<p>My situation is different and complicated.. I was born in brazil, and my mom came to live in the US when I was 2. When I was 4, I came to visit her, and decided to stay here living with her. Long story short, My Visa expired in 2009, and I'm considered an out of status immigrant. We have applied for citizenship, but my step dad made some mistakes, and after 10 years of marriage, my mom and my step dad are getting divorced so we can't reapply. My sophomore and freshman years of high school I became very ill, worse soph. year, I missed the second half of school and failed my math algebra 2 course. Summer of soph. to junior year, I was told I couldn't go to college at all, simple as that because of my status. I'm now a senior, and I'm told I can go to college, but its just 10x more difficult for me. My grades suck, being sick and being told I couldn't go to college took a toll on me. My GPA is a 2.9 and my SAT score is a 1540 (which I am retaking in november). Well anyways, I'm a senior now, and my mom pretty much won't pay more than 5000 a year for my college expenses, and because of my immigration status, I'm not qualified for most financial aid and scholarships citizens are. I am also not qualified for state aid of new york. I want an honest answer, because I don't know if I could really deal with the fact of applying to all these colleges I want to, and then not getting accepted to any, or not being able to go because of money issues. I have to apply as an international student to most colleges since for me to apply as domestic I have to have residency. I have a social security number if that counts for anything. Any help would be great, Thanks.</p>
<p>Disclaimer - I don't want this thread turning into a political debate, I know immigration issues in this country suck and everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I made the decision myself to come and live here at 4 years old, obviously back then I didn't know what I was getting myself into. I regret my decision, and I wish I could take it back. My whole life has been here in the US so I can't just go back to a country that I barely know the language.</p>