My 18 year old daughter will soon be graduating high school. She has been accepted to the three colleges she applied to and is now trying to decide which to attend. I had no idea the cost of a college education and the outrageous cost of some of the private schools. She is going to one school tomorrow for a weekend of scholarship interviews. The cost of this place (ivy league) would be roughly 250,000.00 for a bachelors degree. This school only accepts 450 freshmen a year out of roughly 17,000 applicants. They tell us that half of the 450 will get a full ride. Damn, I hope so. The other schools are both much less. One is a land grant college, the other a state college but even their cost floored me. When I graduated high school in 1977 less than half went to college. Like me, most entered the work force and the rest joined the military. I could just imagine what my dad would have said if I wanted to go to a 250,000.00 college. I believe he would have said " get thee to a recruiter" ..........
Daughter is College Bound.....
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yeah, things are certainly tough right now.......start getting her to apply for scholarships now.
+1 on doing ALL the scholarships you can do, even if it's just a small $500 deal, they do add up! And soooo many of them NOBODY applies for, so it's free money sitting around for someone to grab it. My school, just for tuition is $17,500 a year, plus books supplies etc.
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Ya know, I had a full ride to college on a soccer gig and I turned it down... Now I'm kicking myself in the arse for not doing it, but I've done pretty good since I joined the USAF. I've only been in the Military for 2 years and I am 8 credits shy of my Associates degree. I have yet to sit in the classroom for an acutal college class, all of these credits have come from either Tech School training, OJT or CLEPs and Dantes tests. I FREAKIN' LOVE CLEP tests!!!! Hell, all you have to do is sit the test, and if you score over 50% *passing score varies on subject matter* you get the college credits for that class.
Yeah, I've done pretty good... Free education is always nice.
Yeah, I've done pretty good... Free education is always nice.
Man, I feel your pain. My daughter just finished her 4 year college last year and is home for a while before going to law school. She went to a very good private school and thank the Lord she was smart and got a scholership. It was not a full ride unfortunatly but better than nothing. She had a place on campus and we got to see her often. Our out of pocket cost not counting her books and food ect. was 36,000. Luckily we had saved and only had the one child and we were able to pay it off. Without the scholership this school would have been about 160,000. That would have been tough to pay for and I don't see how I could have afforded that. Anyway, I figure it's money well spent and she will be able to earn her own way and not be dependant on some guy or have to work like a dog like her old man had to. Good luck.
When I started college in the fall of 2000, I think my tuition for the year (including room and board, but before books and supplies) was $17,000. By the time I was done, it was just north of $20,000. Incoming freshmen were paying $25,000 at that point. YIKES.
I knew guys that would max out their financial aid and student loans every semester. Many of them graduated with over $125,000 in debt. I was lucky. My parents helped me quite a bit, but I still walked away with five digits in debt. It's tough to get going in the world when you're paying $400/month to Sallie Mae.
What's worse is I have a few friends that didn't go to college and make more a year than I do. They tease me mercilessly. Nothing pisses me off more than some ass-hat telling me that my college degree isn't worth anything and that they're not even going to send their kids to college because it "isn't worth it." [/mini rant]
Anyway, make sure your daughter applies for every scholarship she can. I know I really struggled with those. Being a middle class white guy excluded me from almost every scholarship there was. There are more opportunities for girls in that department, so make sure she starts filling out applications. It sounds like she's pretty dang smart, so I'm sure she'll do well.
I knew guys that would max out their financial aid and student loans every semester. Many of them graduated with over $125,000 in debt. I was lucky. My parents helped me quite a bit, but I still walked away with five digits in debt. It's tough to get going in the world when you're paying $400/month to Sallie Mae.
What's worse is I have a few friends that didn't go to college and make more a year than I do. They tease me mercilessly. Nothing pisses me off more than some ass-hat telling me that my college degree isn't worth anything and that they're not even going to send their kids to college because it "isn't worth it." [/mini rant]
Anyway, make sure your daughter applies for every scholarship she can. I know I really struggled with those. Being a middle class white guy excluded me from almost every scholarship there was. There are more opportunities for girls in that department, so make sure she starts filling out applications. It sounds like she's pretty dang smart, so I'm sure she'll do well.
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We are still paying for my wife's student loans and we're almost 10 years out. I didnt go to any school after HS and im glad i didnt.
SW
SW
I decided against going to college, and am financially better off for it. I did a lot of career training (I read a damned lot of computer books and worked my butt off to make sure I knew what they meant), and between getting a faster start in a career and having no student loans, I'm probably 200,000 dollars ahead for it.
Having said that, I wish I'd gone to college. Having the skills needed for a good paying job is awesome, and I did that myself, but there are a lot of things I don't know that I wish I did. I keep telling myself I'll go back so I can learn more languages (and polish up my rusty spanish and french), and take some science and math classes. None of those things would really help me at my job, but it irks me to no end that I'm very smart but too damned ignorant.
Having said that, I wish I'd gone to college. Having the skills needed for a good paying job is awesome, and I did that myself, but there are a lot of things I don't know that I wish I did. I keep telling myself I'll go back so I can learn more languages (and polish up my rusty spanish and french), and take some science and math classes. None of those things would really help me at my job, but it irks me to no end that I'm very smart but too damned ignorant.
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I've got a daughter in here 3rd year tell your daughter to apply for every scholarship and grant she can it will help out allot.THIS SEMESTER SHE IS IN LONDON FOR A SEMESTER boy the fun never ends and the bills pile up. 
Congrats to you!
My daughter is out, one son in the Army. One son going local for a year more, last son in 11th grade ready to start looking. It's a ride and a half.
Stay sane and have fun too. The day you drop her off and drive away for the very first time you will NEVER forget - so get prepared. :'(
My daughter is out, one son in the Army. One son going local for a year more, last son in 11th grade ready to start looking. It's a ride and a half.
Stay sane and have fun too. The day you drop her off and drive away for the very first time you will NEVER forget - so get prepared. :'(
I am in the same boat. My 18 yr old daughter is college bound and much like yours was accepted to a private school and the local community colleges.
This site is pretty good for scholarship info. Register and even get emails with deadline dates.
http://www.fastweb.com/
This site is pretty good for scholarship info. Register and even get emails with deadline dates.
http://www.fastweb.com/
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