Preparing to apply for the visa.

I got my CAS number today, which is exciting, because it means that I now officially exist in the eyes of the UK Border Agency.  The visa I am applying for is a Tier 4 (General) Student Visa.  The next steps are as follows: 1) Fill out the online application, print out the one bit that must be printed out and filled out by hand, and pay the application fee.
2) Go get my biometric data (all ten fingerprints and a digital photograph) taken.
3) Ship All The Things to the consulate in New York.  This includes the printed-out part of the application, my original diploma and/or transcript from UNC (I might only have to send one of these things in, but I'm not clear on that just yet), my passport, two recent passport-sized photographs, and a bank statement.

And with that, we come to the subject of money, and also the first snag I have hit.

My fees for this program amount to £12,200.  I am also expected to show living expenses amounting to £5,400 - assurance that I won't be going on public funds once I get to the UK.  So all told, I have to show that I have access to the equivalent of £17,600, or $28,302.56, before I can get my visa.  I knew this already.  What I just found out today is that not only do I have to show that money, but I have to show that I have had that money for the past 28 days before I can apply.

I wish I had known this, like, a month ago.

From what I can see, I essentially have three options here:
1) Acquire said money as quickly as possible via bank transfers and loans, sit on it for 28 days, apply July 20 or so, and potentially not have my visa in time to fly over when I want to (around the third or fourth week of August), since visa processing is probably going to take 4-6 weeks.  Will this be the end of the world?  No.  Will it be a serious bummer?  Yes.
2) Go ahead and pay off as much of my tuition as I can, so that the amount I have to show is lower.  This will make my life easier once I actually get over there, but time-wise, this doesn't really help my situation.
3) Enlist help from the parental units.  I am allowed to show my parents' funds in place of my own, but I have to send my birth certificate and a letter from my parents saying that yes, they ARE in fact my parents, and yes, I have permission to use their money to the consulate along with everything else.  Time-wise, this is the neatest solution, but there's a part of me that balks at relying on mommy and daddy's money at my age, y'know?  I won't ACTUALLY be using it of course, with the exception of what's left in the college account, but that's how it'll seem to Those Who Are They at the Border Agency.  But if I want things to happen in a timely manner, I'll just have to get over it.  And also, who says they're going to agree to it anyway?  :P