Paying for college by myself

Answered

Usually will be considered dependent unless you meet a list of criteria. Firstly, here are the ones I remember of the top of my head.

You can apply as independent if:

You are married

Are over 24

are emancipated or a ward of the court

are at risk of becoming homeless

a veteran

there are a few more so I would google it and check on the official site as it explains it better and you know if anything stated applies to you.

As for scholarships it really depends on you, if you want to win you will have to put a lot of work into your application but even that doesn't guarantee you will win. You could try private scholarships. Also apply to specific ones like scholarships for women in stem or scholarships for minorities. The more you can narrow it down the less applicants and the better your chances.

Overall if you have specific questions I would first call the people that run the fafsa and then the specific school you like to learn about how financial aid works at their school. For scholarships one site called bold.org, I recommend you check it out. Good luck, I know there usually has to be a good reason for you to want to apply as independent. I've thought about it to as my relationship with mine is confusing to say the least.