<p>It looks as though the person in the story felt that the name brand NYU degree would help in the job search…</p>
<p>as you can see no matter what its about the person not where they went…</p>
<p>I have run a global organization of more than 500 staff and we routinely hired college graduates and I can tell you our HR or my hiring managers never prioritized any institution over another ( although we did compare applicants success at school -gpa, awards etc) to compare between applicants and most of all we were in wonder of the brand name shcool young peopel who did not impress us at all, IVY league or not.</p>
<p>My favorite question was to ask what was the most important lesson ( not course information whatnot) did the learn in school or life. If they squiremd or said this class I knew they did nto know how to learn a lesson, not good in the workplace.</p>
<p>Usually we wanted bright ( not necessarily smart) energetic, committed people</p>
<p>That’s unknowable. You don’t know because you have to take one path or
another. The lost wages and opportunities and expenses incurred in
getting a traditional college degree are known.</p>
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<p>Those are the best numbers I had with a quick search. The breakdown
by college type was a bit hard to come by.</p>
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<p>I would assume that parents would want this freebie for their kids.</p>
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<p>Fast food, security jobs, the library, lifeguard at swimming pools,
tutoring, working at a hotel desk, convenience store, orderly or clerk
at a hospital.</p>
<p>I worked second shift at a hospital in my first year at BC. I didn’t
have a vehicle and took the train back and forth from school and
home. Work was walking distance.</p>
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<p>Some have to take on debt. But $200K’s worth?</p>
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<p>My grades were mediocre but my first professional employer ignored
that because I had a strong work history. I didn’t even have a degree
at that time - only one year of college.</p>
<p>The reality is that if the schools weren’t able to give out so many loans they would lose students unless they dropped their prices. So the reality is the availabity of student loans has inflated the price of going to college for everyone including those who are full pay. It is exactly the same thing as the housing bubble. Too much money availble for questionable loans leads to defaults when people who thought they were dealing with a sure thing find out they were actually taking a bet that they couldn’t afford to lose.
Every student loan should include an essay on why the student is majoring in/studying whatever they are studying; a personal business plan. “I’m not sure what I want to be when I grow up so I’m going to get a degree in (not start off in, but actually get a degree in) something so general as to be worthless.” Is not a business plan worth investing public money in. While I accept and expect a certain % of college freshmen to still be trying to figure out what they want to do with their lives, I do not find it acceptable in the least of someone pursuing a masters. She should have joined the Peace Corp!</p>
<p>Again, if you CHOOSE to go to a private or OOS public and CHOOSE to live away from home, then yes, you will likely have substantial student loans at graduation. However, for MOST students, those are CHOICES, and there are ample opportunities for getting a degree (and a fine education) without taking on a lot of debt.</p>
<p>I’m loath to get into a my-anecdote-trumps-your-anecdote back-and-forth, but I know a young lady who recently took just the path I described - community college, followed by an in-state “directional,” living at home and working a substantial number of hours waiting tables. She got no help from her family except room and board. She did have a small need-based grant. She graduated not only with no debt but with enough money in the bank to finance a three-month unpaid internship in London, which led to a job offer with the firm’s U.S. subsidiary.</p>
<p>Part of choosing even your undergraduate college should be a realistic assessment of you families financial means. While there are financial aid packages, scholarships, etc. available, you need to look at the total costs involved. Going to a LOT more expensive college is no guaratee of finding a better job. Once you go to graduate school, you seriously need to consider the job opportunities associated with the field you are pursuing. If you can’t find a job because you pursued a very obscure field with limited job opportunities, not sure I would blame the college for that.</p>
<p>“n, if you CHOOSE to go to a private or OOS public and CHOOSE to live away from home, then yes, you will likely have substantial student loans at graduation. However, for MOST students, those are CHOICES, and there are ample opportunities for getting a degree (and a fine education) without taking on a lot of debt.”</p>
<p>I am saying that even if a lot of students CHOOSE the correct CHOICES, they will still be in ALOT of DEBT. I never said anything about going to private, OOS, or taking on 200K in loans. </p>
<p>However, I say that it can be reasonable and smart (and sometimes necessary) to go to a college that is not within driving distance from your home. </p>
<p>I agree, that taking a year off (to save money and work - if they can find work), should be done more often. </p>
<p>I agree with Time2 and MomfromKC. </p>
<p>“I’m loath to get into a my-anecdote-trumps-your-anecdote back-and-forth…”</p>
<p>then I wont, but I guarantee that i have more examples of people making the reasonable choices, busting their buts, and still getting into alot of debt than you have examples of people graduating debt free. It is just something that is necessary for most students, who want to go to college. I suppose this might not have always been the case, when college was somewhat affordable.</p>
<p>"Ppl on this board make it seem like it is easy to graduate without a lot of debt. "</p>
<p>-Very possible. Just be top caliber student and choose college that have awesome Merit awards. It is really not big deal to have all As, just work hard, have your homework done well and on time, no genius is required.</p>
<p>…it was so much easier for us (and our parents) to afford college educations.</p>
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<p>Not in my circle of friends. Many of our parents did not go to college because they couldn’t afford it. Those whose parents did go to college often did it part time … while raising a family, even. I couldn’t afford stay-away college, so I went to a school I most likely would not have otherwise chosen … because I COULD afford to stay-away at this school due to co-op. Many of my friends stayed home for school (or attended the same college I attended). My kids … and my friends’ kids … have far more options. We have all made college a priority in our financial decisions. Our kids can go to a decent school with little or no debt because we have sacrificed to make it possible. We don’t expect anyone else to foot the bill, and we don’t want our kids to borrow. Can you tell I choose my friends carefully?!</p>
<p>I obtained my college education while working full time and taking care of my family. I do not know if it was easier or harder. It was free, I worked for it, instead of paying $$. but if you think about compensation package as a whole and educational benefits being part of it, if my employers did not include educational benefits in our compensation packages, they would be able to pay us more. So, at the end, I paid. On the other hand, my D. had it for free because of Merit awards, but again she has worked her b–t of to deserve Merits. My S. had it cheap at state school, but it was very long ago and we were paying out of our paychecks for him. it is impossible to judge who had it easier.</p>
<p>The numbers just don’t add up for me. She should be able to afford paying back $50K on that salary. Yes, things will be tight for a few years, but it’s definitely doable. When I graduated law school I had at least that much debt, a baby, a dog, and a husband (who took a pay cut after I graduated because I was now bringing in a paycheck and he could take a chance career move at a start up). My starting salary was a whopping $45K (back then top law firms were paying $100K for 1st yr. associates) at a small law firm. Did I mention we lived in NY? Of course we lived in outer Brooklyn in a small Jr.4 in an ethnic neighborhood. Granted, things may have been a bit cheaper in 1994.</p>
<p>"That does not sound like a rigorous program. I’ve had plenty of friends who worked a lot during the upper level courses, got poor grades, and then struggled to get interviews (there’s some perspective). However, even with 20 hours a week, without a very generous awards package or family support, your student loans will likely be substantial at graduation. "</p>
<p>My classes this semester are Linear Algebra, Intro to Econ, Game theory, and Existentialism. I don’t think these are not rigorous.</p>
<p>But yes, I agree even with 20-hour work week, without generous FA and/or family support, I will be in a lot of debt, or simply not able to afford my current school. But the point I was trying to make is you can work 20 hours and still have good grades and be involved. Granted, I’ve never been to any party since coming to college - these are just trade-offs that I choose to make.</p>
<p>My supervisor at work works as many hours as I do, and he just got into a T-14 Law school.</p>
<p>^Everything is relative. Check with any pre-med, they might have different opinion about what “rigorous” is. Or better yet, with engineering major…</p>
<p>Me too, at least the last 66 hours, when I was working full time (as a 40-hour-per-week classroom instructor) and taking a 12-hour course load and maintaining a 4.0 GPA. I won’t get into a debate about how “rigorous” the work was except to say that the education I got has served me very well for 35+ years. (And I emphasize the education, not the credential; the school was not in any way prestigious). And I got a lot more out of that course work than I did the work in my first two years at a far more prestigious college with Mommy and Daddy footing 100% of the bill.</p>
<p>I would say “my degrees” instead of “my education” served me well. Degrees were important on getting new jobs, 9 of them. Most interviewers were impressed with them, that was the only thing that counted, to get into door…after that I had to "re-educate"myslef at every single job, actually sometime forcing my brain to forget what I knew before as it was a wrong approach at new place. But this is a natur of my job and I ended up with much wider experience than most in my field - IT.</p>
<p>Except for organic chemistry, pre-med isn’t extraordinarily rigorous - in fact, the standard advice for pre-med majors is to avoid the rigorous courses in order to keep the GPA up.</p>
<p>“I am saying that even if a lot of students CHOOSE the correct CHOICES, they will still be in ALOT of DEBT.”</p>
<p>^^ Even if a student lives at home, attends a public cc or uni, and works, s/he will likely have SOME debt, not necessarily a lot of debt. </p>
<p>One of my students enrolled in a 3rd tier Catholic uni that offered her both merit $$ and need based aid, declining seats at stronger schools where the COA would have been greater. She lived at home and worked worked for the same company all four years; her employer permitted her to change her schedule each semester. She worked 10-18 hr/wk during the school year and f/t during the summer; she also did babysitting. Happy ending: she graduated debt free and is now attending law school (again with a merit scholarship based in signif part on her undergrad performance).</p>
<p>The “gap” between her aid/scohlarship and tuition was approx $7k/year. Had she worked ONLY during the summer she would have needed approx $4k/year in loans to cover the gap. So w/o working duirng the school year she would have incurred $16K debt - - some debt, but by no means unreasonble. And this was in NYC.</p>
<p>D. had very many classes at the same difficulty level or more difficult than Orgo. She had at least two of this difficulty level in each semester, the rest were easier for her, since conceptual ones, like math, Chem,. physics are easier. However do not underestimate EC’s requirements if one is planning to apply to Med. School. Tons and taking many hours per each week and MCAT prep. is taking several hours every day for few months. I can only refer to my D. others might have “easy” time. Were they accepted? I do not know anybody who had an “easy” time being pre-med and was accepted to Med. School, but again I am sure there are geniuses out there.</p>
<p>I worked as a consultant for 26 years, first doing technical training and later IT consulting. I went through well over a hundred pre-engagement interviews. I think I may have been asked five times about my college degree. When I needed to submit a written resume (fairly rare requirement) I listed my degrees; but neither was from a college that anyone considers prestigious.</p>
<p>Much, much more important were contacts, reputation, references, and the impression made in the interview itself.</p>
<p>First job out of college, the fact that I had a degree from someplace in something was all that was required - sort of like getting a ticket punched. Of course, at the time I was 30 years old with 10 years of experience in the workplace and was hired because of that experience, not because of what I had achieved in college.</p>
<p>But what I learned in college continues to benefit me to this day.</p>