Can you please help out a beginner. Any advice appreciated!

[dfrecore]

So I just enroll into the college and take the tests? Transfer the credits, etc? I do plan on getting my GED it's free and will help the fees later on. Financial aid is definitely an option as money is tight. I'm sorry I just don't know much of the process of enrolling at college.

I would not enroll in any of the schools until you figured out which one you wanted to go to and which degree you wanted to get. Also, for EC and COSC, you have to pay for enrollment based on time, so you don't want to enroll until you're ready to go, with a bunch of courses under your belt.

I don't think an IEP Diploma will stop you from going to any of the Big 3.

Can't help with financial aid, as I don't know how it works. But there are people on this forum who can help with that - makes it a lot more complicated to take courses, rather than just taking the ones you want and paying out of pocket. Check out posts on financial aid.