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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]As almost all studies have shown, it is not the school that made the kid successful..it is THE KID...my son is 4.7 W 1520 SAT..and though we can afford any school, it is very difficult to justify paying $83K when 28K to the instate flagship that has a multitude of major options, and very "smart kids"...oh..it would be unpopular with the private HS crowd whose parents parted with 100K to 500K to educate their kid when 92% of the USA pays zero..

I only come to this site for laughs..parents whom are treating where the kids goes to undergraduate school is the most monumental decision of anyone's existence, when in reality is not even in the top ten most important decision that a person will make in their lifetime[/quote]

As a parent who paid 100-500k (actually more because I have several kids at a 50k school from 3yrs to 12th grade) for private education, I can tell you that you missed the boat.  I didn't send my kids there to get into a college. I send them there to get an education. I agree that it's the kid that makes a success not the school.  Very little that is learned in school beyond 7th grade is applicable to what they will be doing to sustain their livelihoods.  I gave them a broad range of activities and experiences, let them learn how to learn, and the rest is up to them.... college or not.

Most of the really successful folks in this world don't have degrees or a piece of paper that tells them what they can do.  They learn what they need along the way. Oprah, Gates, Zuckerberg, Dick Cheney, Steve Jobs, Charles Dickens, countless actors, comedians, and sports stars, the list goes on and on. If they shoot for mediocrity then yes they need the paper - doctor, dentist, scientist.

[b]No way in heck I'm paying for an arts, literature, or philosophy degree..[/b] if they want to do that they can start publishing immediately to get credibility. And BTW we have fully funded 529s and a HHI of 800k. Folks just need to be pragmatic about the world we live in. It's all about return on investment.  My kids learned this lesson young, like 5 years old.[/quote]
I have a liberal arts undergrad degree and ended up in a science field. I understand the push for STEM, but I wish people actually understood the liberal arts fields better and how we need those types of folks as well.  In fact, having a liberal arts background can add and not hinder in developing critical thinking skills/creativity/thinking outside the box/questioning the status quo.  I understand folks with limited means or not as a rich as you steering their kids towards practical degrees.  But you have the means.  You equate success with being rich and prestige. Your kids are more than just an investment.  You call it being pragmatic, I just think it's sad.[/quote]
DP.. why do you think it's only about prestige?  For us, it's about reaching financial independence and a comfortable life earlier on in life. I struggled a lot in my 20s. I come from a poor background and didn't go to a great univ.

I don't want my kids to go through what I went through in my 20s.  So, I want them to go to a good univ, and major in something that they can find a good job in.[/quote]

But your push for this could make them miserable for the rest of their lives!  Let your kids pick what they want to do, within reason.  If they want to be a philosophy major, help them understand what they can do with that major for a career. help them realize that they can major in whatever, but then they need to find a path to turn it into employment that pays the bills.  Many humanities/ss majors do just this each year. You just need to be open ended with the job search.  The best thing you can do for them is help them exit college debt free, or as close to debt free as possible.  That will get them further than any "elite" university.  Much easier to get started in life at a $40K/year job if you don't have $1000/month in student loans.  [/quote]
I don't push my kids into specific majors, but I tell them the truth about how much it costs to live. I don't tell them, "Oh major in whatever fluff you want to because the most important thing is for you to pursue knowledge". No, that's only for the privileged, not for people who need to actually work for a living.

Agree on the debt aspect. I had zero debt. Went to a no name univ, but it was so much cheaper back then too.[/quote]

Debt free is so important.  Nobody should be taking more debt than 1x what their starting salary is likely to be.  So if you are not a STEM major, your starting salary might only be $35-40K, so to survive on that you need to not have debt.  Also need to know realistically what you might make at 0 and 5 and 10 years after graduation, so you can make sure you live a lifestyle that can be accommodated by your career path.  Do what makes you happy, but if driving luxury cars, taking multiple fancy vacations and living in a big house are part of your plan, then you need to pick a career/major that can possibly support that.

There are plenty of jobs for non-stem majors.  My own kid is at a company where 30-50% of the new hires are humanities/social science majors.  Company puts you thru a rigorous testing before the first real interview and only 15-20% make that cut.  Then there are several types of their jobs that only require you have a BA/BS and the desire to learn and critical thinking skills (some are STEM specific and do require a specific degree/background, but most simply require a college degree).  Then they train you for the specific jobs.  Proof that what they are looking for is smart, motivated, college grads with critical thinking skills who can adapt as needed.  College is not job training, it's about developing the ability to think and problem solve and teamwork to do that. 
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