Donut hole families who are stretching to pay college tuition … are you worried it will be a waste especially with AI

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How much do you have saved, what's your income, and what's your networth? It's all relative. I'm letting my kids go to a private college, but we have $350k per kid in their 529 plans (started early, and the market has been overall very good over the past 15 years).

Just because u have 350k it doesn’t mean u spend it. U can give that money to your children for your grandchildren..

If you managed to save it, and still are set for retirement (as you should be if you saved that much), then why not use it?!?!?! Most likely someone who has done that can add $30K to the account once their kid graduates college and is off the payroll, and that $30K will be a great start for future grandkids as it grows for 25+ years.

Op pretty clear the post said not to chime in if you had plenty of $ for a private school. Move on. We don’t need to hear how great you are for having 400k handy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:this is why I wanted my kids to go to a full meets need college. we're full pay and I'm happy for them to meet spouses or SOs, but I dont want them to be dragged down by someone else's debt. things will be hard enough

So you are already thinking of the potential future spouse debt, not even your own kids’ debt?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:doom and gloom?

If you have plenty of $ for college, no need to respond here.

Donut hole single mom here (dad exists but is not contributing) with a dc who wants to ED a private college. It is a good school (not Ivy or T10 but we are comfortable with it- and no I’m not naming it) and we are essentially assured admission if dc does ED (a coach referral) with some merit.

Dc has no particular major in mind right now.

I’m so worried about spending a bunch of $ for dc to flounder and to get out to a crappy job market with a useless degree. I think AI will take away many entry level jobs that used to be the way young adults gained experience.

I myself graduated into a crappy job market from a top SLAC and felt like I had to go to grad school. I will not have any money left to help my dc if that happens.

Thoughts? Anyone else feeling this way?

What does Donut hole family mean? And what is VC funding? (Other PP)

In regard to examples given, like Physical Therapy - cannot be replaced entirely, but partially. Many professions can be replaced partially. What that will look like? I don’t think we can say for sure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:doom and gloom?

If you have plenty of $ for college, no need to respond here.

Donut hole single mom here (dad exists but is not contributing) with a dc who wants to ED a private college. It is a good school (not Ivy or T10 but we are comfortable with it- and no I’m not naming it) and we are essentially assured admission if dc does ED (a coach referral) with some merit.

Dc has no particular major in mind right now.

I’m so worried about spending a bunch of $ for dc to flounder and to get out to a crappy job market with a useless degree. I think AI will take away many entry level jobs that used to be the way young adults gained experience.

I myself graduated into a crappy job market from a top SLAC and felt like I had to go to grad school. I will not have any money left to help my dc if that happens.

Thoughts? Anyone else feeling this way?

A education is never ever a waste dam idiot.

Ugh
These posts are growing.

Be worried about food shortages, the worth or the $ or being jailed for no reason. Not college

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How much do you have saved, what's your income, and what's your networth? It's all relative. I'm letting my kids go to a private college, but we have $350k per kid in their 529 plans (started early, and the market has been overall very good over the past 15 years).

Just because u have 350k it doesn’t mean u spend it. U can give that money to your children for your grandchildren..

The reason they have $350k in their 529 plans is that we wanted to give them the gift of a great education and put them in a position to choose the best fit without worrying about cost. Our parents did this for us. I hope our kids will pay it forward to our grandkids. We've try to install a pay it forward mentality, but once they are out of the house and adulting, it's largely out of our control. I am definitely not changing how we've planned because of AI. Even if they decide to become a plumber, college is a valuable experience.

+ 1

A much better value is a state flagship and give them the rest to invest.

Nah state flagship lowers their chance to meet the brightest people with the least debt compared to ivy+ where they meet all need, and have the highest% of the 99th%ile intelligence as well being target schools for prestigious jobs and top professional schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How much do you have saved, what's your income, and what's your networth? It's all relative. I'm letting my kids go to a private college, but we have $350k per kid in their 529 plans (started early, and the market has been overall very good over the past 15 years).

Just because u have 350k it doesn’t mean u spend it. U can give that money to your children for your grandchildren..

The reason they have $350k in their 529 plans is that we wanted to give them the gift of a great education and put them in a position to choose the best fit without worrying about cost. Our parents did this for us. I hope our kids will pay it forward to our grandkids. We've try to install a pay it forward mentality, but once they are out of the house and adulting, it's largely out of our control. I am definitely not changing how we've planned because of AI. Even if they decide to become a plumber, college is a valuable experience.

+ 1

A much better value is a state flagship and give them the rest to invest.

Nah state flagship lowers their chance to meet the brightest people with the least debt compared to ivy+ where they meet all need, and have the highest% of the 99th%ile intelligence as well being target schools for prestigious jobs and top professional schools

I attended and met my husband at our state flagship. I am comfortable with the poets our child will meet there and the success they will have after. If they find even a fraction of our success, they will be great. Plus they will have generational wealth. I am wholly unconvinced attending Dartmouth would make any difference.

[Anonymous]

Peers not poets

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:doom and gloom?

If you have plenty of $ for college, no need to respond here.

Donut hole single mom here (dad exists but is not contributing) with a dc who wants to ED a private college. It is a good school (not Ivy or T10 but we are comfortable with it- and no I’m not naming it) and we are essentially assured admission if dc does ED (a coach referral) with some merit.

Dc has no particular major in mind right now.

I’m so worried about spending a bunch of $ for dc to flounder and to get out to a crappy job market with a useless degree. I think AI will take away many entry level jobs that used to be the way young adults gained experience.

I myself graduated into a crappy job market from a top SLAC and felt like I had to go to grad school. I will not have any money left to help my dc if that happens.

Thoughts? Anyone else feeling this way?

A education is never ever a waste dam idiot.

Ugh
These posts are growing.

Be worried about food shortages, the worth or the $ or being jailed for no reason. Not college

Perhaps you yourself weren’t well educated because most people were able to appreciate the context. No one said ‘no education!!’ rather, the question is whether a super expensive undergrad education is worth the 95k (and for those who don’t understand the nuance- even if you have the $, this would also include lost opportunity costs - instead giving the $ to kids to buy a house, start a business etc).

Most of the alleged ‘roi’ lists provided above are not very helpful and based on dubious parameters.

If you aren’t at least asking the question, you’re not very bright

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:doom and gloom?

If you have plenty of $ for college, no need to respond here.

Donut hole single mom here (dad exists but is not contributing) with a dc who wants to ED a private college. It is a good school (not Ivy or T10 but we are comfortable with it- and no I’m not naming it) and we are essentially assured admission if dc does ED (a coach referral) with some merit.

Dc has no particular major in mind right now.

I’m so worried about spending a bunch of $ for dc to flounder and to get out to a crappy job market with a useless degree. I think AI will take away many entry level jobs that used to be the way young adults gained experience.

I myself graduated into a crappy job market from a top SLAC and felt like I had to go to grad school. I will not have any money left to help my dc if that happens.

Thoughts? Anyone else feeling this way?

What does Donut hole family mean? And what is VC funding? (Other PP)

In regard to examples given, like Physical Therapy - cannot be replaced entirely, but partially. Many professions can be replaced partially. What that will look like? I don’t think we can say for sure.

Yes, PTs are being replaced by PTAs. A 2 year degree that can be had for $30K/year in many places
The model tends to be a few full DPTs that manage a bunch of PTAs in most practices. That's because insurance tends to only pay so much for services. So if you are only getting $125/hour, once you pay for the facility space, the equipment, office staff, billing, etc no one with a DPT wants to work for what's left per hour. DPT requires 3 year degree AFTER your BA/BS, and typically costs $50-75K/year (unless you manage to get into your instate program)
The actual PT/DPT typically only does intake sessions for new clients and observes a few mins for any future sessions---the rest is done by the PTA who gets paid much less (as they should since they only have an associates degree).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:doom and gloom?

If you have plenty of $ for college, no need to respond here.

Donut hole single mom here (dad exists but is not contributing) with a dc who wants to ED a private college. It is a good school (not Ivy or T10 but we are comfortable with it- and no I’m not naming it) and we are essentially assured admission if dc does ED (a coach referral) with some merit.

Dc has no particular major in mind right now.

I’m so worried about spending a bunch of $ for dc to flounder and to get out to a crappy job market with a useless degree. I think AI will take away many entry level jobs that used to be the way young adults gained experience.

I myself graduated into a crappy job market from a top SLAC and felt like I had to go to grad school. I will not have any money left to help my dc if that happens.

Thoughts? Anyone else feeling this way?

What does Donut hole family mean? And what is VC funding? (Other PP)

In regard to examples given, like Physical Therapy - cannot be replaced entirely, but partially. Many professions can be replaced partially. What that will look like? I don’t think we can say for sure.

Venture Capital funding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How much do you have saved, what's your income, and what's your networth? It's all relative. I'm letting my kids go to a private college, but we have $350k per kid in their 529 plans (started early, and the market has been overall very good over the past 15 years).

Just because u have 350k it doesn’t mean u spend it. U can give that money to your children for your grandchildren..

The reason they have $350k in their 529 plans is that we wanted to give them the gift of a great education and put them in a position to choose the best fit without worrying about cost. Our parents did this for us. I hope our kids will pay it forward to our grandkids. We've try to install a pay it forward mentality, but once they are out of the house and adulting, it's largely out of our control. I am definitely not changing how we've planned because of AI. Even if they decide to become a plumber, college is a valuable experience.

+ 1

A much better value is a state flagship and give them the rest to invest.

Nah state flagship lowers their chance to meet the brightest people with the least debt compared to ivy+ where they meet all need, and have the highest% of the 99th%ile intelligence as well being target schools for prestigious jobs and top professional schools

I attended and met my husband at our state flagship. I am comfortable with the poets our child will meet there and the success they will have after. If they find even a fraction of our success, they will be great. Plus they will have generational wealth. I am wholly unconvinced attending Dartmouth would make any difference.

Great! More spots at Dartmouth for our kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How much do you have saved, what's your income, and what's your networth? It's all relative. I'm letting my kids go to a private college, but we have $350k per kid in their 529 plans (started early, and the market has been overall very good over the past 15 years).

Just because u have 350k it doesn’t mean u spend it. U can give that money to your children for your grandchildren..

The reason they have $350k in their 529 plans is that we wanted to give them the gift of a great education and put them in a position to choose the best fit without worrying about cost. Our parents did this for us. I hope our kids will pay it forward to our grandkids. We've try to install a pay it forward mentality, but once they are out of the house and adulting, it's largely out of our control. I am definitely not changing how we've planned because of AI. Even if they decide to become a plumber, college is a valuable experience.

+ 1

A much better value is a state flagship and give them the rest to invest.

Nah state flagship lowers their chance to meet the brightest people with the least debt compared to ivy+ where they meet all need, and have the highest% of the 99th%ile intelligence as well being target schools for prestigious jobs and top professional schools

I attended and met my husband at our state flagship. I am comfortable with the poets our child will meet there and the success they will have after. If they find even a fraction of our success, they will be great. Plus they will have generational wealth. I am wholly unconvinced attending Dartmouth would make any difference.

Great! More spots at Dartmouth for our kids.

Yay for you?

[Anonymous]

The future impact of AI on jobs is still unknowable. The companies that went heavily into AI are generally retreating now. Because it doesn't work well. But with time, it will get better.

But once AI gets stronger, yes, it will be devastating all around. And societies are going to have to make some choices. A very efficient AI and 50 percent unemployment is going to lead to revolution and violence. Besides the Silicon Valley plutocrats, we are all in the same boat. And if our political leadership continues to suck - as it has for the past ten years with feeble 80 year olds running things - it's going to be a big problem.

I think in the meantime, college students should focus on the majors that really use their brains - from engineering to philosophy. AI can't replicate good thinking at the higher levels. And good thinking and good writing and good problem solving will continue to be valuable in an AI world.

And if it isn't, people will revolt. It's not coincidental that Musk, Zuckerberg, Thiel and the other Silicon Valley billionaires all have their bunkers.

[Anonymous]

I would hesitate about ED in your shoes. Can't he just do RD and see where gives him the most money/lowest actual cost?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The future impact of AI on jobs is still unknowable. The companies that went heavily into AI are generally retreating now. Because it doesn't work well. But with time, it will get better.

But once AI gets stronger, yes, it will be devastating all around. And societies are going to have to make some choices. A very efficient AI and 50 percent unemployment is going to lead to revolution and violence. Besides the Silicon Valley plutocrats, we are all in the same boat. And if our political leadership continues to suck - as it has for the past ten years with feeble 80 year olds running things - it's going to be a big problem.

I think in the meantime, college students should focus on the majors that really use their brains - from engineering to philosophy. AI can't replicate good thinking at the higher levels. And good thinking and good writing and good problem solving will continue to be valuable in an AI world.

And if it isn't, people will revolt. It's not coincidental that Musk, Zuckerberg, Thiel and the other Silicon Valley billionaires all have their bunkers.

In my opinion, the post-AI world will become increasingly more competitive, so all the more reason to give your kids the best education possible.