College savings--GAH!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone else think its sad that people are sacrificing vacations altogether or enjoying their money for 18 years to afford college? That says the price of tuition is unrealistic and too high. If we were discussing mortgages, we'd call this being "house poor" or buying more than you can afford.

I contribute $1K a year currently, and will increase to $4K next year. 50K a year is absurd for tuition and fees. I remember being so happy when I got accepted into my dream school. That is, until I saw that I was $18K out of pocket per year. I opted instead to go in-state public and today, in my late 20s, I'm SO glad I did. And still ended up with a great job that my peers envy.

Are you ok with shelling out 200K for college for a child who ends up being a teacher making 50K with a masters? Or how about a daughter who works for 5 years and then becomes a SAHM? Wouldnt the local college have done the same? Does saving for college come with strings attached?

College is not vocational training. It's about broadening my childrens' horizons. I'd much rather they go to an expensive college that's great for them and their development than for me to have vacations or other material things. Parenting is sacrifice. My parents went without plenty to send me to college, I'm paying it forward.

Could not disagree more. College is not all fun and games. That is the problem. That is why so many kids- and they're not, they are adults- are returning home after college. Students, that's what they are, should be expanding EDUCATIONAL horizons- they are being prepared for the real world and adulthood. If I'm saving six figures for a child to go to college, you're damn straight it comes with strings attached. That's called parenting.

I completely agree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe I am just too pragmatic, but I'm not paying six figures solely for "experiences". I want my kid to buckle down and gain some marketable skills and leads (internships, etc) that will enable her to support herself sufficiently post graduation. I can find other economically sound (and FUN) ways to enrich her life experiences along the way. We're moving abroad next year, for example, where she will attend a French school. Remember, you're sending a teenager off to college, not Siddartha. Let's not kid ourselves. DD can have similar experiences at a low to moderately priced school. Or she can pay for prestige herself.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe I am just too pragmatic, but I'm not paying six figures solely for "experiences". I want my kid to buckle down and gain some marketable skills and leads (internships, etc) that will enable her to support herself sufficiently post graduation. I can find other economically sound (and FUN) ways to enrich her life experiences along the way. We're moving abroad next year, for example, where she will attend a French school. Remember, you're sending a teenager off to college, not Siddartha. Let's not kid ourselves. DD can have similar experiences at a low to moderately priced school. Or she can pay for prestige herself.

You really think James Madison offers a college experience similar to Swarthmore? C'mon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe I am just too pragmatic, but I'm not paying six figures solely for "experiences". I want my kid to buckle down and gain some marketable skills and leads (internships, etc) that will enable her to support herself sufficiently post graduation. I can find other economically sound (and FUN) ways to enrich her life experiences along the way. We're moving abroad next year, for example, where she will attend a French school. Remember, you're sending a teenager off to college, not Siddartha. Let's not kid ourselves. DD can have similar experiences at a low to moderately priced school. Or she can pay for prestige herself.

What person can support themselves with only a college degree? I want a college for my kid that has a very high admissions rate to grad school and where they can make good connections.

[Anonymous]

I feel like I'm in crazytown. My parents were broke so we had no money for me to go to college. However I was accepted to a very good private university and I made with work -- I had one or two jobs every semester, took out loans and applied for grants. I never resented it or felt like I was missing out on anything. I still did internships, study abroad, etc.

I think it is great if you can pay for college for your kid. But I don't think anyone should feel like not paying for college will ruin his/her life. If my parents had given me the choice between them socking money away for college or taking more family vacations, I would absolutely choose vacations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe I am just too pragmatic, but I'm not paying six figures solely for "experiences". I want my kid to buckle down and gain some marketable skills and leads (internships, etc) that will enable her to support herself sufficiently post graduation. I can find other economically sound (and FUN) ways to enrich her life experiences along the way. We're moving abroad next year, for example, where she will attend a French school. Remember, you're sending a teenager off to college, not Siddartha. Let's not kid ourselves. DD can have similar experiences at a low to moderately priced school. Or she can pay for prestige herself.

What person can support themselves with only a college degree? I want a college for my kid that has a very high admissions rate to grad school and where they can make good connections.

Are you high?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel like I'm in crazytown. My parents were broke so we had no money for me to go to college. However I was accepted to a very good private university and I made with work -- I had one or two jobs every semester, took out loans and applied for grants. I never resented it or felt like I was missing out on anything. I still did internships, study abroad, etc.

I think it is great if you can pay for college for your kid. But I don't think anyone should feel like not paying for college will ruin his/her life. If my parents had given me the choice between them socking money away for college or taking more family vacations, I would absolutely choose vacations.

Is that really the reason your parents were broke? That they spent their money on vacations not college? I don't know anyone who doesn't save for both, if they have money to save.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe I am just too pragmatic, but I'm not paying six figures solely for "experiences". I want my kid to buckle down and gain some marketable skills and leads (internships, etc) that will enable her to support herself sufficiently post graduation. I can find other economically sound (and FUN) ways to enrich her life experiences along the way. We're moving abroad next year, for example, where she will attend a French school. Remember, you're sending a teenager off to college, not Siddartha. Let's not kid ourselves. DD can have similar experiences at a low to moderately priced school. Or she can pay for prestige herself.

What person can support themselves with only a college degree? I want a college for my kid that has a very high admissions rate to grad school and where they can make good connections.

Are you high?

No, I'm not. A liberal arts college degree is not generally going to let you make six figures.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel like I'm in crazytown. My parents were broke so we had no money for me to go to college. However I was accepted to a very good private university and I made with work -- I had one or two jobs every semester, took out loans and applied for grants. I never resented it or felt like I was missing out on anything. I still did internships, study abroad, etc.

I think it is great if you can pay for college for your kid. But I don't think anyone should feel like not paying for college will ruin his/her life. If my parents had given me the choice between them socking money away for college or taking more family vacations, I would absolutely choose vacations.

Is that really the reason your parents were broke? That they spent their money on vacations not college? I don't know anyone who doesn't save for both, if they have money to save.

Sorry if I wasn't clear -- my parents were too broke to pay for college or vacations, so we got neither. Looking back on it now, if money hadn't been that tight I would have preferred to go on vacations as a family, since that is something we never did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe I am just too pragmatic, but I'm not paying six figures solely for "experiences". I want my kid to buckle down and gain some marketable skills and leads (internships, etc) that will enable her to support herself sufficiently post graduation. I can find other economically sound (and FUN) ways to enrich her life experiences along the way. We're moving abroad next year, for example, where she will attend a French school. Remember, you're sending a teenager off to college, not Siddartha. Let's not kid ourselves. DD can have similar experiences at a low to moderately priced school. Or she can pay for prestige herself.

What person can support themselves with only a college degree? I want a college for my kid that has a very high admissions rate to grad school and where they can make good connections.

Are you high?

No, I'm not. A liberal arts college degree is not generally going to let you make six figures.

Placing aside the fact that you are flat out wrong about this, I find it terribly telling that you don't think a person can support herself on less than six figures. My god, sometimes I forget how sheltered the posters on here are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe I am just too pragmatic, but I'm not paying six figures solely for "experiences". I want my kid to buckle down and gain some marketable skills and leads (internships, etc) that will enable her to support herself sufficiently post graduation. I can find other economically sound (and FUN) ways to enrich her life experiences along the way. We're moving abroad next year, for example, where she will attend a French school. Remember, you're sending a teenager off to college, not Siddartha. Let's not kid ourselves. DD can have similar experiences at a low to moderately priced school. Or she can pay for prestige herself.

What person can support themselves with only a college degree? I want a college for my kid that has a very high admissions rate to grad school and where they can make good connections.

Are you high?

No, I'm not. A liberal arts college degree is not generally going to let you make six figures.

That's complete BS. I have a liberal arts college degree and I've been making six figures for 3 years now. I'm 15 years out of college. My DH has been making 6 figures for 5+ years and he's only 12 years out of college. There are all kinds of studies showing that the vast majority of CEO's of major corporations in this country graduated from liberal arts colleges or with a liberal arts degree from a university.

Liberal arts degrees are incredibly valuable. They teach the kind of outcomes--critical thinking, problem solving, quantitative reasoning, written and oral communication, etc.--that students need for the economy and society we live in. If you use college to just train to do a particular thing, you're completely shortchanging your prospects.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

No, I'm not. A liberal arts college degree is not generally going to let you make six figures.

Placing aside the fact that you are flat out wrong about this, I find it terribly telling that you don't think a person can support herself on less than six figures. My god, sometimes I forget how sheltered the posters on here are.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe I am just too pragmatic, but I'm not paying six figures solely for "experiences". I want my kid to buckle down and gain some marketable skills and leads (internships, etc) that will enable her to support herself sufficiently post graduation. I can find other economically sound (and FUN) ways to enrich her life experiences along the way. We're moving abroad next year, for example, where she will attend a French school. Remember, you're sending a teenager off to college, not Siddartha. Let's not kid ourselves. DD can have similar experiences at a low to moderately priced school. Or she can pay for prestige herself.

What person can support themselves with only a college degree? I want a college for my kid that has a very high admissions rate to grad school and where they can make good connections.

Are you high?

No, I'm not. A liberal arts college degree is not generally going to let you make six figures.

Placing aside the fact that you are flat out wrong about this, I find it terribly telling that you don't think a person can support herself on less than six figures. My god, sometimes I forget how sheltered the posters on here are.

I'm being honest. I want my children to be able to make six figures.

[Anonymous]

I know plenty of friends who graduated with a liberal arts degree who came out and made 6 figures almost immediately. It is all about which field you go into, not which degree you have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

No, I'm not. A liberal arts college degree is not generally going to let you make six figures.

Placing aside the fact that you are flat out wrong about this, I find it terribly telling that you don't think a person can support herself on less than six figures. My god, sometimes I forget how sheltered the posters on here are.

+1

I can make six figures as an auto mechanic by my late 20s without going to a four-year school. Is that what we're talking about here?