Reply #6: don't know about the military [View All]

[pop goes the weasel]

Maybe he can tell them that he wasn't forthcoming about his back problems. I think he should contact a peace group on that issue.


As for getting into school without the parents, that's easy. The paperwork is annoying, but tens of thousands of people complete it all the time without any help from parents. If he has questions about it, he can get help at the schools he is applying to.

As for financial aid, he'll qualify for next year or the year after, depending on when his parents cut him off. He is not their dependent now, and if he received the majority of his support from them for the past year, then he is not their dependent from last year either. He should file his own taxes, claiming himself. If this is not yet the case, he'll do this next year and be eligible for aid year after. If he is independent, it will be easier for him to get financial aid. Remember, though, that Our Idiot Congress found money to give themselves raises but drastically cut student aid. So he needs to make plans to do it all without any help. He could go to community college for the first couple of years, getting his lower level courses out of the way at a discount. He should perhaps get a certificate in some sort of trade. That will make working his way through college easier.

Any college will be happy to talk to him right now, even before he is admitted. Admissions officers have counselors who can help him make realistic plans and point him toward financial assistance specific to their institution. He should go to each admissions office of whatever local colleges there are in your community. That way, he can compare services and get a wide range of advice.