<p>This is what the OP posted......( and I mean no slight to her...sounds like my D....not a CC kid....my D and hers are not here....WE are....)</p>
<p>"...... her grades are good but to some on here they would be considered not good. She has an 89/100 cum (Thats how her school reports GPA so I guess thats like a 3.4ish?) She has taken several honors classes and a couple AP college level. But she is by no means like many on CC with their impressive academic records..She is an average kid...What else can I say?...."</p>
<p>Conquestor, I concur you make a great contribution to this thread. But your effort wasn't wasted. You worked hard for an education. You did your ECs to have cool life experiences and build maturity, character and skill. (Please tell me it wasn't just passionless resume padding). No doubt you are much ahead at this point than party-guy and it will have returns that will last for your lifetime. Not to mention you'll have a much easier time, more social time, and higher GPA than party-guy at State U.</p>
<p>I don't agree with the idea that kids should not participate in a thread just because it is in the parents' forum. Should parents refrain from posting on the rest of the site? I don't think so.</p>
<p>Happy to graguate I am not pushing my daughter towards a community college. People knock them but they actually provide good foundations for some students. You talk as if its the plague to attend one. I went to one after I had a bachelors degree. There are reasons why people attend them. I wanted a paralegal associates degree. I had two ABA approved options. One was the community college, the other was a private college which was 3 times the cost per class. I opted for the comm college, achieved a 4.0 GPA there and got accepted to 9 law schools. So please dont act like if you go to one you are doomed bc you simply dont know what you are talking about..really...</p>
<p>some on here act as if my daughter is turning down an Ivy league school..she isnt..its a low ranked school like I said...She hasnt been pushed by me from birth to go to Harvard..I pushed her to be the best she could be and she has done well without me ramming every AP course and EC down her throat. She chose what to participate in and she chose instead of padding her resume with Ec's she wasnt interested in to working part time jobs bc she wanted a nice car. That was her decision. I dont like how some parents basically make the kid feel like they HAVE to go to an IVY yes if they worked hard and get in thats great..more power to them but not every kid out there has that kind of desire..My kid cares about her grades but not to the point where it has consumed her life and quite frankly judging by some of these kids on here who have grown up in such an environment, well I feel somewhere along the way you missed out on some of the better things in life..getting a 4.0 is great, going to harvard is great but what the heck good is it if thats all you have ever thought about..There is more to life then Harvard and Yale...I would take my B+ happy kid any day..I wouldnt want a kid who is obsessed with getting to an Ivy league school so much though it has all consumed her..Thats just not fair to the kid...And its not the kids fault either...They learn from us</p>
<p>Funny how, when parents go to the student forums and post, no one there ever says, you're a parent please leave. The students are accomodating and are more than happy to answer questions and comments from parents.</p>
<p>"no one there ever says, you're a parent please leave."</p>
<p>I agree we should all be welcome on all forums ( though I try to stay away from college life and high school life !) , but I have DEFINATELY been told to get lost, and not nearly that nicely!</p>
<p>My niece faced a similar situation. My sister called and asked me for advice. I recommened she attend the private school the first year on campus. This would allow her to grow while making the social connections she desired. I told her to tell my niece to move off campus the subsequent years ,thus lowering her C.O.A. It saved her about $40,000.</p>
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<p>in real financial terms the degree is most valuable the day after graduation. From that point forward, the real value of the degree slowly depreciates away>>></p>
<p>I would liken 'buying' a degree (you're really buying the right to attend a school to earn the degree) to buying a car.>>></p>
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<p>I have a fundamental disagreement with this type of thinking. College is not a place you go just to get a degree. It is a place you go to get an education.</p>
<p>The degree depreciates with time but the education keeps paying rich dividends through life. People have calculated the value of a college degree. The value of a college education is- priceless.</p>
<p>applejack are you a parent? I never said I had to pay for my daughters education, I wish to contribute to it as much as I can so she can have a better start in life then I had. Thats what being a parent is all about. My parents did not give me a dime for college except for paying for my textbooks. Not one red cent. Mine was financed by loans and by myself and my husband. I know how rough it is for a young kid to graduate with massive debt and then they are faced with the possibilities of taking a job they may want but cant bc of their debt. I would love to work in a prosecutors office or do public interest law but I cannot afford to do that bc of my loans. I would rather help my daughter and have her take minimal loans so she can take the job that will be most fulfilling to her. When you are a parent its quite normal to want better for your kids than you had. I am no exception to that,</p>
<p>First of all MomfromPa, your circumstances are VERY different from your daughter's circumstances. You had mentioned that you had your daughter at the age of 20. That in itself, naturally, would lead you to take a completely different path than the usual route. I never said community college classes are the plague. What I am saying is that not enrolling in a 4 year college and starting off with all community college courses with the intention of transferring later is not that simple. First off, many of the courses may not transfer and be accepted for credit (hence money wasted), #2, there is always the possibility you may not get into that specific state university. It's different if you're already in the 4 year university and are taking community college classes on the side.</p>
<p>You said previously "My dream was always to go to law school and I wanted to fulfill it in hopes of giving my family a better life since we always struggled." So then why not give that same opportunity to your daughter? Why shield her and say I don't want you paying that much in loans, when you don't even know what she will be going for career-wise yet? Why not present both cost options: one at the university she wants vs. one at the one you'd rather have her go to and compare it and ask her whether she would be willing to take a loan for that or not and let her decide? I'm not saying you take the loan by any means. Let the person who's actually the one going to school decide whether the loan is worth it and plan out how much she'd have to pay per month, etc.</p>
<p>Happy I dont know what it is like where you live but where I am many of the community colleges have agreements with the state schools and you are automatically accepted into the state school after your associates degree and all your credits transfer. My little cousin just went through this. She went to the local comm college and transferred to Temple a state related school and everythign transferred and she graduated and is now working on her masters..</p>
<p>My daughter wants to go to law school which is why she wants to major in political science. I did not encourage her to strive towards this this is what she claims she wants to do. Since she has been talking about it the past couple years and is about to enter college I cant help but take her seriously. I dont want her taking on massive undergrad debt bc should she follow through and go to law school she is looking at a lot of debt in loans at that time. By that time my second child will be in college and I will not be able to help her with law school much if at all (That is subject to change of course on our income) But I must be conservative now in order to avoid some kind of disaster down the road at the expense of my second and third child...If I had one kid I wouldnt be having this discussion whatsoever...she would get it all but thats not realistic...I never told her she couldnt take the loans...as I have stated multiple times now, i have given her advice against it based on what SHE told me she wants to do with her life...She is free to take the loans if she so chooses and can get them. I can only give her the benefit of knowing ALL her options and what she will encounter should she choose the more expensive route...thats all there is to it</p>
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The value of a college education is- priceless.
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<p>Of course... nobody has even remotely suggested that a college degree is not a worthwhile investment. </p>
<p>Nobody is saying one shouldn't spend money to go to college. </p>
<p>Nobody is saying one shouldn't take out a loan to go to college. </p>
<p>What people ARE saying is that spending 2, 3, 5 times as much for said college degree often does not make sense and would, in many cases, be a very bad decision. </p>
<p>The college degree is certainly priceless... BUT the difference in real tangible cost between two schools is not-priceless... it has a very real price which one must pay even though the benefit received for that additional money is often minimal if anything at all. </p>
<p>This is the point being discussed... not whether or not one should pay any money at all for a college degree.</p>
<p>You sound as if you are an outstanding mother. You are honestly sharing your life choices with your daughter. You are sharing with her the consequences of your decisions. Among them is the real demonstration that taking on loans does have consequences that in reality limit your future choices (you've given up at least temporarily the law practice of your choice).</p>
<p>This is the same situation that I find many students in many fields. It is a balancing act judging how much debt to take on for to acquire a valuable (self-defined) education versus taking on so much debt that it undermines the original goals! I see this in medicine all too often. We now actually teach courses on handling medical debt and avoiding excessive debt accumulation to our medical students and medical residents. </p>
<p>I applaud the continued efforts of you and your daughter together and separately in investigating the schools that she is likely to get admitted to and the success rate of their graduates. You're doing an outstanding job.</p>
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<p>The college degree is certainly priceless>>></p>
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<p>I disagree. The DEGREE has a tangible value. The EDUCATION is priceless. </p>
<p>If two colleges provide similar EDUCATION then the lower priced college would be a better deal. But if one college just gives a degree and another gives an education, I would pay 10x more for the one that gives an education.</p>
<p>I repeat, the details of the OP's and her D's situation seem to be different. OP says that the expensive college is not that great and the less expensive one is pretty good.</p>
<p>Thanks ParAlum I appreciate the kind words..Isnt that what parenting is all about? Our job is to pass along our wisdom and knowledge to our children in the hopes they will make the choices that will be best for them..All I or any parent can do is give my children all the information I have gained through my own experience. I feel i would be remiss if I did not sit her down which I have now done and explained all her options and the ramifications of her choices. In the end she will make the final decision because it is her life and her future but knowing what she does now, I think she will make the smart choice. Whatever she decides my husband and I will support her in her choices.</p>