<prompt> Human: Im currently 17, in college, and living with an extremely controlling mother. I graduated high school at 16 and immediately started at a college in a city thats an hours drive from home. My mother allows me to live on campus during the week but requires me to come home on the weekends. I dont have a license or a car so my parents come and pick me up every Friday after classes and then take me back to my dorm on Sunday evenings.My parents have been paying for my tuition as my mother didnt allow me to have a job in high school and now that Im in college she will only let me get a job in our hometown. Im not allowed to have a job on campus or anywhere in the city my college is in, as that might require I work on the weekends and, according to her, it wouldnt make sense because I only live there for 3 months in reality, its 4-5 months each semester. To me, it makes even less sense to get a job in our hometown as Im only here on the weekends and over wintersummer break. She even thinks the smartest thing to do in the spring would be to have me live at home full time and commute an hour to my classes five days a week, while working a job in our hometown. Im still looking for a local seasonal position to try to make her happy and start saving some money for spring semester.Im turning 18 in February and want to escape my mothers control as much as possible. I want to sign student loans rather than rely on her for my tuition. I have a feeling she wont react well to my desire for independence and Im anticipating the possibility of having to move out on my own as well. I have friends that have offered to take me in rent free if I need to but Id like for that to be a last resort.My question is, what do I need to do in preparation for my 18th birthday? A classmate suggested that I get a job ASAP and open a credit card to try and build credit so I dont need anyone to cosign my loans. Im not sure how easy that will be, since as I mentioned before my mom will only allow me to have a job in my hometown. Is it possible for me to open a bank account without my mom knowing while Im a minor? She currently is a joint account holder with me and controls all my finances. She says shell take her name off the account after I turn 18, but I dont trust her to follow through so Id rather try to open my own if its possible. What about getting a credit card? Is that really a smart thing to do at 17? Should I be trying to get my license now? What about a car?My major is English education and Im a junior, if thats important.Ive been mostly kept in the dark about financial stuff my whole life so Im not sure where to begin. Any advice is appreciated.Edit: Im sorry, I shouldve mentioned this before but after I turn 18, Im going to make a very big personal decision that my mother currently has no knowledge of. As soon as she finds out about this decision she is not going to agree with it. I am 99 certain that in order to persuade me from going through with this decision she will threaten to stop paying for my college, shell try to take away access to my bank account in any way she can, and she may even kick me out of the house. That is really why I am asking for advice. I dont just want to be financially independent. I may very well need to be after this all goes down.Assistant: Once you are 18, you can apply for credit cards and open bank accounts on your own. Do so at that point. You can open a separate bank account at a different bank and transfer your money out of your current account into it if your mother does not remove her name from your account.Human: Thank you for your help. I guess all I can do for now is try to find a job and save as much money as I can.  <response>: Play along with mom and get your degree while she pays for it. Go to grad school far away and never come back. 