Hey HN,

I've been living in the United States since the age of 2, but I was actually born Saudi Arabia. During my sophomore year in high school my parents clued me in on the fact that they never actually got me my citizenship, and that I only had an overstayed tourist visa.

But things became really problematic when I graduated and realized that my illegal status makes me ineligible for all of the scholarships I earned (one in particular is a full ride Floridian scholarship) and would force me to pay out of state tuition.

So with no way to pay for school, I took a gap year which I'm four months into. I've been supplementing this off time with OCW computer science lecture videos and a ton of self study; however, everything's much more arduous and lonely than studying in a college environment and I don't want to fall behind.

I've come up with two solutions: apply to universities in Canada and Europe and hopefully be admitted to one of those countries on a student visa or stick it out here and find a way to pay for school. So I'm coming to you, HN, for some advice on how I could possibly pay for school. Are there private, merit based scholarships I could earn? Could I work a job with only a ITIN and no SSN? Is there a way I can petition for in-state tuition?

Please, any advice would help me out.

edit: I realize, on paper, I'm a criminal. I really don't see it that way, and I'd like to try everything I can to stay in the United States. I also cannot apply for citizenship with an overstayed visa and leaving the country would prevent my reentry for 10 years; something I'm trying to avoid.

edit 2: I'm here to talk about how to pay out of state tuition, not my status. For those who are curious, here are the only options I have when it comes to dealing with my status: get married, leave the country and be barred from reentry for 10 years, or wait for reform. So my stopping being a "criminal" is not a matter of choice or lack of will.