Where to get started?

I'm 5'3" (161 cm), 18 years old, in college with around $1,000 to my name. I just want to be a normal height - 5'6",7", 8" if I'm extraordinarily lucky. I'm from the U.S., and don't mind going overseas. But definitely want to prioritize not getting botched over saving a bunch of money.

Where do I even get started? How much money should I save up before attempting to begin my LL journey? Any advice, perspective, experiences, cautions?

   

The general entry to this niche world is Cyborg4Life on YouTube. There is an extensive catalog of content you will need to check before anything. You are young you can use that as an advantage.

Answering your questions:

Where do I even get started?

Well you are already here, meaning you have been doing your research, that's good. As I said Cyborg4Life is a must for newbies. Watch his content and take a look to his interviews, solid content.

How much money should I save up before attempting to begin my LL journey?

This may vary from place to place. Cheaper places are often terrible, I wouldn't advice to anybody going to India or Turkey for this surgery. Yes is cheaper, but your chances of getting crippled are extremely high. Avoid Livelifetaller Wannabetaller or Turkey in general, those ads are fake and people who go there are literally risking their lives, in fact avoid any "doctor" promoting LL as if were ordering a Pizza from Dominos.  One of the best places cost-benefit is Greece, with Dr. Giotikas. Anyway you need to do more research on Doctors. Money wise you will need in the cheaper high end something between 50k to 70k.  There are cheaper options in Vietnam too, Doctors there are reputable, but as I said you will need to do your research.

Any advice

Be conscious of your limit. Theory is one thing, but real life is something different. I would advice you go for femurs to a 7cm max. That's a safe range and your recover would have a higher range of succes. I wouldn't suggest quadrilateral for cosmetic reasons. Ever.

Are you sure you are even done growing?  There are stories where guys have gone to college and grown multiple inches their first year.  You need radiographic confirmation you're even done growing yet.  Chances are that you're done.  That said, unless you have wealthy parents, you're going to have to save a bit of money.  You may want to focus on school now and concentrate on saving money once you begin a career.

[Re: AllinStryde] I stopped growing at 14 for hormonal reasons, so I know I won't grow anymore lol. I was feeling overwhelmed with how the hell I'm going to balance school while saving ten of thousands of dollars so I appreciate your advice to focus on the long run, although it sucks having to spend a big chunk of young adulthood at this height.

Feels like 1 surgery on femurs wont be enough, best case scenerio you would be 170. Ive heard greece is a good place to do the surgery. US prices are just god awful, you can do this surgery for less than 50K USD in europe, with a decent surgeon. I would get bored out of my mind if I had to spend 6 months doing nothing, so, maybe find yourself a remote work to kill time in the meantime? Thats what I did anyways