Engineers (I’m one) get great training for analytical thinking, good grasp of data analysis, and being able to be extremely logical about technical (and other) subjects. Engineers are usually very good at quickly getting up to speed on new areas of study. It is a great basis for any number of careers (as are many other majors, BTW).
Thank you @blossom and @donnaleighg
Exactly…getting that degree in engineering was fine…even though the kid realized sophomore year that she never wanted to be a practicing engineer. It gave her an excellent foundation for learning, analyzing, thinking.
And yes…that was my kid…Who started in engineering and finished it…because she started it. But she also picked up a second major. She saw the value in the engineering courses…but just could not see that as her career choice.
I get what you’re saying about the major. My son is a Comp Sci major, and we had a good idea when he was applying that CS was where he’d end up. Your son may know what he wants too. That doesn’t change your financial situation. If you can’t get loans, your son can either take a gap year and apply to a new set of schools or keep an eye on the NACAC list that comes out May 1st to find schools still trying to fill seats.
@jd91200 – no one is saying that “no one should go to college”. What the parents are saying is that if your son takes out the max in federal loans plus the additional $4000 he can take if your application for a PLUS loan is denied because of bad credit – that pretty much is the max that is reasonably sustainable for an undergrad. So the issue isn’t whether your son should borrow – it is concern over potential consequences to him for borrowing too much.
If your own credit history is so bad that you think that you will be denied a PLUS loan, that implies that somewhere along the line you have made poor choices and borrowed more than you could afford to pay back on a timely basis. No judgment – I was in the same boat once, but got lucky and was able to clear my credit enough to qualify for a PLUS loan before my kids started college. But the point is, you don’t want to pass on those same mistakes to your son.
I feel its best to borrow amounts that are affordable based on current income-- even if loan payments are subsidized and can be deferred. That way you know that if something happens and your son needs to take time off from college for any reason, then he will be able to get a job that pays enough so that he can make timely payments along the way.
For me, the path to repairing my own credit involved my gathering up all my credit cards and locking them in a box for a couple of years so I absolutely couldn’t borrow any more while I paid them down. So again and again I was faced with figuring out ways to come up with $$ for things that I had gotten in the habit of swiping a card for. It wasn’t easy, but I definitely learned to be more resourceful along the way.
In your case you might want to start by looking at whether there could be ways to shave off some of the COA of your son’s school – places where he can economize, like maybe opting for a less expensive room or meal plan if that’s an option. Or alternate ways for him to raise cash toward college, above and beyond what he expects to earn this summer froma regular job.
The practical problem you will run into with private loans is that if your credit is too poor to qualify for PLUS, you probably wouldn’t be able to cosign for your son either. So even if he wanted a private loan, he would probably have to find someone else to cosign.
One concern I haven’t seen mentioned is the problem if you qualify for one year or two but then don’t.