College?

[minakichan]

For instance, a bachelors in engineering from a 5k a year school will still net you the same as a bachelors in engineering from a 50k a year school. The gains are the same even though one is a far greater monetary investment.

Engineering, perhaps, but you can't make a huge blanket statement like that for every field. Law school, business school, med school... heck yeah, it makes a difference. I mean, SMU is a great school, but Harriet Miers couldn't get approved to join the Supreme Court because she wasn't freaking Ivy League (admittedly, among other things). The name, and what it represents, really means something.

[EricTheFred]

Engineering, perhaps, but you can't make a huge blanket statement like that for every field. Law school, business school, med school... heck yeah, it makes a difference. I mean, SMU is a great school, but Harriet Miers couldn't get approved to join the Supreme Court because she wasn't freaking Ivy League (admittedly, among other things). The name, and what it represents, really means something.

And to think, SMU is more expensive than Harvard.

No kidding. It really is. Or at least it was four years ago when my nephew was considering going there. Haven't checked more recently than that.

In the Engineering degrees, it's the degree level (although, as someone else pointed out, it matters more in some fields than in others. However, in the Semiconductor industry, the best paid private sector EEs are PhDs, just like in Mechanical.)

In Law, Business and Medicine, however, one's networking contacts matter a lot more than one's actual education or ability, and thus, Ivy League, Johns Hopkins, whatever, these things matter. It's just like being a West Point grad in the Army, which quadruples your chances of making General some day, instead of a ROTC grad from some other college.

A note on SMU, though. If you are a Business student, it is as good a school as any Ivy League school provided you aren't picky about where you are going into business. You're actually better off graduating from one of the old money southern schools like SMU if you're going to be in business or politics down here in the South or Southwest. Ivy League actually counts as a strike against you in these parts. (Although GW Bush did manage to overcome it when he ran for Governor in Texas, being a Yale grad made the campaign more difficult. Luckily for him, Ann Richards had managed to hack off all the rednecks and they wanted her out.)

In New York or Boston, it would go the other way around.

[~darkelfgirl~]

Wow, thanks guys. Those college help books don't mention this stuff (well, the ones I've read).

The thing about engineering is that I'm slow at math....and complex things. At first, my dream job was to work at Boeing....

Hehe, Arizona would be a nice place to work...except that it's hot and full of desert. Then again, my job will be boring if it's just the same weather every day.

[Taliesin]

I want to be a foreign policy analyst, and I know that in that line of work you really need a degree from a good school. I'm sorta counting on a good scholarship to pay for it. Any tips on how to get a good scholarship?

[Mr. SmartyPants]

http://www.fastweb.com

Register and look for scholarships.

[minakichan]

And to think, SMU is more expensive than Harvard.

Eh, That School just has way too much money ><. My mom wants my lil' bro to go there since it's so much cheaper that MIT, 'specially now with the tuition cut... I have to brainwash him against it =D

[Dante]

I want to be a foreign policy analyst, and I know that in that line of work you really need a degree from a good school. I'm sorta counting on a good scholarship to pay for it. Any tips on how to get a good scholarship?

Looks at Taliesin... hmm... I always wondered if he was really 58... guess that answers that one!

----

And a Supreme Court justice isn't really the best example to give for a reason why or why not to enter a school. Extreme things like president of the US or what not, yeah sure the school you go to makes a difference, people want to hear names they know... but really? What IS the net income that a Supreme Court justice expects to make a year?

Well I decided I'd check that out, turns out, money.CNN has the answer!

http://money.cnn.com/2005/07/01/news/newsmakers/salary/

Wow, less then $200,000 dollars a year (Our friends who own a tow-truck company make more than that (I don’t even think they have college degrees)… do the justices even qualify for the Bush tax cuts?)! And the job is tough to grab at that! Because... well, the position never reopens unless someone is about to fall over dead... and they're not allowed to die until their political party gets into the white house again to appoint another justice to ensure that the party dominance remains the same.

I wouldn't go to college with the intent of becoming a Supreme Court justice.

Individuals with stellar salaries do not gain those salaries based off of hard work and a good college investment alone... People who leave college believing their degrees will do great things for them have gained the wrong message from college. Your degree is worthless beyond getting your foot in the door, after that its all up to you to show that you have incredible talent and enough money making qualities to break through the money barrier from the average salary to the stellar salaries. If you know the right people or understand the right things, you can break that barrier with a tow truck business even without the degree. But that’s the point, its not the degree, its what you learnt while getting the degree.

[Angel Tifa]

What's Dante's Inferno? lol

Anyway College can be an exciting experience and also a pain in the **** lol. As for free time, if you do full time college (even when you're not working), free time is just no option because you've got to use that to study for painful exams and homework. And that's not having free time is it when you gotta do homework? I'm not working and this semester I only have two courses because I really need the money to pay for my new car and my computer. I do also plan on working again sometime soon (but the economy has been very bad and it's been hard to get jobs out here in SoCal).

Also college can hurt your wallet real bad if you're doing full time college. Not only the tuition and book fees, but you've also got to pay to supplies, final projects, and a parking permit (which is $35 at my school).

Basically to sum it all up college can be fun and great, but at the same time a real pain lol XD.

[Ingemar]

What's Dante's Inferno? lol

y...You... never... read... Commedia?



Anyway, any meaningful discussion with you cannot begin unless this is remedied. Go to your library, young lass!!

and a parking permit (which is $35 at my school).

I wish I went to your college T_T

Anyway, college was.... Well, my social life basically evaporated and my parents moved away (at my senior year)--basically, the exact OPPOSITE of the typical college experience. As a science major, I feel gypped about all these lofty statements about the big moolah that's supposed to be rolling in as I only make a paltry 13.00/hr working in my field--but then again I'm only a Biology major. Go me~

Uh, I guess the moral of the story is.... get into grad school? LOL

[JesusFreak84]

I may be an odd person to ask, because I have three relatively un-related majors at a college that accepts any nutjob with a high school diploma. :p That said, between my sister's college app. experiences and mine, we found the private schools to be far better regarding financial aid than public, unless you luck out like she did and get a full-tuition scholarship. :p (For us, the FAFSA was only good for loans, though.)

As far as the transitioning to college bit, whether to do CC, etc....I wanted OUT of my house ASAP, so the sooner and the further away I could get from my parents, the better. (Long story, the short of it being that my dad's a serious control-freak.) If you're not sure you can psychologically take living at home much longer, get out, but if you're really enmeshed with your family, then CC might be a better option for that. (For me, CC was also not an option because I'm a theology major. )

Number one tip: DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH ON THE SCHOOL! Some schools are as shamelessly slimy on their recruitment as the worst used-car salesman. (My school is one of them.) Also, since you're on a Christian board, I presume that element of your life is important, so figure out how church is going to work out for you once there. I'm lucky the town I'm in has a parish on practically every corner, because what is offered on campus by the college is spiritually toxic. This is especially crucial for public schools; you'll be at this place 4-5 years, and that's a long time to endure spiritual suffocation.

That's all I can think of at 3AM...

[~darkelfgirl~]

Also college can hurt your wallet real bad if you're doing full time college. Not only the tuition and book fees, but you've also got to pay to supplies, final projects, and a parking permit (which is $35 at my school).

Wait--$35? My school's the king of rip-offs! Parking space costs $75!!!!

y...You... never... read... Commedia?



Anyway, any meaningful discussion with you cannot begin unless this is remedied. Go to your library, young lass!!

XD Who in the world is that?

Honestly, I haven't read it either. I just happened to know the stuff and stuff. Shame on me *shakes head*


To JesusFreak: I definitely have to do that! I really hope there are churches around. I mean, there's bound to be one near my second choice in Miami....ehehe. I also have to research banks and whatnots. Hmm, I wonder if Google Earth'll have this stuff?

[Warrior4Christ]

Wait--$35? My school's the king of rip-offs! Parking space costs $75!!!!

We have a very limited amount of parking at my uni - basically just for staff.
So you have to use standard public parking, which costs $7 (for students). Per day.