Meanwhile as a young man the financial aid system told me I was a dependent solely because I was under 24 (I paid my own bills, rent, worked and filed my taxes, and relied not at all on my parents, but hey) and that any aid would be calculated against the wealth of both myself and my family. My father isn’t exactly a wealthy man, but combining the wealth of late career man would have certainly made it seem like I was in some great economic position I was not.

They make it hard to be considered separate from your parents because if it was easy, every student would do it upon reaching age 18.

What I found wild was that they felt entitled to 1/3 of my assets every year. The lesson is: spend your money before college or keep it under the mattress, because your college will take essentially all of it over the course of 4 years.