The usual financial aid office assumption seems to be that student part time work during the school year may earn up to about $3-4k at most. That is not too different from typically assumed misc / personal expenses (not billed by the college) that colleges list in costs of attendance.
Of course, the availability of on campus or near campus jobs suitable for part time student work varies at various campuses.
My kids had good luck with relatively lucrative jobs. But they were all in urban areas with good public transportation which ran late at night. Cars are expensive to maintain-- even in places where parking is free. And the most lucrative opportunities may not be near where the student lives. Netting $8K sounds great until youâre walking a few miles home from a restaurant at 2 am.
Well hopefully OP will find a school with immediate surrounds.
There are TONS of opportunities today and these employers are very flexible.
Again, hopefully itâs not needed. Hopefully OP gets into one to meet their budget or they have the Alabama option on their list that works financially - and give the sub honors programs they have, they can find rigor necessary to meet needs.
With respect- since I know you mean well- you might think about tempering the comments you make with such certainty. âThese employers are very flexibleâ. No. Iâve worked in food service; my kids have worked in food service; spouse has worked in food service. Many of these employers are the OPPOSITE of flexible. You get scheduled and you show up. Canât show up? Two strikes and youâre out policy. âTons of opportunitiesâ-- depends where you live. There are tons in some places, and not tons in others.
Your D does banquets for $18/hour. You realize there are parts of the country where thatâs an adult wage- not a college student wage- and where there are unemployed adults who support a family who line up for those jobs-- and where there are NO banquets, right?
Letâs not let our own privilege cloud things for parents and students who come here looking for advice. Financial and otherwise.
Thank you for your criticism - but perhaps you might go and see the world today - whether itâs local to me, where my son was and my daughter is - three very different places.
Businesses are bending over backward schedule wise to get kids. My daughter works when she wants, with two days notice as long as itâs one day per month. There is shift sharing, shift trading - there is absolute flexibility in so many places. It may not seem real but it is.
Itâs fine to speak for yourself - but please donât speak for me. I donât ridicule your comments and you neednât ridicule mine.
There are stores galore and restaurants galore right now dying for anyone who can work any amount of hours - and they are paying these students well and are extremely generous with the schedules and flexibility. You now show - itâs ok - come tomorrow. We need you.
They cannot afford to be otherwise.
PS - back to my original point - if the OP wants a 4 year school at $11K, their options include taking out a $5500 loan + working now, during school, and in summers.
Thatâs sounds advice and thatâs what I started with. Sorry you disagree but itâs your right and I wonât disparage you for disagreeing. I welcome your opinion even if itâs counter.
All of what you say is true- DEPENDING on where you are. This is not universal.
Iâm not ridiculing you; Iâm suggesting that you be less emphatic when you opine, particularly since- believe it or not- there are college kids right now, today, looking for one of those âlucrativeâ jobs they were assured were thereâs for the asking, and now discovering that without a car, itâs impossible to get back and forth for work without spending half your salary on Ubers.
Stores galore- in some places. Flexible schedules- in some places.
And in an earlier post I noted - âWell hopefully OP will find a school with immediate surroundsâ so they wonât have to worry about transport.
The good news is - the OP has identified a school to meet their financial need.
It may not be their favored school - but it will come in at their required cost so at least they can breathe easyâŠ
My 22 year old works in Boston as a bartender on weekends, makes good money but NO flexibility. She asked off got Easter weekend last year 3 weeks in advance, her manager replied ok to her email. Bought train ticket, the weekend before he told her no way, ok didnât mean yes, no Easter for her (they were closed Easter but she had to work Thursday Friday Saturday and we are a 5 hour train ride away). Unfortunately she needs this job to pay rent, and itâs walkable so she saves on Ubers (she gets off from work at 3 am). Zero flexibility. There were several similar incidences. Iâm hoping she will be able to come home for thanksgiving but not getting my hopes up. She doesnât want to get punished and stuck working day shifts on the weekends because she canât afford that. One more year! She had to change another train ticket because she was scheduled on a Monday (because of school she is only available to work Thursday/Friday nights, saturdays and Sundays), but since she was off of school that Monday she was scheduled for all day restaurant cleaning (at a servers minimum wage). Fortunately she likes the job and her coworkers, manager is a jerk.
I totally agree. DD discovered that supposedly flexible FWS is not that flexible if they open only during regular business hours when she has classes. And minimum wage in Memphis is far cry from Maryland⊠She got very lucky to find opportunities on weekend and a chance to work remotely several hours a week for a Maryland office that employed her during summer.
My daughter works in Laramie WY. Minimum wage is $7.25 (federal), but she works at Starbucks and makes about $15/hr (I think). She likes to work holidays because she gets time and a half. She has a schedule but can trade shifts or pick up shifts. They give her time off whenever she needs it, like sheâs going to Wales for two weeks for her graduate work so she canât work for those two weeks. She still plays hockey for the club team so needs game days off (she just switches those shifts). One way students who canât make a regular jobâs times work could work events, like football games might be 12 hour days, but only 6 home games per year. A basketball game might be a 5 hour shift, usually weekends or evenings.
So even in low wage areas, college kids can make a lot. Most of the work study jobs on campus pay about $12/hr, but some pay more.
Although daughter pays a very low rent, other costs of living in a small, remote town are high. Food, gas, clothes can be high.
You are lucky. At our school FWS is a minimum wage (or several pennies above.). Not even $10/hour.
Yes - you need to go out in the real world ie off campus - where possible. Thatâs where the market wages are better.
Letâs move on from swapping war stories about wages, scheduling, etc. If someone wants to start a new thread in the topic, feel free. But in this thread, focus on the OPâs situation.
It would be interesting & helpful to know which courses (all 11) he is taking or has taken at his community college.
I understand your sonâs desire to be at a large school in a major city. (NYC, Boston, LA, Chicago, Montreal, London.) At his age, I was the same. I wanted to be able to meet new people each and every day, and I wanted those individuals to be diverse in every way possible.
Preferred area of study: Economics and Political Science. He loves math.
Consider schools which make it easy to double or triple major as well as easy to switch schools or colleges within that university. (Northwestern University is the poster child for flexibility in these respects.)
Not sure that the city of Pittsburgh will satisfy your sonâs curiosity at this stage of his life. New Orleans is more interesting. As is Montreal. Regardless, I suspect that your son really wants NYC, Chicago, LA, or Boston as stated in your original post. Houston and Dallas are interesting, but better with a car. Washington DC could work as could Philadelphia. Seattle is overrun with aggressive homeless individuals.
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada is still nice. University of British Columbia might be an option.
My advice would be based upon your sonâs academic interests and abilities. Would be helpful to see a list of his community college classes.
Columbia, Northwestern, UCLA, Georgetown, Tufts, BU, McGill, UBC, UCal-Berkeley, Emory (Atlanta), Harvard, Georgia Tech, Fordhamâs Lincoln Center campus on a full scholarshipâbut the academics might not be enough for your son. Certainly, he would get substantial merit scholarship money from ASU Barrett Honors College in Tempe/Phoenix.
With your sonâs love of math and interest in economics combined with the desire to be in a major city, I suggest:
Northwestern University
University of Chicago
University of Pennsylvania
NYU
Columbia
Depending upon how talented your son is at mathematics, Northwestern University offers two or three special programs which almost assure lucrative placement in oneâs preferred field.
P.S. Ask your son to consider studying a foreign language throughout his 4 years of university. The ultimate stimulation is going to a major city in a foreign country and using oneâs brain to function in another language.
He loves all the schools that you are suggesting! And four out of the five of them are coming in at our price range on the NPCs (NYU not even close). Unfortunately the chances for admission at each are slim, but he will definitely try his luck since the price is right and I agree they would all be a good fit.
His community college classes have been mostly in Economics, a few in Philosophy, one Polic Sci, one a language and one a science.
If he intends to apply to Northwestern, he will need to be specific about programs and offerings.
Also, with respect to community college courses taken, do not try for college credit at private universities as it may affect eligibility for some merit scholarships reserved for entering freshmen. Okay to use those courses for advanced standing or for ability to waive out of a distribution requirement.
Different for public universities. Some stuents with substantial community college courses can enter with sophomore (2nd year) standing. Could save a year of college tuition or could enable him to graduate in 4 years with both a BA and a masters degree.
FWIW I have a niece & a nephew whoâlike your sonâlove math. Both majored in math; one at U Chicago & one at Brown. Both loved their college experiences. Both are now published authors & journalists in NYC. The male made money in hedge funds & stock market before earning a Masters In Journalism at Columbia University. If I recall correctly, both were Fulbright Scholars and worked/studied in Africa. She, too, earned a Masters in Investigative Journalism from Columbia after completing a masters at U Cambridge. I share this in order to cultivate your sonâs excitement about his future.
It looks like they have done away with the âWhy Northwesternâ question. Is there another place to write about specific programs and offerings?
I would have to look over the application; unfortunately, I am not a real nuts & bolts type person with respect to college admissions. Regardless, find programs of interest and incorporate it or those into the application essays which are available. Or visit and arrange a meeting with your regional rep & discuss the specific programs.
Thanks for the link. Those certificate programs look like something he would really like.
I wish your son well.
The Northwestern University Kellogg Certificate programs lead to tremendous opportunities.