<p>Exactly why I suggested the military. It is not OP’s first choice, I bet, but it has been an option for generations of young people who need a fresh start.</p>
<p>They haven’t really looked at my list yet, but most of the schools there are either women’s colleges or moderately religious schools (not their religion, but still).</p>
<p>Honestly, I know how much they make. I find it so hard to believe they can’t afford some of the schools on my list- to be fair, I think my father is still way more open to letting me go off to college since he’s making me do all this research. My mom’s just devastated about it- she’s more culturally traditional. </p>
<p>I really am not okay with joining the military 
I feel like it’s an option for young people who don’t know what they want, and I think I have a clearer picture of what I want my life to be.</p>
<p>If push comes to shove, I could enroll in a cosmetology program nearby- it takes only a couple of months to complete and I can stay with my best friend during that time. But this is really a last option. If I told my parents that I would actually leave and cut ties, they’d find a way to pay. Probably.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the suggestions and support everyone! Everything’s going to be all right, eventually.</p>
<p>Migraine, I like your attitude when you say that everything will be all right, eventually. </p>
<p>Going to cosmetology school isn’t a terrible last choice. And, it would quickly gain you some skills to work and earn some money so that you could pay your own way through a BA program. Maybe part time at first while working full time.</p>
<p>This may not be what you dreamed your college education would look like, though it would be better then getting no education at all.</p>
<p>Good luck on working on your parents so that you don’t have to go this route if you don’t want to.</p>
<p>I think going to cosmetology school or the like and living with a friend sounds like a great idea! That’s exactly like something I had in mind. </p>
<p>Lookingforward, there are plenty of adults even with kids in this country working for minimum wage and making it work. I would encourage the OP to still try to pursue some form of an education while doing that. But as of right now, her choices seem to be to stay with her controlling parents indefinitely and get an online degree. If she is going to get an online degree or a CC degree anyways, she should at least be free of them.</p>
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<p>Yes, but it is very tough to complete a degree while you are doing it. If she can get her parents to pay for a college that gets her out of the house, that is a better option. She shouldn’t give up on that yet.</p>
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<p>OP, I do not think this is true. Some students do it to earn money for college. You could look into ROTC scholarships, but it may be late to do that for next fall, you might need to take a gap year. But then you are also committing to a stint in the military after college in return for your education.</p>
<p>I completely agree it’s a hard life. I actually casually know a couple young people working full time and going to school. But it’s absolutely doable. Not easy, but not impossible, especially if she has a friend she can stay with. </p>
<p>Intparent, you maybe right that they may yet pay for college, but from where I am standing I just don’t really belive that. In fact to me, it seems like all they are trying to do is keep OP in their house. That especially concerns me since she said all girls in her family are expected to come back home after cillege and get married. I keep coming back to the fact that even if she does get financial support for a CC, let’s say, what will they say if she is trying to look for jobs or apartments while living under their roof. I don’t believe it will be any easier to stand up to them then. If she has the option to live elsewhere, like with a friend, I would take it. </p>
<p>Finally, I second doing ROTC or the like. If you are opposed to the military, I know there are other programs like that for, I believe the defense department (?). I know someone in my college did one. They helped pay for her college in exchange for her working for them later. Unfortunately, I don’t remember what government agency this was, but I know it exists - I would search around.</p>
<p>An alternative to the military and ROTC (because one can be philosophically opposed to the military and it may be too much of a culture shock if you’re a religious Muslim or Jewish girl from an observant, traditional, immigrant family) is a year of volunteer service such as CityYear. [City</a> Year: give a year. change the world.](<a href=“http://www.cityyear.org/home-WhatWeDo.aspx]City”>http://www.cityyear.org/home-WhatWeDo.aspx)
It’s well-considered by colleges and it earns you money toward college if you complete the full year. And Zakat is very important so it wouldn’t be looked down upon by an aobservant, traditional family. 
After college, the student will be considered independent, and she could find a job far away or participate in a prestigious program such as Teach for America that guarantees she’ll be in another State for 2 years, earning money, and on her way to a great job or grad school.
The key point for Migraine is to get into college somewhere.
Migraine, would you have the stats for Truman State’s academic scholarships? It’s in a rural area and it’s rather conservative.
Would your father help you investigate women’s colleges - perhaps if you get him onboard it’ll be possible for him to envision you there and he’ll convince your mother? Perhaps you can contact the (your religion) Student Association there and email to ask for a male or female (depending on what you think will be best) to talk with you and your father about attending. Make aspects of your situation clear in your first communication so that they understand the key person to convince will be your father who doesn’t want you to go away for college. Issues such as losing one’s faith, behavior, safety, weekend activities, seriousness of purpose among the student body… are likely to be prominent, aren’t they?</p>
<p>Would your parents really let you go live with another girl for cosmetology (sp) school??</p>
<p>Migraine, the fact of the matter is that colleges here are set up so that parents’ finances are considered when looking at financial aid options. However, there is no requirement for parents to pay. Whether YOU think that they can afford to pay or the calculators’ numbers indicate that the assumption is that they will pay and you can’t get aid because of that, does not mean a thing if your parents have decided they don’t want to pay. THat is really the way it works.</p>
<p>I knew a well to do family of a brilliant young woman who was accepted to Yale, Dad would not pay for Yale. The local state school’s honors program is where she ended up going, and commuting to it, despite a package that would have paid room and board. Dad wouldn’t agree and that was really the easiest way for her to get through college, which she did in three years, summa cum laude and then it was all her choice. She went to medical school on loans as her parents’ finances did not make a bit of difference and were not needed for that. She’s a doctor now. </p>
<p>Few young people at age 18 or so are able to just up and leave home. Without parental info for the financial aid forms, all you can get in aid, for the most part, is the $5500 in Direct loans for freshman year with slight increases in future years. And, no, your parents do not have to fill out any of those financial aid forms like FAFSA , PROFILE or anything if they don’t feel like doing so. So, they do have you over a financial barrel fo sorts. So when making plans, and coming up with ideas, do keep that in mind.</p>
<p>I’ve already said in your other thread why online college is a bad choice for a new graduate without the ‘some college and full time job’ that adult education may be helpful for. But it also costs money. Any good one costs a lot, and the numerous bad to terrible ones do to. It is not a way to save money. If cost is an issue, the cc to 4 year route is sensible. They should see that it is a guaranteed route and if it is full of stupid people then it will be easy for your to get the grades to transfer to a decent 4 year and they will save a lot of money. The argument is more apt that only people who are stupid go to online colleges, especially for profit ones–overpaying for a subpar education should embarrass them. Don’t they think it will be embarrassing it will be to say you are going to online college? People will think you can’t get in anywhere. Any education that doesn’t have classroom component is going to be subpar. I wonder why it is okay for your sister to go to college and not you. I think you have made your bed as far as relations with them and not been as clever as your sister.</p>
<p>However, look at the “automatic full ride” sticky thread and “competitive full tuition/ride” thread in the Financial Aid forum here. Merit aid is not related to need ie even if parents don’t fill out FAFSA or fill it out then refuse to pay their EFC, if you’ve won one of these full ride scholarships, you should be fine (although some scholarship will require a FAFSA or profile anyway - but the amount of money is purely on how well you did in the competition, not on your parents’ earnings.)
For three different scholarhip programs, look into the Douglass scholarship at American University, Vanderbilt’s Chancelor, and the Johnson at Washington&Lee.
ex:
[Scholarships*|*Vanderbilt</a> University](<a href=“http://www.vanderbilt.edu/scholarships/]Scholarships*|*Vanderbilt”>Scholarships | Vanderbilt University)
Deadlines are often Dec 1 so you need to look them up very quickly.</p>
<p>Additionally, if your parents accept to pay their EFC, these schools meet 100% need:
[100%</a> Meet Need Colleges | CollegeGreenlight](<a href=“Colleges with Need-Blind Admission for U.S. Students”>Colleges with Need-Blind Admission for U.S. Students)</p>
<p>@Brownparent: I believe that OP’s sibling is a brother, not a sister. Depending on the family, that may make a big difference. It’s not related to how clever OP is or has been.
I concur with you though, that making OP go to online college will be very embarassing for the parents since everyone will assume there’s something wrong with her (intelligence, mental health, etc) and that her parents couldn’t help get in <em>anywhere</em> or are trying to hide her.</p>