<prompt> Human: First time posting on reddit, I dont know if there is a certain format to this.Im fairly ignorant, Im 16. Do keep that in mindBasically, Im a junior in high school and Im starting to think about college. My primary concern isnt actually getting good grades, although it is one of my top priorities. Ill be honest here, and Ill say that Im not the best student ever. I dont have grades great grades, although they arent bad. I dont think I have anything going for me. Nothing about me stands out, I dont do sports anymore since freshman year, and I dont havedo anything that makes me stand out. My main reason for this thread is for how Im going to pay for college, and no, this is not for all 4 years. Im more concerned about the first year of college, and I dont even know if I can afford that. My parents had a good deal of money a few years ago, but they lost it when the economy went down, and were pretty much down in the dumps. I live with my uncle currently, due to personal issues. I dont live with my parents anymore. To be honest, I dont know too much about my own current situation. The only things I do know is that Im flipping shit about school, and that I cant afford college.I am fairly certain that I know the fafsa requirements, and its safe to say emancipation is my only option here. My parents income is not low enough to get financial aid. While I dont know how much they make, my father ensures me that if he puts his salary and my mothers salary together, we wont get financial aid. Which is kind of shitty in my opinion because they can barely provide for themselves.Right now, Id say Ive done a sufficient amount of research as well as my father to say that Emancipation is my only option. I have looked for a while now, and I think its safe to say that is my only option. With my current knowledge, to be emancipated, you have to prove to the government that you are able to provide for yourself and pay taxes or something of the sort.So, reddit, what should I do? I dont have the grades to get full-ride scholarships, I dont have a particular talent for anything so i cant get a job and provide for myself. The deadline to prove to the court that I can be independent is June 2016, and as of right now, I have no source of income. I am jobless, I dont even have an internship and dont even know where to begin with this whole situation. I am truly lost and have absolutely know idea how to handle this situation.  <response>: It sounds like you will need to go to choose a college closer to home, get a job, and work your way through college. If California is out-of-state for you, then it will be very expensive. A better way is to start at a community college which is much cheaper. A lot of states have programs where you can go 2 years at community college and then 2 years at a state school and all of your credits at the community college will transfer.In my state, 2 years at the community college only costs about 2,000 per semester and if you can live at home, anyone should be able to work while going to school and earn enough to pay for that.You should be working now and saving up. 