<p>",many students to go grad school immediately after undergrad when they are 21/22"</p>
<p>Does anybody know the percentage of 21/22 year olds that do this? in the US or elsewhere? My guess that it is much less than one percent.</p>
<p>I disagree that federal aid affects private school tuition much .I don’t believe kids for whom pell grants make a difference are well represented on cc…I DO wonder if they fell as “cheated” as the more typical students do.</p>
<p>Well then my school must be pretty amazing, because I’d say at least half of my psychology class pursed a masters or higher following graduation last spring, and I know people in different disciplines who did the same. And even if they take off a year, they may still be 22 or 23 when they go. I’m kind of an oddball at my age since I chose to attend an extra semester of undergrad and then took 2 years off before applying to graduate school. It does get harder to go back once life gets in the way, but I see it happen. And vice versa, I see people go straight out of undergrad who have known for years (as I did) that /that/ is what they want.</p>
<p>I would agree. Amazing not compared to kids in four year colleges. Amazing compared to all 21 to 22 year old kids.The ones graduating four year colleges at 18 to 21 are already “amazing”.</p>
<p>Ok, maybe not amazing; just way better off than the majority.</p>
<p>At a CGS Annual Meeting presentation a few years ago, “In a sample of highly Ph.D.-productive research colleges (Bryn Mawr, Haverford, Swarthmore), the percentage of B.A. graduates who go on to graduate school immediately is consistently 20%-25%”</p>
<p>Can’t find numbers more recent at the moment, but it could depend on the place they’re looking at, or where they come from. My LAC probably had a higher average number attending at least a masters degree.</p>
<p>I was thinking something like, “of people aged 21 to 24 in the US , or in the world, what percentage are in full time phd programs?”</p>
<p>I can say with some certainty, that in my community, it is much below one percent. In fact, I don’t know one student between the ages of 21 and 24 in a pHd program.</p>
<p>Reading over those stats, I think it really comes down to whether you go to a research university, a LAC that preps well for grad school, or a more general school. My LAC really stressed research experience for everyone, so maybe that’s why higher numbers picked up an interest in graduate school and went. In colleges where it isn’t stressed so heavily, it may seem foreign to students and they decide not to go, or go back later in life.</p>
<p>I was including masters programs in every statement I made. I agree that those going directly into PhD programs will be much fewer.</p>
<p>Ok, let’s add masters. I know some working grown ups, but again, no one age 21 to 24. I am sure it varies by community, but i still dont think its typical in the US , or in the world.</p>
<p>And I get that students graduating four year schools in four years are over represented in graduate program statistics,.but they are already the fortunate ones. Not going straight to grad school may not make them deprived.</p>
<p>Not typical, that would imply a majority go. But at least where I live (northeastern US), I’d say a fair amount do go either immediately, or within a few years. It would also vary greatly by major. Psychology (my degree) is too broad to really have a career set for you upon graduation…and most do not pay well. It’s one of those degrees where graduate is strongly emphasized because you’re not really set to “do” anything upon graduation with a BA/BS in psychology unless you had some stellar internships. I think a lot of the liberal arts majors are this way. Perhaps much less so in the sciences, unless you’re pre-med.</p>
<p>And by “fair amount” I only mean 10-25% or so, nowhere near half.</p>
<p>
I understand. I don’t think of the problem in those terms.
I understand what both of you are saying, but we view it differently. </p>
<p>We don’t have a firm limit. There are a few schools/programs for which we’d consider paying the maximum, but very few - we view even those as being overpriced. So it’s not an easy decision, because we are frugal. Options that we consider to be unacceptably priced would require substantial merit dollars before becoming viable choices. </p>
<p>Also, we’re not using a static scale; we won’t be able to firm up the choices until we see the actual set of offers that are out there. There are schools for which we might adjust to pay more (or rule out) depending on the actual available alternatives.</p>
<p>We like to view our purchases in terms of value, quality-to-price ratios. We shop according to value, not price. Of course, quality is our own subjective assessment.</p>
<p>
That’s pure mythology.</p>
<p>Yeah, no, it’s not. Hello, payroll tax, property taxes, utility taxes, gas taxes, sales taxes, state income taxes, alcohol/tobacco tax, etc. etc. etc.</p>
<p>It’s like you think you can pretend that the federal income tax is the only tax in the world.</p>
<p>It’s just not true. I considered all those taxes, but remember that as income rises, the Federal tax dominates. Our system is highly progressive overall.</p>
<p>Well, you haven’t considered it enough. When Warren Buffett said his secretary pays a larger percentage of income as taxes than he does, he wasn’t lying.</p>
<p>Income generated from wages is taxed far more heavily than income generated from non-wage sources such as investments. Guess who makes the vast majority of investment income? Right, the 1 percent.</p>
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<p>We’re pretty much the same place, but I don’t consider it a hardship. I consider it an incredible blessing to live in a country and at a time where every kid who has the desire and the ambition to get a good education beyond high school has the ability to do so, albeit not necessarily at any place their hearts desire. My kids understand that their college options are going to be limited by our ability to contribute - and we plan to stretch to the limit of our means to make that contribution - and they are fine with that. My kids are by no means perfect, but at least they haven’t grown up thinking they are entitled to all the finest things in life.</p>
<p>*but at least they haven’t grown up thinking they are entitled to all the finest things in life. *</p>
<p>This is key. Too many have been raised to think so. Too many rarely ever heard the word “no” while growing up. </p>
<p>Princes and princesses are everywhere…hey, our kids aren’t royalty.</p>
<p>And, unfortunately, our culture reinforces that.</p>
<p>Our " culture" isn’t really one way of thinking- what is valued in the home comes first.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Not to derail the thread, but…</p>
<p>There’s a thread about the Princess being launched. I’m not trying to be harsh because I know that the thread was made kind of in a jokey way. However, when we’re raising sons and daughters in such a way, how are these kids going to cope as adults without M&D underwriting their ever-growing wants and needs. </p>
<p>When I was in high school, things like Prom involved a reasonably-priced dress and a corsage. Now, Prom consists of $500 gowns, professional up-dos, nails, and make-up, limos, etc.</p>