want. Get serious.</p>
<p>Too many parents and kids have similar ideas. Even some parents are willing to cut their children off so they do not have such an onerous college payment burden when the kids get into top colleges. So when you separate from your family or request emancipation is important. If you do it now, fine but if you wait until after application season, then they definitely get the impression of cheating. </p>
<p>Colleges give admissions to people with specific assumptions. So if you apply as an emancipated person, they can decide whether to give you admission and support you financially. If you try to emancipate from rich parents after applying, then colleges can decline your aid application.</p>
<p>It is easier for the college to ignore a kid from admitting</p>
<p>apalagalaga, given his age, the OP will not be able to take out a loan without a co-signer (parent). It is unlikely his parents will approve. Besides, do you really advise the OP take a $200,000 loan? </p>
<p>Bmonticello, if your mom is ok with the principle of paying for college but reluctant to let you go to college far from home, you better play ball. She is your only lifeline, and you do not want to lose her support. Stick to schools in your general area and make her happy. Besides, your area includes dozens of excellent options listed above. You can still apply to Michigan and UNC because they sometimes (not often mind you) hand out generous scholarships to top students. Like I said, to qualify, you want to apply EA to those two schools.</p>