<p>I currently live in a akron ohio and my parents refuse to send me anywhere but there.They say its because i have a full ride there and i'll be at home so there won't be any distractions so basically its a win win situation...</p>
<p>at the same time though i have full tuition at osu and miami (oxford) and i have a strong shot at many high tier colleges...they basically have layed down the iron fist and won't budge....
idk i need to get out of here!!!!</p>
<p>I'm a college Dean of Students - free free to PM me or have your parents PM me. If you're an outstanding student and the notion is that you're going to live at home and commute to college, it's a lose-lose all around. Commuting as a college student is like living across town as a child and commuting to your parents' home for meals and family meetings. It's not the same thing at all. College is more than an accumulation of academic credits, and the most significant experiences are usually ones that occur outside the classroom. You need to be "distracted" by opportunities, events, peer interactions and unexpected involvements on campus every time you turn around. The biggest college impact on your lifelong goals and aspirations will not be your coursework or professors - it will be the fellow students that comprise your peer group. That's the biggest value of top colleges and universities - your classmates are the rising tide that lifts your boat, just as you lift theirs. No one's boat lifts or gets lifted from across town.</p>
<p>The University of Akron is an appropriate place to go and take courses, just as Wal-Mart is an easy place to go and buy aricles. No criticism here - that's Akron's mission and it does it acceptably. The teaching would be OK. It's a large, impersonal campus at which only 16% live on-campus. Not much bonding - no tight cohort that will come back for every reunion. The admissions standards of its students are right at or a little below the national average. You have a full ride there because you're the type of student they couldn't otherwise get. You would be there to challenge and inspire the other students; not to be challenged and inspired yourself.</p>
<p>I have two daughters at Harvard - they're having the intellectual and personal growth experiences of a lifetime. They could have gone to a lot of places on full rides, and they could have gone to any public school in Georgia and paid only room and board, plus a portion of the student fees. Their cost at Harvard after financial aid is about what they would be paying at the U. of Georgia for boom, board and fees. It's the best money we ever spent. We miss them terribly during the semesters, but it would break my heart to think that I was holding them back from this type of life-changing education in order to keep them close.</p>
<p>You owe it to yourself to apply to a variety of schools and check the cost after aid at those places to which you're accepted. If your family's financial status is such that the full ride is important, then you should qualify for substantial aid at a lot of schools. You may decide at the end that Akron is right after all. But if you wind up there, I would strongly, strongly recommend that you join the 16% who are getting with the program and living on-campus. If not, you might as well sign up for online courses somewhere.</p>
<p>get into a top school first, i mean a really top school and ask your parents if they can really allow themselves to hold you back from a once in a lifetime opportunity.</p>
<p>gadad and noob both i love your thinking.i really do...but sadly my parents don't share the same enthusiasm. They don't believe in the whole "college experience" and quite honestly don't care about it. They only believe in getting a high gpa from a mediocre college and going to a good medical school. For them, there is simply no other option </p>
<p>they could care less about a top notch school. They feel that i will go to one of these top notch schools and receive a low gpa compared to akron and will not get into medical school. </p>
<p>Now, you might say if you care about your education why don't you just take out loans and go to your dream college...</p>
<p>many problems with that besides my parents completely disowning me. First off, I could potentially enter into deep deep financial debt. My parents make over 750k a year and so i wouldn't receive any financial aid at most of these colleges i'm applying to. So I would have to take out 200k+ loans for my undergraduate education. Then, when I graduate, if I want to go to a grad school I would be unable to get loans and if I could I would be close to 400k in debt...after graduation...urghh i hate this stress!!</p>
<p>If you have a full ride to Ohio State, there's no stopping you from going there at least, right? It's no ivy, sure, but it offers a much better college experience than Akron.</p>
<p>what colleges did your parents go to? ask them if their experience was worth giving up for a lower school.</p>
<p>If you're willing to work and take out loans, you should be able to at least afford to live away from home and go to a public university that's offering you merit aid in your state.</p>
<p>You also can apply for outside scholarships to help defer more of your college costs.</p>
<p>There also may be out of state schools equivalent to the ones that have accepted you that would offer you full rides. Check the merit aid info at the top of CC's parent forum and financial and and scholarships board.</p>
<p>Ivy league is alright as long as you don't break the bank to go there. Money is very important in this economy.</p>
<p>Did both of your parents live at home during their college years? If not, ask them why they didn't. That might strengthen your case.</p>
<p>no they lived in the sudan...</p>
<p>Incidentally Ivayhopeful, if your heart is pulling you toward a top-level, high-involvement college experience but reality dictates an in-state public school, Miami of Ohio is a wonderful common ground. Somewhat similar to choosing William & Mary if you were from Virginia.</p>
<p>My biggest piece of advice is to get your parents to talk to other people they respect who share your opinion. What you tell them obviously doesn't matter that much to them, and what they read on an internet forum will be even less meaningful. Bring in people from your school, your church if you are religious, etc.</p>
<p>Are you 18?</p>
<p>Yes: Problem solved. Give your parents the finger. Sarcasm (Make sure you have a full rides first!)</p>
<p>No: Sorrys!</p>
<p>well I don't have a full ride but rather full tuition...only problem is that tuition is about the same as room/board/other fees</p>
<p>If the OP is Sudanese-American, I'm wouldn't be too quick to hype Miami of Ohio. The place has a stifling lack of diversity (in terms of race, socio-economic background and student attitudes--think conservative and greek) annually making several lists of the least diverse campuses in America. Any minority student considering MofO should do so very carefully and with multiple campus visits to preclude being miserable for a year then transferring out.</p>
<p>While Miami of Ohio is more undergraduate focused than Ohio State, it's still a rather large (16K) public university, that in no way approximates a small, private college environment.</p>
<p>this is so sad...aren't YOU supposed to pick your own college</p>
<p>wow i can so see this ending sadly</p>
<p>That's selfish of your parents. An important part of going to school (esp. as a noncommuter) is the social scene, where you will meet many new people and make many new connections. Aside from that, it's selfish for your parents to REQUIRE that you stay home for a school. They are cutting you short of your potential, especially when there are much better schools that you got into with tuition scholarships. </p>
<p>I think you should ask them when it all comes down to it: do they really care about you, or are they just selfish?</p>
<p>see they are afraid of the whole social scene....i've basically been locked up from almost all social activities for the past 4 yrs...and they aren't about to just let me go to a college away from them</p>
<p>just pretend u gonna commit suicide if u aren't satisfied :D</p>