<p>seamesesame,</p>
<p>You have to start by talking with your parents about how they expect you to pay for your education. Maybe they have a huge pile of money saved, and you can go anywhere at all. Maybe they haven’t a cent, or they just plain think that you have to pay for it all yourself. Maybe they have some money, but you will have to help out too by working or by taking out loans. </p>
<p>Since tax season is almost over, they should have all of the information at hand that they need to run some of the financial aid calculators at [FinAid</a>! Financial Aid, College Scholarships and Student Loans](<a href=“http://www.finaid.org%5DFinAid”>http://www.finaid.org) and at [College</a> Admissions - SAT - University & College Search Tool](<a href=“http://www.collegeboard.com%5DCollege”>http://www.collegeboard.com) This way you will have a good idea of what your FAFSA EFC is likely to be, and a general notion of what your results for the CSS Profile could be like. Once you know your EFC, find out whether or not your parents can pay that. If they can’t (or won’t), how much can and will they pay? How much debt do they think is OK for you to take on? If they can pay your EFC, how much more than that can they afford? This will let you find out what your baseline is for a financial safety.</p>
<p>If your baseline is equivalent to tuition and fees at your local community college, well then you’d better get acquainted with that place, so that you feel comfortable there if everything else goes wrong. Or, you’d better find another place where your grades and exam scores qualify you for guaranteed merit aid. Here is one list to look at: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html</a></p>