A "is this a good college" thread for all college searchers...

[bethbuchall]

I need to ask, I know that as parents you don't want your kids to come out owing a lot of money with loans but it seems like no one is giving their kids the option at all. A lot of people are saying that their kids are getting into their dream colleges but can't go because of not enough scholarship. Did you consider taking loans out at all Was it your decision or your kids to not take out loans and not go where they want

In our case, it was a joint decision. My kids didn't have "dream" schools out of their reach financially, because they knew ahead of time what that would mean. My son decided to apply only to state schools. My daughter did apply to a couple of private schools. The initial out-of-pocket was about the same for both the private schools and state schools. At the private schools, though, she'd have about $8500+/year in loans. When she added it up, she decided that the state school was a much better choice for her. (Not saying that is better than someone who makes a different choice, but we feel our choices were the best for us.)

 

[MUFFYCAT]

I need to ask, I know that as parents you don't want your kids to come out owing a lot of money with loans but it seems like no one is giving their kids the option at all. A lot of people are saying that their kids are getting into their dream colleges but can't go because of not enough scholarship. Did you consider taking loans out at all Was it your decision or your kids to not take out loans and not go where they want

The colleges have been a mutual decision for all of us.
For the degree my DD is obtaining and the one my younger will be going for in 2012 a state university is fine.
I told them they could graduate with no debt or choose a private college where they would have loans each year.

My DD high school counselor actually suggested her to go to a public unvisity as she wants to major in education. We had a meeting with him last week and couldn't stress upon the fact that graduation with big loans on a teaching salary ( if she finds a job) may not be a wise move.

There are so many schools I don't see the need for high priced colleges.

 

[punkin]

Loans are a tricky subject. I am not against a small amount of loans if there is a good possibility of paying them off quickly. I also am not against taking out huge debt for a sure-fire money making career like medicine.

My DD18 is not taking out any loans for her school because I am lucky enough to be able to fund her studies. She is also not a very career oriented person, and right now it looks like she is planning on graduate school right after college (which I can't afford to fund) and may end up in a academic career path (read lots of education-very little money).

I, on the other hand, graduated with a serious debt load from undergrad and professional school. I paid it off quickly because I was in a high money-making field.

It's a very individual decision that varies, not only family to family, but child to child within a family.

 

[NCRedding]

What does anyone know about Guilford College in North Carolina? Not that I can really go there because its so far away from home but I have gotten A LOT of letters from them and am curious.

Guilford is a pretty campus with a decent reputation. It is very liberal which is wonderful for some students, not so great for others. The kids who go there from our hometown are usually very conservative, so there is sometimes a culture clash. For example, one football player in our town said he didn't mind the school, but it really bothered him to go to class with so many girls who didn't believe in shaving.

My assistant went there as an adult student. She had classes with kids who were out to "save the world." She had one male student in her classes who wore skirts and tutus to class. The surveys sent out to the students included this: Sex (check one) ____Male ____Female _____Transgendered.

For a small private school in NC it is a bit different.

 

[clarabelle]

My DD is a sophomore
So we are just getting started on her picking a school journey.
But we have made it clear we are not paying 50K a year out of pocket.

We will not qualify for need based aid.

So no -we are not letting her just go where she wants. (or think she wants) at this stage in the game.
We just can't afford it. We have saved -but not enough for full price at a prestigious private college.

The loans would be huge. I don't think it would be a good start on her future.

 

[punkin]

Guilford is a pretty campus with a decent reputation. It is very liberal which is wonderful for some students, not so great for others. The kids who go there from our hometown are usually very conservative, so there is sometimes a culture clash. For example, one football player in our town said he didn't mind the school, but it really bothered him to go to class with so many girls who didn't believe in shaving.

My assistant went there as an adult student. She had classes with kids who were out to "save the world." She had one male student in her classes who wore skirts and tutus to class. The surveys sent out to the students included this: Sex (check one) ____Male ____Female _____Transgendered.

For a small private school in NC it is a bit different.

I can understand not wanting to be intimate, but why would he care if the girl in question was just sitting next to him in class? Sounds to me.

Anyway, I've heard nothing but good things about Guilford. Educationally, it is a solid liberal arts college (and yes it is on the liberal side of things politically, particularly for its location). Overall a good school.

 

[golfgal]

I need to ask, I know that as parents you don't want your kids to come out owing a lot of money with loans but it seems like no one is giving their kids the option at all. A lot of people are saying that their kids are getting into their dream colleges but can't go because of not enough scholarship. Did you consider taking loans out at all Was it your decision or your kids to not take out loans and not go where they want

We have told the kids that they will take one loan (at least). In our experience, having at least one student loan actually saved us money over time because we started out our adult life with a credit rating. Getting our first house, and a GREAT loan rate was so much easier than any of our friends. It also is a good learning tool for paying bills. We also know that it makes zero sense to take $100,000 in student loans if you are going to be a teacher or social worker. If you want to go into medicine, $100,000 is a drop in the bucket compared to future earning potential.

Dh and I both funded our school 100% at private schools. I graduated with $16,000 in student loans, but I also made $16,000 in my first job. Our loans were paid off in about 4 years and were less than our car payment.

DS18, if he continues at the same rate, will have about $30,000 in student loans when he is done, but also can expect to make about $35,000 for a starting salary or so. I don't have a problem with that.

DD15 is leaning toward medicine right now. I wouldn't have a problem with her taking out $100,000 or in loans as most dr's around here start in the $250,000 range or so. When she was thinking about being a teacher, no way would I let her do that--NOR would I encourage her to go to an Ivy caliber college to get a teaching degree. Same with DS15-if he wanted to be a teacher, I doubt I would encourage him to go to Notre Dame like he wants, unless he gets enough in aid there to make it cost effective.

You hear all of these horror stories about these huge loan debts these days but the average student graduates with about $27,000 in student loan debt, which is really a car payment if you put it into perspective.

 

[punkin]

golfgal, I don't know that I would force my child to take a student loan just for a credit rating. If the loan was a subsidized Stafford, that might be a good idea, but the unsubsidized loans are at 6.8% currently and I think that's a little much to pay. I may consider it for her last year so the interest doesn't compound up as much.

 

[golfgal]

golfgal, I don't know that I would force my child to take a student loan just for a credit rating. If the loan was a subsidized Stafford, that might be a good idea, but the unsubsidized loans are at 6.8% currently and I think that's a little much to pay. I may consider it for her last year so the interest doesn't compound up as much.

You can pay interest quarterly while in school, it's minimal, about $20/quarter, so the interest doesn't compound. Like I said, in our experience it worked out for the better to do it that way. The money we saved just on our first house payment would have paid about 1/2 of our loan payments. My student loans were at 8%-which at the time were very low.

 

[punkin]

I remember some of my loans were over 10% and I thought that was good.

 

[NCRedding]

I can understand not wanting to be intimate, but why would he care if the girl in question was just sitting next to him in class? Sounds to me.

Anyway, I've heard nothing but good things about Guilford. Educationally, it is a solid liberal arts college (and yes it is on the liberal side of things politically, particularly for its location). Overall a good school.

There are some people who are bothered and/or grossed out by the sight of arm pit hair on women. Europeans are used to it; southern college aged boys, not so much. That's why I used that particular example of a culture clash.

 

[pixie dust 112]

I need to ask, I know that as parents you don't want your kids to come out owing a lot of money with loans but it seems like no one is giving their kids the option at all. A lot of people are saying that their kids are getting into their dream colleges but can't go because of not enough scholarship. Did you consider taking loans out at all Was it your decision or your kids to not take out loans and not go where they want

In my case it was my daughter's decision. She got accepted to a great private with a huge scholarship, but we don't get any aid so it was still going to cost more than a SUNY. We told her how much we would contribute and that she would need to take out the rest in private loans. She was planning to do that until she visited the SUNY she ultimately decided to go to. She visited the SUNY, had an appointment with the Chairman of the honors department and fell in love with the school. SHe changed her mind then and there. She said she could get just as good an education at the SUNY, not be in debt when she came out and felt she would be very happy at the SUNY. It was totally her decision and she is now in her sophmore year and has no regrets!

 

[Jeafl]

Ok, how about Ripon in Wi? We have gotten a ton of mail from them in the past couple weeks.

My sister graduated from Ripon and loved it! She felt she got an excellent education, and has since gone on to get 2 masters degrees.

It is a small school in a small town, but the campus is really nice. If you have any specific questions, let me know

 

[MrsPete]

I need to ask, I know that as parents you don't want your kids to come out owing a lot of money with loans but it seems like no one is giving their kids the option at all. A lot of people are saying that their kids are getting into their dream colleges but can't go because of not enough scholarship. Did you consider taking loans out at all Was it your decision or your kids to not take out loans and not go where they want

You're thinking that there's one dream school where everything will be perfect vs. a bunch of suck-y schools. That's just not the way the world works.

I'm emphasizing to my daughter that she has college dreams AND after-college dreams, and she shouldn't sacrafice one for the other. She's very realistic about what college'll cost and what she'll earn afterward. She absolutely buys into the idea of graduating debt-free, and only one school on her list is out of our price range.

We want our sons to have a good start on life after college and starting out debt free instead of in a hole is a big part of that. I don't see myself encouraging loans for undergraduate school. If I did, it would be for a very practical major and for a very prestigious school only.

My thoughts exactly. I don't want my girls to find themselves forced to wait for things they really want after college: A house, a wedding, travel, the choice to stay home with their children, if that's what they want, retirement savings. Graduating debt-free is a huge step towards financial security.

We have told the kids that they will take one loan (at least). In our experience, having at least one student loan actually saved us money over time because we started out our adult life with a credit rating. Getting our first house, and a GREAT loan rate was so much easier than any of our friends. It also is a good learning tool for paying bills.

I don't think school loans are necessary for this purpose. I had plenty of experience in balancing a (very small) budget and paying bills in college. I got my first apartment as a college junior, and I had enough credit that a co-signer wasn't necessary. I had no problem buying my first car and getting utilities in my own name.

The only time my husband and I've ever had any problem with credit was with the water department in our first house. When we got married, we were 24 and 27. We'd each had apartments and utilities for years. We didn't have much money, but we had two steady jobs and no debt. We had no problem with a mortgage, etc. --- but the piddly old water company WOULD NOT give anyone in our whole county service without a $100 deposit, which they kept for a full year. Come to think of it, we had more trouble with that water company than any other utility we've ever had in our whole lives. They cut our service off on the 3rd or 4th day we were in the house, saying we hadn't paid our bill (what bill?), and it went on from there.

We plan to buy our daughters each a new car for high school graduation (though IF the oldest goes to the school we think, and freshman parking is essentially impossible, she's already said she'd like to wait 'til after her first year of college -- she understands that there's no point in buying a car just to let it sit in our driveway getting older, and she will still have the use of her current old car 'til her sister's 16). We can afford to pay cash for these cars, but our plan is to pay about 2/3 down, give the girls the rest of the money and have them make payments for a year or so to pay off the car.

I totally agree that student loans are one way to build credit, but they certainly aren't the only game in town. The benefit of the car payment, etc. is that they show a repayment history BEFORE graduation.

 

[disneylovin24]

Thank you all for your stories.

My personal feeling (and yes I am only 17 but I am almost to college where my life becomes mine and I will have to make a lot of adult decisions) is that it should be the student's choice in the end because they will be the one with the loans. At 18, your first major major decision in life is where you will go to school and apart of that is deciding how much you are willing to pay. At 18 you are about to go out into the world and I think you should be able to decide if you are going to take out loans or not. Part of going of to college is being mature and if you are mature your able to evaluate your future and see if the loans are right or not.

Honestly, I was getting the feeling on here that a lot of parents were telling their kids that they could not take out loans and I did not like that.

 

[disneylovin24]

Guilford is a pretty campus with a decent reputation. It is very liberal which is wonderful for some students, not so great for others. The kids who go there from our hometown are usually very conservative, so there is sometimes a culture clash. For example, one football player in our town said he didn't mind the school, but it really bothered him to go to class with so many girls who didn't believe in shaving.

My assistant went there as an adult student. She had classes with kids who were out to "save the world." She had one male student in her classes who wore skirts and tutus to class. The surveys sent out to the students included this: Sex (check one) ____Male ____Female _____Transgendered.

For a small private school in NC it is a bit different.

I am a very conservative person so I guess besides the location it's not a good choice for me I would be bothered by the no shaving too just because I have always grown up in an environment where you are suppossed to shave often (and not just my family believes this, people I have gone to school with and around where I live in general).

 

[disykat]

Honestly, I was getting the feeling on here that a lot of parents were telling their kids that they could not take out loans and I did not like that.

If you were my child, you could take out all the loans you wanted to in your name. However, you might lose my financial support doing so.

My children know how much we're willing to spend, AND how much in loans we're willing to "let" them take out. While techically they can do what they want, I won't enable it.

There's another thread here somewhere about the ill-advised student who took out $110,000 worth of loans with the blessing of her parents and now is surprised paying it back is making her life hard.

 

[clarabelle]

Disneylovin

My child can take out all the loans she wants.

However if she wants me to pay for most of it (we have money saved)
Then there have to be limits.

Life as a grown up has lots of limits. We can't eat all we want, or spend all we want. Everything in moderation. I honestly feel like if I encouraged my child to finish school with loads of debt to go to the school she "wants" I would be doing her a disservice

 

[mom2travel]

DD15 is leaning toward medicine right now. I wouldn't have a problem with her taking out $100,000 or in loans as most dr's around here start in the $250,000 range or so. When she was thinking about being a teacher, no way would I let her do that--NOR would I encourage her to go to an Ivy caliber college to get a teaching degree. Same with DS15-if he wanted to be a teacher, I doubt I would encourage him to go to Notre Dame like he wants, unless he gets enough in aid there to make it cost effective..

DS is also thinking of medicine and we have been offered advice from doctor friends to avoid racking up big undergrad debts since there will be med school loans on top of them. just something to think about when planning for undergrad

 

[MrsPete]

Life as a grown up has lots of limits. We can't eat all we want, or spend all we want. Everything in moderation. I honestly feel like if I encouraged my child to finish school with loads of debt to go to the school she "wants" I would be doing her a disservice

DisneyLovin24, this is excellent advice.

Yes, it's the student's choice, BUT a person who's just stepped across the line into adulthood still needs guidance in choosing a college, a major, and making decisions on loans. This isn't the same thing as handing down a decree and saying, "You will live your life the way I choose". Instead, it's helping a new adult make good first steps and avoid mistakes.

The world is a tough place, and these days it's hard to recover from mistakes like excessive loans. It all sounds so easy -- until you actually get there.