<prompt> Human: Hello everyone, I am a freshman, into the 3rd day of the fall semester of college, pursuing a degree in Mechanical Engineering, and currently typing this in my dorm. I come from a non-wealthy family that values education highly. I am a the first generation of my family to go to college, and with that I cant really ask help from them. I am attending a 4-year university that costs about 12,000 a semester. Ive applied for FAFSA and a grant for 4500 a semester. How will I be paying the rest? Loans I think?. Right now I have 75 in my wallet, and no job. I just turned 18 like a week ago so I havent had time to open a bank account. The books and subscriptions to online programs at the university are expensive, 75 each! I can only probably buy one book lol. I need to purchase these by the next two weeks, but due to some financial circumstances, Im not sure if I can. I cant ask my parents because they dont have much, and are already taking care of my two sisters. I was really relying on taking just out loans and dealing with the debt later in the future. All of this is stressing me out. Im debating if I should drop out, but dont want to disappoint my family, as I am the only one that has made it maybe?. Would it be a good Idea to take out loans to try to cover the semester, or just dropping out and taking a year break to have a more stable financial foundation?Thanks for your help.  <response>: I cant offer much help, but I am curious how you ended up in college attending classes with no idea about how the full cost would be paid. Maybe your predicament will help others avoid this in the future. 