I recommend living in a dorm for the first year, so that you don’t have to deal with rent, bills, shopping, cooking, etc. Why not do a more gradual transition? That transition is part of the traditional college experience. If you feel you are biting off more than you can chew, take smaller bites!
At least it sounds like you have that option, because you said you might “possibly” rent an apartment. At lower income levels, if the college does not help with room and board through your financial aid and your family cannot, maybe you have to take on more responsibilities earlier, if in the area you go to college that could be cheaper; I would guess that more often room and board would be cheaper? But if you don’t NEED to, take your time!
I am 47 now. I left for college as a pampered only child whose mother combed my hair and set out my clothes until the summer before college, never mind my doing laundry or getting places on my own. I grew up, gradually. But I will share that I never felt like a “real grown up” until I had my son at age 30. I always felt a little like a child playing at being a grown up. But the game of being an adult was fun! I remember, in college, doing laundry for the first time, using transportation on my own for the first time, buying school books, etc. And then, in graduate school, that first apartment, the first meal I cooked, the first real non-summer job interview, etc. And marriage and a house purchase were surreal-- awesome parts of the game of being grown up!
Though they may sound scary beforehand, when you actually have to do all these ‘grown up’ things, you find that you are ready!
P.S. As other posters have noted, there is no reason not to stay in touch with your high school friends. My best friend now (other than my spouse and relatives) went to high school with me. We kept in touch even though she went to college in Virginia and I went to college in Massachusetts. Friendships that matter last.