College worth going into debt?

I think I may have been misleading earlier. When I say I'm going to live with my sister, I don't get a free ride-I'll be paying rent.

I will be in school full-time. That is not up for discussion. When I say full-time, I am thinking about 12 hrs per semester. I will be working "practically" full time waiting tables. Nights, weekends, summers, etc. I am very good in school and should be able to maintain a 3.00gpa with this plan. If grades start slipping, work hours will get cut. I will take fast track classes every chance I get in the summer and on any other breaks.

Yall have some great points and ideas!

Heather,

What major do you plan to take? That's the key.

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Ted H

You may all go to Hell, and I will go to Texas.
-Davy Crockett

I'll have to talk to an advisor before I decide. Which, I have to get admitted before I can do that. It's a big hassle!

Hey.

Pick a profession/occupation that there is a demand for the next ten years and pays good. Do your research first, so you don't get locked in on something that doesn't pay well. Usually you have to work in the big city to make the big bucks. Pharmacist or vet is a great choice for rural living.

RF

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It's not good enough that we do our best; sometimes we have to do what's required. - Winston Churchill

Heather,

Have you considered a 2 year college that you could check out and see if any of the majors appeal to you? Much lower tuition rate and often those colleges have night classes compared to a regular college. My friend has an A.A.S. degree in Computer Engineering or Networking. He brings home approximately $5-6k a month working for the state of Texas as a Internet manger supervisor. I kid you not.

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Ted H

You may all go to Hell, and I will go to Texas.
-Davy Crockett

That was a mistake I made when I started college. It is much better to already have a major planned before even deciding to go to college. If you let some one else decide for you, you may want to change your major later on. Better to choose what you want instead of what some other person decides for you.

I am in school right now at the age of 36 so I can send my kids to college. I had NO idea what I wanted to do. I had been a day care provider, then a dog trainer, but that will not send a child to Clarkson U. This is the process I used to figure out what to do.

I wrote a list of what I am NOT good at first. I do not have the ability to get along with the same 5 people in an office for years on end. I am not good with nitty gritty detail stuff. I make flaky mistakes. I am not good at repetitive tasks over long periods of time.

Then I made a list of what I am good at. I love to talk to people. I am a good teacher. I am good with animals and plants. I like to drive. I have a great imagination. I am passionate. I think outside the box.

Then I listed wants and not wants. I do not want anyone to die because I make a mistake. I do not want to work with stuck up people. I want variation in my day and year. I want to teach in some capacity or work with people. I would like some of those people to change (ie meet new people). I would like hours which would allow me flexibility for the kids (12 and 17), especially that I can work from 6 am -2 pm. or other similar hours. I need to be able to find a job within the area I now live, which is very rural.

I ended up taking Agricultural science, and I am in my 3rd semester with a 4.0. I am having a blast, exploring careers, options, and fields. My college is overhauling its Ag program and going Sustainable and Organic, and so I am now pretty much in charge of the new vegetable garden with another student. We have a 30 grand budget and free reign to do what we want as long as it makes money, and nearly 5 acres on which to do it. We have a very small garden now and are selling $400 + a week in veggies to our dining hall, and now have a deal with the university across the street to sell to them as well. Next semester I am planning on getting bee hives and pastured poultry going too. A small orchard, an herb garden, a veg stand for summer, farmers markets, the possibilities are limitless.

I am now planning on going another 2 years for my BS in Org. and Sust. and teaching at the college. They will certainly be needing more teachers, and with my experiences starting up the garden as well as alternative livestock spp and my teaching experience as a dog trainer I have been told that it is very probable I will have a job as a professor. They may even let me start teaching next year as an assistant!

So make those lists, jump in, and see what happens. No one can ever take that degree away from you. You are investing in yourself by going to college. I am taking out loans, and even though I dislike them, I know they will pay for themselves over and over. I am going to a cheap state school with a good reputation in the field, which gives you bang for your buck. You may also look into working at the college while you are going to school. With no kids you have lots of options.

Good luck! You are very young, look far ahead and see the possibilities!

One of my friends graduated from a 4 year college with a degree in Social Work. He got a job right out of school making a small but reasonable wage for his field. When his wife got pregnant with their first child they realized he didn't make enough for a family and he talked to his boss about more money. THey promised him a raise if he got his masters. That would be two more years of school as well as debt. The raise would have only been about 2K a year more. He looked at his options and went to night school for computers. One year later he had his computer certifications, got a much better job, and now has a much larger home, a family, and a lot more income. He could have gotten the computer certs. right out of HS and saved a lot of time and money.

I would only recommend college for people who want to be nurses, doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc. that need all of the specialized training. A lot of places will hire you because you have a BA but they will pay you about the same as what they pay a HS grad. who can do the same work. Out of my HS class, the people who went directly into work all are making out better than most of the ones who went to college with the exception of one fella who graduated from law school and started his own firm.

Let me give you one last example from my own personal experisnce. I went to college and got a BS in Bible/Mission, intending on being a missionary. Worked for over three years in the home office of a mission agency making just over minimum wage. All of the agencies I interviewed with wanted me to have experience in mechanical or construction areas before considering going out on the field. They also wanted a lot more work in Christian ministry. I took some grad. courses in several seminary programs and found that I had less and less interest in some of the agencies I had talked to before. I then got the chance to get a construction related job, which I took, thinking it would satisfy the mechanical requirements for the missions. They found I had a strong aptitude for plumbing and paid for me to go to trade school nights for plumbing and heating. The school placed me into a better job with a developer and also told me I had the aptitude for power plant training. The developer paid for me to go to night school for the power plant training and when I left them I had the licensing to get a job operating a high rise building in center city Phila. When I left that job I had the experience to get a hospital engineering job which lasted through 5 different owners. When that hospital closed and was sold, I was the only one kept to maintain the vacant property and that led to my present position with Cancer Treatment Centers of America as a Stationary Engineer making over 50K a year plus good benefits. The Bible college helped me do work with my local church and the general courses gave me a good background, but they definitely didn't help get the kind of money I make today. That came from a few years of trade and technical classes.

Determine exactly what you are shooting for first, then decide I college, trade, or technical school is necessary. If you dislike taking care of customers at the bank you probably don't want to take care of patients as a nurse or students as a teacher. Maybe you want a job wher you work alone, such as computers or some other technical field?

Think first, act second!

Ken in Glassboro, NJ

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I assumed that you would actually!

Seriously, though, check out the grants. Especially the Pell grant: you might not qualify but they are the BEST! A classmate went through on one.

It looks like an expensive school, but not $4000 a semseter if you only take 12 units.

Perhaps you were figuring in living expenses as well?

I'm going back to school right now for my RN... yeah the debt is kinda yucky to think about but the fact is, I purposefully chose a field that is always in demand, I won't have a problem finding a job in a rural homesteading area, and something I can make decent money at. I am thinking about eventually going on to be a midwife, but that's besides the point.

I don't think I could justify going to school if I hadn't purposefully chosen a field that 1. pays enough to make the loans worthwhile and 2. provides excellent job stability.

So I gotta agree with some of the others - to get a BA in something generic is a waste of your money, but to go to school with a specific purpose in mind, a specific career that will make enough for you to repay the loans and increase your standard of living, it's worth it.

I work at a credit union and I actually really, really enjoy my job but I know I can make over twice what I'm making right now once I have my RN. Though, I think part of why I adore my job so much is because my company rocks. So, while it kinda sucks thinking about the debt I'm incurring, well, once I get into nursing school I can apply for scholarships and grants but the biggest thing is if I focus really hard the first couple years and don't go nuts increasing my standard of living right away I can get the loans paid off pretty quick, get my butt out of debt completely and buy a house.

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Uncle Dutch Farms
Blogging from working city mom to homesteading housewife.
Rural Living Today
Encouragement for the Urban-to-Rural Transition
My review of the Piteba oil expeller

Yeah, for $8 an hour ... I know, 'cause I used to hire them!
Even got one with a Master's, wow!

Look, you need to decide what you want to do first, then figure out the best path to get there.

Where do you want to live? What jobs are available in that area?
I was a biology major until I realized there were NO jobs in the field anywhere even remotely close to where I lived, and as I didn't plan on relocating at the time (I was married) it would have been a waste to finish my degree. So I switched to a major (education) that was slightly more marketable in my area, before dropping out ... LOL

Go see a career counselor at your school of choice; he or she can give you a battery of aptitude tests. You already know what you DON'T want to do (banking) -- hey, that's a start!

Once you narrow it down to a field of interest, take a hard look at whether it's possible to work in that field WITHOUT a degree (or with the one you already have). When I left the newspaper business, I knew I wanted to work with animals again. I checked into a vet tech program at a local college, but it would have cost me upwards of $30,000 to complete, for a job paying about $12 an hour. Ouch! I went to work on a dairy farm instead, and 2 years later, moved up to being a herd tester, making more than I would have had I spent those 2 years (and 30 grand) in college.

In short, phrase your goal in terms of GETTING A JOB, not just getting a degree.

Good luck!

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"I love all of this mud," said no one, ever.

Not picking on you Beorning but I just wanted to point out that sometimes the point of this whole excercise of life isn't to make more money but rather to do something meaningful, the definition of meaningful of course is up to the individual. (That's why we are so lucky to have been born here in a country where one can say and do just that, not some place where day to day living sucks up all your energy.) But back to topic...so in this case I hope that your BIL has found his research work fufilling. Personally I have found that the people who have persued a degree merely for financial reward are those who seem less satisfied; whereas the folks who pursued a degree to do what they dreamed of, on a whole, seem happier.

Probably it's because I have been fortunate to really like both my previous work in Optometry and now farming that I can see things this way. I didn't often wonder "if this was all there was to it..." like others, like my Father. Hope that everyone here feels equally fortunate.

Liese, out standing in her field

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Goat milk soap & Wool products
www.littlemeadowsfarm.net
http://littlemeadowsfarms.blogspot.com/

Yes it is, if your degree is in medicine, engineering, law or some kind of white collar field. My nephew graduated college with a degree in construction management and his starting salary was over $60 G's. Some of the computer degrees pay extremely well also. But I will admit it takes as much luck as it does good grades to get some jobs.

You're right about now being the time. Don't end up like me and wait until your late 30's to finish school! It's much harder once you have a family. You really need to check into getting a grant to pay for your education...it doesn't need to be paid back. I believe you can apply online now.

Computer jobs aren't as easy or as "behind the scenes" as they use to be. Nowaday you better have good communication skills as well as computer smarts.. and to make it even tougher you better be in an area thats not inundated with other computer nerds... Ask me how I know.

And the days of working in computers without a degree (with certifications only) are over. Heck I have an AAS in network technology, A+, Network+, and Security+ certifications and have just now (2 yrs after graduation) landed my first job... Help desk... Yuck.. But hey $12/hr and experience for the resume... Got to start somewhere.

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"Let the beauty we love, be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground." Rumi

Hum who do I need more. Some guy that spent 4 years and can net work computers or a guy that spent 2 years and can fix my meat cooler?

Who do you think makes more?

As long as you are happy doing what you are doing. That is all that matters.

Some high school drop out can drive a truck for 25 a hour, but maybe that is all he needs in his life to make him happy.

Daytrader...computer wages are pretty high most places. I wouldn't bet on the meat cooler guy...but ask which one is happier and you have a different story...and I think that is they key for the original poster. Money is important and she'll need a certain amount to survive but the happy part is most important!

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My Home Among The Hills

College grads can do the same thing Others wait tables, sell insurance, work for Best Buy, process financial aid.... that is just a few of my freinds who hold baccalaureates in stuff like Meteorology, American History, Political Science, IT etc. I am the truck driver...now I am back in college... The field you choose to major in does not have to be your life calling, it does not have to define or fullfill you... all it has to do is make you a living. So choose wisely....don't believe the advisors, and do a little research on the job market on your own.....you also need to be willing to relocate for some jobs.

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Justice is the insurance which we have on our lives and property. Obedience is the premium which we pay for it.