Do you think our graduating seniors will have a normal college experience?

[Anonymous]

I think in a lot of ways, it depends on what they want to do after college - if their interest is going into environmental or public health type job that is either paid for or affiliated with the government? Probably need to rethink. Want to be a doctor or an engineer or get a degree in accounting? You will likely be fine.

This said, I would not send my DD to college in a deep red state however. DS can go if he wants but no way no how would I send my daughter. Also and to be blunt about it, my kids are white, Christian and straight - in today’s climate, if they weren’t all these things I’d be a lot more worried about which part of the country they’d go to for college and their future in general.

[Anonymous]

Not worried at all except for so many job opportunities on hold right now for this graduating class. My real concern is the kids who missed preschool/pre K. I work in a school and these kids who are now early elementary are a hot mess. Can’t follow directions, don’t know how to share, just scream when they need something.

[Anonymous]

I have a college senior and a hs senior. Both had massive disruptions due to Covid, now this. No one ever seems to care about these impacts to kids.

Loss of jobs, less jobs, research funding cuts, scholarship program cuts and we are two months in. So, yeah, I am worried for both my kids and really sick and tired of no one giving a crap about them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a college senior and a hs senior. Both had massive disruptions due to Covid, now this. No one ever seems to care about these impacts to kids.

Loss of jobs, less jobs, research funding cuts, scholarship program cuts and we are two months in. So, yeah, I am worried for both my kids and really sick and tired of no one giving a crap about them.

Same. I feel so sad for my kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm really nervous for my student starting college next year. He wants to get his PhD in math so research is really important for him during his undergraduate years. I worry about funding for research.

You should be, all research money will be cut.

If there isn't research in undergrad, it won't be necessary for grad school. There was a time when undergrads weren't doing research at the level it's done now. Grad programs aren't going to require the students to have something that wasn't available.

What don’t you get about PhD programs being on the block, there likely won’t be graduate programs outside of professional schools. If the proposed cuts go through, it will be a lot more than 5 schools “pausing” their PhD programs. And let’s look at who has done it so far, Penn, Vandy, USC, Pitt and UNC. Hardly lightweights.

this. UMich has frozen their social work PhD program. What does this mean? They accepted a class for this Fall who have have all been told they will be able to complete the first year of the program but will be terminated after that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It hopefully will be safer for the Jewish students.

And less so for students of middle eastern descent.

[Anonymous]

Have any of your students opted to study outside of country for a year instead ?

[Anonymous]

Hard to define a normal experience but I think some seniors will be affected by trimming of programs - at a state and local level there are new policies around majors that show poor ROI or low enrollment. I have seen some impacts on my university parent threads on this but on whole, I support these changes. Too many kids going to school for 80K a year studying things unlikely to convert to jobs and there is usually a correlation to that outcome and the programs being cut.

The bigger impact is AI which will replace many entry level jobs in 4 years. I am struggling sending my kid to college (for business) knowing that and seeing it in my workplace already.

I think colleges are way behind in retooling for AI so I'm watching this closely and may have my kid transfer back to a state school (he is going to a highly ranked school OOS) because I am thinking the relative value of elite programs are going to drop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've probably spent too much time on the politics board and need to shake it off, but there is a lot of doomsday talk involving college. I don't think people talk like that in the real world, but I don't want to bring it up and look nuts. My DC applied to all their schools in what feels like a different time. Now, I'm wondering how much impact the political climate will really have on our kids. Are you keeping them close to home or having them go to the less expensive school? Are you sticking with private schools or larger, state schools? Do you think what's going on will actually affect our kids who worked so hard to start college this fall? Does it always feel a little nervewracking or is this year worse?

Do I just need to stay off the politics board?

All people at all times think they live in important, meaningful or consequential times. But they are almost always wrong. Most people in most times do not live in some do or die time. Many think that this is a cruicial time in the US and the World. It is not. What is going on is a blip and nothing more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think in a lot of ways, it depends on what they want to do after college - if their interest is going into environmental or public health type job that is either paid for or affiliated with the government? Probably need to rethink. Want to be a doctor or an engineer or get a degree in accounting? You will likely be fine.

This said, I would not send my DD to college in a deep red state however. DS can go if he wants but no way no how would I send my daughter. Also and to be blunt about it, my kids are white, Christian and straight - in today’s climate, if they weren’t all these things I’d be a lot more worried about which part of the country they’d go to for college and their future in general.

My kids are also straight. Not White. Not Christian. I don't think it really matters. CS majors currently. Going to UMD. 30 minutes from home. Have had paid internships for all the summers in college. Tuition paid entirely by UMD. Here are my takeaways -
- Yes, bad political, economic, social climate. Also, terrible job market which is not going to become great any time soon. Staying close to home has given us peace of mind and saved us a shitload of money.
- Cream rises to the top. It is great to be less privileged and less entitled from the get go. You are resilient and use all tools in your arsenal to get ahead.
- No student debt and maximizing your education dollars means that you already have a leg up.
- Whatever is happening is the new normal.
- Learn from others and incorporate that in your life. I suspect that multi-gen joint families will become the norm soon. The wastefulness of how Americans consume resources will also need to end. Adapt or perish.