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<p>You are at an advantage applying as a US citizen. </p>
<p>As far as your house value, yes, that is a very common situation in the states which you’ll find among applicants living around metropolitan areas such as NY/NJ/CT/CA/Boston/Chicago/DC. </p>
<p>Here’s some perspective: Colleges determine need either through FAFSA alone or FAFSA + College Profile/their own form. FAFSA does not use home equity in its equation. College Profile does ask about it and those schools can determine how to use it (but often use 5% of assets above a certain amount – an asset protection-- based on your parents’ marital status and the age of the older parent). So, first off, you can look at FAFSA only schools-- except that most FAFSA-only schools don’t guarantee to meet your need anyway. </p>
<p>So, really, your first step is to go to an online calculator and see what the schools may think your parents can afford. If your parents can’t afford that, you would need to apply to a school to get merit aid. If your parents can afford that, you will need to find a school that meets need. (Many top schools do.) Honestly, if you’re living in a $600,000 house and your parents have typical income for that level house, you are unlikely to end up with need based aid that approaches £3,000 (which is probably around $5.8K). The state schools in NJ will probably charge you over $20K/year. Really, I think you are in the enviable position of having an affordable, excellent college education available to you (by staying in London) and perhaps a good compromise would be to ask your parents to allow you to spend a semester in the US.</p>