<p>
</p>
<p>As others have asked…does your mom’s job provide any tuition benefit for you either at HER university OR as part of the Tuition Exchange Program (do they participate). Many (if not most) universities offer at least some tuition relief for employees whose kids attend the same university. Worth checking.</p>
<p>It’s difficult for those who have siblings with problems and needs. It’s even more difficult when the problems are behavioral and/or mental. People and society are far more sympathetic when the problem is physical. The community brings you dinners and takes up a collection when you have a kid with cancer or who is in a terrible accident. They avoid your house and the subject, if the kid is arrested or in drug rehab or a mental institution. I’m sorry that you are dealing with this issue.</p>
<p>It is very difficult to have lived your life in the shadow of sibling trainwrecks. The troubled sibling sucks up the parents’ resources, time and energy and leaves little for the normal, functioning kid. Money is the least of it. Please do not judge the OP too harshly for expressing his/her frustrations. That said, the parents are probably trying their hardest to do right by both children.</p>
<p>Yaint, instead of spending upwards of $150,000 of your parents money at U. of Chicago, why not spend $15,000 of your own money putting yourself through a four year degree? You could easily test out of 60 to 75 credits in any degree program, and complete the rest of the courses online for around $12,000. You can this in your off time while you work part or full time. Which of those two paths do you think would build more character?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>One thing that I’ve learned since joining this site (at least I think so) - not all community colleges are created equal. Some of them really deliver, in the opinion of many regular posters here.</p>
<p>To be honest, that’s really a foreign concept to me - it’s certainly not true in my own experience. I grew up in an area where the community colleges were nothing more than remedial high school. That’s also been the case for the areas where I went to college, grad school, and where I’ve lived since then. But I’ve only lived my own life.</p>
<p>Many of the posters on this forum have quite a bit of positive things to say about CCs, especially those in CA. So, I’m willing to accept that there may be some great quality CCs out there. But not from some random posters on a web site.</p>
<p>A bit of advice: check things out thoroughly before gambling with your own life. Are the CC advocates here capable of giving you solid direction in this area? Perhaps some, but most certainly, not all. How will you tell which is which?</p>
<p>A little off the topic of the thread, but an interesting point:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>My understanding of the mission of the community college is to accept anyone and work with where they are at.</p>
<p>When I went back to school at age 33, the community college I enrolled in required me to take tests to see where, exactly, I was academically. I did reasonably well (especially considering since it had been 13 years since I was last in a classroom) and was placed in courses based on those test results.</p>
<p>Students who tested poorly were, in fact, given remedial coursework.</p>
<p>But those who didn’t were put in courses according to their abilities.</p>
<p>So yes, in a sense a community college can be remedial. But it can also provide an exceptional education at a very modest price.</p>
<p>The courses I took at community college, and the professors - full-time and adjunct - were all very devoted to their subject matter and the students. I was challenged as much as I was in the SUNY school into which I eventually transferred.</p>
<p>Like MisterK I can only attest to my experience, but overall my community college experience was positive.</p>
<p>To the OP: I am sorry you and your family are dealing with such stresses. I am sure you, along with your parents, will figure out what the right decision is for you. Your parents love you and will, I am sure, help you sort out exactly what is best for all the members of your family.</p>