College Time!

[dan88911]

I did not read this entire thread just some of the last few post.
I am about 3/4 finish reading an interesting book titled "The Second Machine Age" work,progress and prosperity in a time of brilliant technologies.
by Erik Brynjolfsson & Andrew McAffee
They are a couple of MIT researchers who have shared their work on how to prepare people for the next economy instead of the last one. Might be worth look for the college bound and career hunters.

[strupgolf]

Interesting to note that many kids with 4.0 gpa's are getting rejected. I see why every time I drive around any campus. Its all the foreign students, tons and tons of them. And why would'nt the schools take them over a kid from middle class america. Its the MONEY, follow the money. The school gets full out of state tution, not the cut rate scewed one from Jimmy. And there'slots and lots of money out there across the ponds with wealthy parents hoping their kid will do well in america. I was at Purdue over thr Thanksgiving holiday 3 years ago, and you would have thought you were in China. Oh well.

[jyl]

Good talk to have. Good reaction from your boy.

My daughter got a job in the cafeteria on her first day of high school. Her idea, mom and I had no idea . Then she started working at the summer camp - tough work, 50 hours/wk cooking on the line in a hot steel institutional kitchen. I started talking to her about money - specifically, our situation, what we could and couldn't afford for college, why heavy debt is bad - about a year ago. She's taken it to heart and looks at things quite maturely. My son isn't quite there yet, being only 14 y/o, but whenever he asks for permission to buy or download a video game etc, he always gets his money and pays me for it. Often I thank him and let him keep his money. But I'm glad he is thinking about it.

So last year Calvin had a few Cs on his report card mid-term. I sat him down for a talk and said to bring a piece of paper and a pencil. I told him that if he wanted to get Cs, that is his choice, but he needed to know the deal here which is:



1. if you go to college you can stay in my house rent-free (assuming he's commuting)

2. if you go away to college the costs will be shared by your 529 (which I have contributed to), your mom, me, and *you*. You will have to either get scholarships or take out a loan. Not a huge one, but there will be skin in the game

3. if you do not go to college, you will either move out of my house upon graduation or pay market rent.



He says, "ok...what's the paper for?" At which point I ask him what a barista at Starbucks makes for a living. He doesn't know, so I say, "ok, let's assume $10/hr. Now, if you get that job out of high school, what will you make per month."



Blank stare. "Write it down!" I say. He does. Comes out to about $1600/mo. I say, "let's round you up to $2000/mo. Now, how much do you think we pay in rent for this house?" Blank stare. "Take a guess." Blank stare. "$4k per month. Now, how much did you earn at Starbucks? Oh, and I forgot to mention that they take taxes out of your check so you get less than $2K. Now, do you know how much we pay in utilities - water, power, gas? How about food?"



At this point tears are running down his face.



"Son, don't get Cs..."

[jyl]

Originally Posted by strupgolf

Interesting to note that many kids with 4.0 gpa's are getting rejected. I see why every time I drive around any campus. Its all the foreign students, tons and tons of them. And why would'nt the schools take them over a kid from middle class america. Its the MONEY, follow the money. The school gets full out of state tution, not the cut rate scewed one from Jimmy. And there'slots and lots of money out there across the ponds with wealthy parents hoping their kid will do well in america. I was at Purdue over thr Thanksgiving holiday 3 years ago, and you would have thought you were in China. Oh well.

Same thing for out of state (OOS) students at state universities. An OOS student at a UC school pays $45K/yr tuition and the in-state student pays $15K/yr or whatever it is.

There are a couple ways of looking at it. One is that the foreign students (or the OOS students) help subsidize the domestic (or in-state) students. With higher education budget cuts, that money helps. Another is that a significant percent of foreign students stay in the US (or would if they could), add to our talent pool, and become every bit as American as any other American. That's what my dad and his siblings did back in 1950. The other is, of course, that lots of domestic (or in-state) kids with high GPAs/SATs are facing tougher competition for the "top" schools. Maybe that's good training for the competition they will face after college too.

[widgeon13]

College education costs are almost as crazy as health care costs. So what does that mean? Eventually the government will have to step in to assist.

Why is college tuition not a tax deduction? Why does it cost $50,000 a year to go to some run of the mill college?

I also think some kids should go out and work before they start college. They need to know what the world looks like from a working perspective as well as what they will need to deliver once they get a degree. We have two grandkids and I expect if prices continue like they have been trending it will cost and easy MIL to send both of them through school. I have no idea where our sons and DIL will get that kind of money.

[2porscheguy]

Originally Posted by nostatic

So last year Calvin had a few Cs on his report card mid-term. I sat him down for a talk and said to bring a piece of paper and a pencil. I told him that if he wanted to get Cs, that is his choice, but he needed to know the deal here which is:

1. if you go to college you can stay in my house rent-free (assuming he's commuting)
2. if you go away to college the costs will be shared by your 529 (which I have contributed to), your mom, me, and *you*. You will have to either get scholarships or take out a loan. Not a huge one, but there will be skin in the game
3. if you do not go to college, you will either move out of my house upon graduation or pay market rent.

He says, "ok...what's the paper for?" At which point I ask him what a barista at Starbucks makes for a living. He doesn't know, so I say, "ok, let's assume $10/hr. Now, if you get that job out of high school, what will you make per month."

Blank stare. "Write it down!" I say. He does. Comes out to about $1600/mo. I say, "let's round you up to $2000/mo. Now, how much do you think we pay in rent for this house?" Blank stare. "Take a guess." Blank stare. "$4k per month. Now, how much did you earn at Starbucks? Oh, and I forgot to mention that they take taxes out of your check so you get less than $2K. Now, do you know how much we pay in utilities - water, power, gas? How about food?"

At this point tears are running down his face.

"Son, don't get Cs..."

Funny, I had pretty much the same experience with my son last year in grade 11. He was getting Cs and was all worried that he wouldn't be accepted to university after grade 12 with grades like that! So I had THE talk with him...I asked him about how many hours of homework does Zach (a friend of his with straight As) do per night? He replied "oh, at least 2.5 to 3 hrs...ya, he's a major brain!"....and you?....."(gulp) maybe an hour"....well, well! Do you think that might be part of the problem here?!?

This year....what a difference!.....A- average! He just found out that he has been accepted to all 3 schools that he applied to..UofCalgary, UofAlberta, and UofVictoria....well done son!

Alex

[jyl]

A twist now. Daughter is getting unsolicited "full ride" offers from schools she never applied for/we haven't heard of. Latest is from University of Oklahoma in Norman OK. I gather they offer full 4 year rides to any National Merit Scholarship finalist which she is. It is very tempting to save $100K. But I don't want to pack her off to some unknown school of unclear quality just for the money.

[Aragorn]

Originally Posted by jyl

A twist now. Daughter is getting unsolicited "full ride" offers from schools she never applied for/we haven't heard of. Latest is from University of Oklahoma in Norman OK. I gather they offer full 4 year rides to any National Merit Scholarship finalist which she is. It is very tempting to save $100K. But I don't want to pack her off to some unknown school of unclear quality just for the money.

Don't quite think that OU is a "fly-by-night" operation there.

[onewhippedpuppy]

I think your west coast bias is showing.

[jyl]

Sorry, didn't mean it that way. What I mean is: we didn't look at OU and it doesn't fit the criteria we have - but there's $100K dangling out there . . .

[porsche4life]

It would be worth looking into. OU is a top tier school. The campus there is pretty as well. Might be worth you guys taking a trip to OKC. Easy airport to fly out of, but not exactly cheap. There are a few pelicans in the area as well. I'll drop one a message to check in here as I know he's an alum.

Feel free to PM me or hit me up on Facebook if you have questions. I had several friends that went there. I have some local bias against the school, but in reality it would be an awesome education.

[Seahawk]

My Daughter looked very hard at OU...their equestrian program is excellent. The academic side was strong as well.

The school and town is really nice, very well done. I also liked the surrounding area. It really is a neat place.

She was accepted but decided not to go because she felt it was too much of a "college town": She grew up on a farm and wanted a more big city experience.

Worth a good long look in my book.

[RWebb]

it's a decent large research univ. BUT... before you exile you daughter to the state of Okiehoma, you'd better think long & hard about the fact that SHE will be choosing which old folks home to park yer azz in....

[jyl]

OU does have both a Fine Arts (Studio Arts) and a Biology program . . .

[plain fan]

I'm one of the friends that Sidney mentioned. I'm an alum of the university and received my BS in Industrial Engineering from the school. I currently work very closely with the college of Engineering through a mentoring program and through my employer.

I would recommend taking a trip to at least visit the university. I would not call Norman a college town. It is continuing to grow every year and Oklahoma City is only a few minutes north of Norman. I consider Stillwater to be more of a college town in feel and atmosphere as the main focal point is Oklahoma State University.

I would be happy to answer any questions you might have. Feel free to PM me or contact me directly through email.

Grady

[onewhippedpuppy]

Except for the signs, you really can't tell the difference between Norman and OKC anymore. It's not LA, but it's a metro area of well over a million people. Plenty to see and do.

[RWebb]

salmon fishing?
mountain hiking, skiing?
whale watching?

etc.

OTOH, I bet they have sunshine there.

[jyl]

salmon fishing?

mountain hiking, skiing?

whale watching?



etc.



OTOH, I bet they have sunshine there.

What's that?

[sand_man]

Originally Posted by nostatic

My son is a junior in HS. He is getting so-so grades. Last semester (the first one that really counts) was 3.83 - his best ever. This semester I figure will slide a bit as he just isn't that interested at this point. I'm fine with it - he can go to community college and figure out his plan or he can get a band together and go on the road living out of a van for a year. That is actually what I think he should do. His mom thinks he should go to med school. Yuck. Totally not for him. Best case scenario is he gets into USC and I'm still employed there so he gets free tuition. Would be a perfect fit in the interactive media program at cinema. Worst case is he goes to CC for two years, either gets fired up or doesn't, then transfers or gets a job at a game studio. He'll figure it out.

I'm in a similar boat. My son is a junior and has an overall GPA of about 3.2. However, in the end, unless he makes some changes, he will be lucky to finish HS with a 3.0. He does well in the classes that interest him and barely makes it out of the ones he questions. And this has been his roller coaster routine for most of his academic life. I'm sure he'll do a stint at community college just to test the waters and then we'll see. I'd be just as happy if learned a trade as I would for him to get a Bachelors Degree. He'll figure it out...

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by RWebb

salmon fishing?
mountain hiking, skiing?
whale watching?

etc.

OTOH, I bet they have sunshine there.

Nope but no killer mudslides, ever! No tidal waves to boot.

The metro area is over 1,000 square miles. It is not a dusty backwoods anymore. We even have a NBA team that is pretty good.