<p>I fear my parents will be unable to pay for college for me.</p>
<p>I fear that if they can pay, they won't, since college costs a ton.</p>
<p>I fear that 1.5 years from now, one of my parents will finally get a job, and therefore can't pay for my college and I will not get any need based aid.</p>
<p>Assuming I apply for finaid right now, I am in a very bad position with regards to non-job matters (parents).</p>
<p>I fear that I can't get a loan when I need one.</p>
<p>I fear that I won't get a job after/during college.</p>
<p>I know a lot can happen in two years, but that thought hasn't calmed me down. I need some counseling :( (hey...the simplest thing you can do is ask for help, right?)</p>
<p>You are soooooo far ahead of the game by thinking of this NOW rather than in two years with only three weeks to go until the school you accepted admission to wants the tuition money you don’t have to pay them!</p>
<p>You can start now to:</p>
<p>1.) work hard in school so that your grades and standardized test scores are excellent. This is the BEST thing you can do for yourself.</p>
<p>2.) start earning and saving money. Not only will working a reasonable number of hours teach you a lot about life and work, you’ll also learn to organize your time well, and that’s a great skill that will serve you well in school and in life.</p>
<p>3.) start looking for scholarships now; learn about the big ones and about the local ones. Find out what you have to do to be considered for them. Someone I know got a $15K scholarship to a college – available only to HS juniors – simply by being the only one at his school who asked to be nominated for it. </p>
<p>4.) read. Read Colleges That Change Lives and books on financial aid and books on financial management. (IMHO, The Millionaire Next Door should be required reading for all high school students, so I’ll suggest that you read that, too!) Read fun things and books that you might not normally read and get suggestions from people and just read. Read to learn, read for fun. </p>
<p>5.) DON’T PANIC!! And you know the answer is 42, so you’re ahead of the game there, too!</p>
<p>Calm down and concentrate on the things you actually can control. Like keeping your grades high, trying a variety of interests, and becoming a strong, positive, and resilient person. The future will take care of itself and things have a way of working out. Worrying generally does not breed positive outcomes!</p>