Does my neighbors child have any hope besides CC?
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Anonymous
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Based on research, there's a 99% chance she'll fail out of college. Even if she had stronger grades, only a 10% chance she'd finish college.
She needs to go to trade school, nurse tech, dental tech. More than likely she'll be pregnant in a year or two. And the cycle repeats itself. Source: I'm a teacher. |
Anonymous
Who doesn't belong in classrooms because your preconceptions damage children. |
Anonymous
Another vote for Trinity. It's an amazing school where she'll find lots of peers with similar backgrounds who are going on to really change the course of their lives. |
Anonymous
+1. This child appears to be doing well considering her circumstances. |
Anonymous
I have to agree with the teacher. We don't help young people by not pointing out the odds. Yes, maybe she is in the 1% that are successful, but should we encourage the 99% to get large debt and waste time just to save the 1%? Life is long. She can become a nurse now, and then later, when her life is more in order, go to regular college. The sooner she has her own money, the sooner she can free herself from her family. |
Anonymous
It's well documented data. First gen, low income, crap grades = drop out. Bury your head in the sand. You're not helping kids who will never finish go to college. Kids that can't figure it out on their own should not be in college. Waste of time and money. |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
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The student OP wants to mentor isn't some 90-percentile 3.9 GPA naive kid that is headed to community college and doesn't realize they could get a full ride to UMD and maybe even have a shot at an Ivy, which would also be free.
This is a poor student that's graduating several years off par from being college ready. Giving her directions to the nearest tech program is best advice you can give her. She obviously doesn't have the maturity or grit for any university. |
Anonymous
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I tutored a kid with higher grades but a lower SAT. A good kid who was pretty responsible but is probably learning disabled. She wanted like hell to get out of town and away from home. I did some budgets with her and tried to get her to go to UDC and live at home because I knew that otherwise she was going to get into major debt and I wasn't convinced she would graduate with a degree. Also she was so desperate to get away from home, she was considering places like a community college which had some dorms in a city in upstate New York where I used to live so I knew she wouldn't get that real college experience.
Anyway, she blew me off and went to a lesser-known HBCU in North Carolina. So far she is making her way through school and advancing every year. So I think it's likely that she will graduate from college - which is a relief. But I'm very worried about her graduating from college with a mountain of debt and then not being able to find a decent job after all that. I'm going to try to connect her up with some informational interviews when she's back home this summer. A good kid, a responsible kid - I just hope she doesn't get weighed down with massive debt after school. So I don't know if I have great advice. But I do know that your student will be accepted at some school. But make sure she doesn't head to some place that won't serve her well just because she is desperate to get away from home. And do some budgets with her. I know it sucks to stay home for college but with a Pell grant and grandmother's help she could graduate with a low amount of debt. That's huge. But the reality is that my student might have done the right thing by getting away from home so it might be the right choice. I just worry about how these kids will cope with all the debt they've accumulated after graduation. Good luck figuring things out. Wishing the best for the young person. They have so much to contend with at such a young age! |
Anonymous
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I think PPs are saying something really important here that needs to be considered. First generation college students have a really difficult time. And it is almost impossible for them to succeed without strong, continuous support, both at school **and at home.** The fact that OP is describing this girl as needing to get away from home and from the burdens placed upon her by her family bodes poorly for her. It is highly likely that she will face pressure from home to give up her studies and come home where she belongs. Lack of family support is an incredibly difficult hurdle for first generation students, and one that most frankly aren't able to clear. This is less about her GPA (which could be suffering because of the care-giver burdens placed on her at home) and more about her family dynamic.
I don't know what the right course of action is, but I do think it is important to recognize the hurdles she faces and to be ever-aware of them in advising her. The real problem here is not finding a college for her to enroll in, it is in providing her with the continuous support and assistance she will need to stay there. Please keep this in mind as you advise her. Community college might actually be a perfect place for her, so don't look down on that as a first step. |
Anonymous
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HCBUs do better at graduating poor, first gen students that non-HCBUs, so you might be right to focus on them. Morgan State, especially. It helps to have professors and students know what you're going through.
Also, cc is a great stepping stone and a great way to transition from HS to college, and there are many great ones around here. It's perfect for these students to avoid failing out with a mountain of debt (which I agree helps no one). |
Anonymous
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The most important thing would be (1) a college where most tuition is paid through grants of some sort.
And (2) where she could travel to without much cost, but be far enough away to get her out of her current living situation. So, probably MD or VA and either a public university or a HBCU that understands her background. ODU? St Mary's? Frostburg? Hampton University? Norfolk State? Virginia State? (both state HBCUs) Montgomery College, while living with roomates in MoCo instead of at home would be an option. What about Towson? "The CEEP Award (Community Enrichment and Enhancement Partnership) considers students who are the first in their family to attend college, who come from under-served groups or who have overcome personal or physical obstacles in pursuit of education. The scholarship amount is typically $2,500 - $3,000 per year. " (3) Make sure she gets on birth control ASAP (maybe the more affordable, less time consuming one time injections or implants) so she does not accidentaly perpetuate the cycle she is in right now. It happens all the time, and usually ends up in drop outs. I've worked at universities--this step is very very important. A lot of first generation students have a hard time and a pregnancy completely derails the girls. (4) She needs to be aware she will go through culture shock and it might be a very lonely path for a while. She will be separating herself from her family and her current culture, maybe for life and this will dawn on her while she is in college. I am white first gen college graduate and this happened to me. It helps to go to a college where there are others who can relate to your situation. It sounds like if she stays at home, she might not finish any program (trade school or otherwise) and would be more likely to drop out to work in a dead end job or get pregnant before she is ready. Getting her away from her environment and into something more positive can help, as long as she is willing to do the work and be separated from her family and current lifestyle. |
Anonymous
| Would she qualify for financial aid? If her mom didn't claim her as a dependent for college? I think she can definitely do it and will get in some schools, encourage her to apply for sure. While it is great that she is helping her mom, they are not her children. And once educated maybe she can help much more down the road, if she gets a decent job. |
Anonymous
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Walk away.
You're going to sink too much time into this and it's beyond your control. Of course you won't listen, you think you can "save" her. Your pep talks and even putting everything on a platter for her can't make up for 18 years of poor childhood. I was a dorm RA and over half the inner city kids that were there on full ride scholarships were gone by January. It's not expenses, it's not opportunity. And their GPAs and scores were much higher than what you cited. |
Anonymous
+1. She has already beaten the odds by graduating from high school. You cannot always blame the low income student. Many of the teachers in those neighborhoods are subpar. Being an average student under various difficult circumstances is probably equal to an above average student without the hardships. Don't give up on someone because they are average. |