<p>Will your parents pay for your college education? If the answer is “no,” then you need to be realistic about where you apply. Colleges won’t give you fee waivers or need-based scholarships if your parents have money but refuse to use it for your applications or college education. If colleges were to give aid/waivers based on such a criterion, few parents would be willing to pay for their students’ apps and college educations. </p>
<p>If your might qualify for need-based financial aid (don’t rule out this possibility unless you’ve run your family’s financial info through an expected family contribution calculator), will your parents provide their tax information so you can apply? If your parents won’t, you won’t be able to qualify for need-based aid. </p>
<p>Will your parents cosign loans for you? Even if they will, it probably would be unwise to take out loans to cover what your family normally would be expected to pay. The average student takes out a total of about $17 k to cover all of their college education. That won’t even cover one year of tuition at most colleges.</p>