<p>You need to sit down and have a long talk with your parents, and look at what it is going to take financially to go to Oberlin vs your other alternatives. Though you may have done this before, it is often a whole other story when that check needs to be cut. It seems to me that it is an awfully big jump from Oberlin to Texas Tech as to the type of school and environment. I strongly suggest you visit Tech and see what your options are there and if you can get any large grants. At this late date, the difference may not be as big as you would think. I would procede with the Oberlin option and work at getting as much money put away this summer to pay the bills. It might be a good idea to actually go there a year, take a year to go to Tech (instead of Junior year abroad, it would be sophomore at local tech) and then decide whether it is worth it to finish up at Oberlin or continue at Tech. I know many kids who had done thing that way and saved $20K on their overall college tuition.</p>