The Steps
Financial aid, major, live-in or commute, which college--it swells into an overwhelming avalanche of paperwork that can bury you. Larger colleges with more inbound students tend to have less time or inclination to be helpful except for prescribed days. If you can't attend these open enrollments, good luck.
Fill out the federal application for financial student aid no matter what your financial status--makes the process go more easily. Each school applied to receives this online and asks for any other information needed. Apply to more than one college and choose the one that best fits your academic and financial goals. How much debt are you comfortable acquiring? The quality of education is not tied to the cost of the institution.
First Decision
Were does the student want to go? If shy and introverted like my kid, a smaller community college has the ability for better one-on-one attention and the same first two year courses most colleges require, at a much reduced cost, that can be transferred to a four-year program after getting an associate's degree.
Courses
Since required courses come first, picking a specific major can wait, which is good news for most students who haven't a clue what future they want to commit to. Experiment with elective courses, free classes you can take just to see if you like the subject. In smaller colleges, apply for classes as early as possible before they fill up.
Books
Quick tip from a family friend: you can often get course books online (Amazon) for a much lower price, whether new, used, or even rented--that was a new one to me.
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