Paying for college?

Question:

I'm a high school senior who's dad has always been very supportive of me going to college. However, he recently got remarried, and is now refusing to fill out the FAFSA for me, considering I'm only 16 and he feels I'm unready for college. I can understand his concerns, but after talking to many people, I feel I am ready to handle the responsibility of college. In addition, there are certain situations that have arisen within my household that, at this point, I'd rather escape from. I've been looking at many scholarships and loans that I can take out, but will a college still accept my applications without the FAFSA filled out? Will it be worth it to go against my dad in order to go to college?

Answer:
First, all colleges will accept your application for admission without a financial aid application (in part, this is because really rich people are just wasting their time and the school's time filling out financial aid applications).

Secondly, if you don't turn in a completed financial aid applications, almost no school is going to award you financial aid (a few might even rescind non-financial aid-based scholarship offers but that depends on the school, check with their financial aid and/or scholarship office).

So, as I'm sure you know, your dad not filling out FAFSA is not a good thing. And sadly, there's no easy exemption made for living parents who are unwilling to fill out FAFSA (Congress is working on it but that's not going to be of much help for you). To have it so your dad doesn't fill out the forms, you'd have to be self-sufficient and an emancipated minor, be declared a ward of the state, or have court-issued restraining orders against your parent(s).

My suggestion would be to try to convince him how much him not taking an hour of his life is going to wreck years of your life. And tell him it doesn't cost anything to file FAFSA and he basically just needs to copy last year's tax return into the application online. Also, if you have an adult friend that he respects, see if you can get your friend to convince to fill out the form.

This is, of course, unless you'd think you'd have an easy time getting a restraining order and/or getting emancipated based on your family situation and you don't anticipate further contact with your dad.

And yes, it is worth it to go against your dad to attend college. You shouldn't be wasting two of years life just to fit someone else's idea of your perceived maturity (even if it's your dad). And if he isn't going to help in your financial situation now, I doubt he's going to have a change of heart two years from now, so press for it while you can. College is also an awesome experience and, for you, the next step in learning more about the world AND growing up (b/c you do grow up in college).

Based on your question, I'd say your mature enough for college (more so than some people who go actually). Your question was easily understood, placed in the right category, used appropriate spelling and grammar, and was a relevant question with an answer you couldn't have just found in a search engine.

Best of luck.

This is a toughie! First, I need to know, do you have any parents or guardians that are willing to fill it out?

Paying for college?

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