It’s just 4 months since I’ve been here and I am a k-2 meaning I need to get my green card first before I’ll be able to have my social security number and I’m entering college this fall in bergen college. My mom paid much more than we have to bc I was considered out of state and an international student bc I dont have my green card yet and I cant even sign up for financial aid bc I dont have a SSS number yet and green card so my mom works her heart out everyday. I’m willing to study really really hard in order to have an aid or scholarship so does any of you know scholarships or aid that doesnt care if you’re a citizen or not and just have like a grade requirement or standard??
No, you just have to wait. Don’t start school if you can’t afford it. Wait until next year (or spring) for your documents to come.
Your mom needs to get her money back and you need to wait till you have your green card to apply.
You should have your green card pretty soon. Can you wait one semester before you start college? When you have your green card and your SSN, you can file the FAFSA with your mom and her new spouse, and you can get a student loan (and maybe some Pell Grant money).
Otherwise your chance of getting merit-based scholarship money from a different college or university will depend on your grades from your secondary school, and your test scores on the SAT or ACT. If you have excellent grades and excellent test scores, you might be able to get some merit-based scholarship money. So it might be a good idea to study for one or both of those exams and take them while you are waiting to apply to a new list of colleges
For information about merit-based scholarships at Bergen, look here: http://www.bergen.edu/scholarships
As above, if you don’t have the money now, you should wait.
Thank you for your replies, appreciate it 
Good news I checked my uscis status and my employment authorization case was approved today so I can now work part time every weekends and it will definitely help me and my mom. I already enrolled for Fall in bergen and even though I can wait my mom really wants me to enter college now. I’ll just study really really hard for those merit-based scholarships, I hope me and my mom can get through this without aid until my green card arrives and hope we can endure it. Again, thank you for your replies.
<<<
I’ll just study really really hard for those merit-based scholarships,
<<<
NO, you won’t get merit scholarships for grades while you’re in college. You get them BEFORE you start college.
Contact your college to find out about deferring until spring semester and work in the meantime.
Explain to your mom that the problem isn’t just this year. You are potentially hurting your aid for all four years.
Unless your mom makes a LOT of money, this can make a HUGE difference over four years.
good-sized Merit scholarships are for INCOMING freshman only. Not for current students.
Bergen does have some merit money of its own for returning students. rudolphy might qualify in future semesters.
Getting merit money after completing an associates degree and transferring out of Bergen is a whole other thing, and depends on rudolphy earning absolutely stellar grades. But it has been done before. There are threads on that topic in the Transfer Forum. Also, by that point rudolphy will have the green card and in-state residence wherever the mom and her spouse live, so a lot of other factors also change.
If rudolphy has grades and test scores (or can get high test scores) that would make merit-based aid possible, then taking a semester or year off to work, earn money, and apply to places with good merit-based aid makes sens. However if rudolphy has more average grades and/or really needs to stay close to home, then it probably makes better sense to start college this fall.
@rudolphy - Here is a list of places that do guarantee admission and merit-based aid for students with certain grades and test scores. Depending on your grades, they might be options for you if you are willing to wait a year to start studying. http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/