If you read my posts you can see that I explained that I am most certainly not planning on putting all my eggs in one baskets.
I read them: Sports journalism, politics as a back-up plan. Yeah.
It's a hoot what makes or breaks a college for kids (and parents too).
Yeah, I hear it from my seniors all the time. But people who choose because of the proximity to the beach (or mountains), because their best friend's going there, because the dorms are great, because of the pool tables in the student union, because the football team is great, or similar reasons tend not to stay at those schools -- because they've chosen for superficial reasons.
I'm certain that I'm doing the right thing with my girls by talking about size of schools, distance from home, etc. FIRST and then considering specific schools later -- only after they've developed an idea of what they want.
Spanish opening doors...we made friends with a guy from Miami at our local college a few years back. Instead of going back to FL, he stayed here. He was a history major and played ball. He got a job coaching ball at a local HS and is a translator/interpreter for the school system--they have a huge Spanish speaking community and since he is Cuban and fluent in Spanish, *bingo*--he got the job!
Second languages have been opening doors for years. That's what got my father a job when he came to America for college back in the 60s. He and my mother worked together, and they did the same job, but he was paid more because he was fluent in Spanish.
I agree-and with gas prices jumping through the roof, a flight for one person will probably be less expensive then a round trip car ride.
I disagree. If you drive an inexpensive car (a must if you're going to college 6 hours away), here's how the numbers'd break down: Let's say 6 hours x 60 MPH = 360 miles. My car gets 40 MPG, so I'd need 9 gallons to make that drive. At today's prices, that's $31.50 for the student to drive to school. You might have good luck on Priceline and get an occasional ticket for less than that, but you're not going to do it on a regular basis.
If the student isn't going to have a car at school, a parent's going to have to make the drive back home again, so that'd be $73 round-trip, but you're still not likely to get plane tickets for $73 on a regular basis.
Admittedly, gas could go higher, ruining this math, but when gas prices go up so do plane ticket prices. After all, they use gas too.
And consider that when you move the student into college, you're probably going to need to drive something BIG ENOUGH to move all the student's stuff. Then at the end of the year you've either got to go back with the big car or pay to store things near the college. To drive our big Explorer to college will cost much more than the above-mentioned figures.
And then there's not being able to come home regularly -- most college students want to come home when it suits them. Quite a few of the students I've known who wanted to go "as far as possible from home" didn't like it all that much. So you have to decide whether your student is the one who'd be fine with it, or who'd be miserable knowing she can't come home 'til Christmas.
There are excellent doctors all across the US. You can't use that as an excuse . . . I assume you will have a car on campus? The university we just visited charges over $1000 a year for a parking permit.
Yeah, medical care is one thing we've talked about with our college-bound daughter. We've talked about how part of her tuition goes to cover the university's health center, and that should be her first stop for typical things along the lines of strep throat, etc. She didn't know that colleges provide this right on campus.
$1000 a year to park? Wow. I thought the $300 figures that we're hearing were outrageous.
I understand that there are good doctors anywhere but they are not my doctors that know me and everything . . . I do not plan on having a car at college since most cars do not allow it anyway. Actually, I dont even own a car or plan on getting one before college so the car thing is definetely a no. Why did you even assume I was going to have a car
And another doctor could get to know your circumstances in one visit, so -- as another poster said -- that isn't a good reason to choose any particular college. Well, within reason: I have taught two students who as high school seniors were going through cancer treatment. Those students, who were in the middle of their treatment, did need to stay near their current doctors (and needed to live at home to be cared for by their parents), but you're talking about maintenance care for an ongoing condition. Choose your college,
then look for a doctor nearby.
Why would someone assume you'd need a car on campus? Well, most college students will be involved in off-campus observations, clinicals, co-ops -- or working at part-time jobs. Unless you're going to a college in the city, where public transportation is always available and is inexpensive, you should consider a car at some point.
My own daughter -- if she sticks to her current plan -- will not have a car on campus as a freshman. As a freshman she'll definitely live in a dorm and all her classes will be on campus. The freshman parking lot is literally 2 miles down the road, and they have to take a bus to reach it. We haven't personally found a college yet that doesn't allow freshmen to bring cars, but they don't all make it
convenient for a freshman. That same bus will take them not only all over campus, but also downtown to stores, restaurants, etc. We're planning to buy her a new car for graduation, but she's already said that IF she sticks to this plan, she wants to delay that purchase 'til after her first year of college -- she doesn't want her car to sit there getting older in our driveway while she's away at school. BUT when she's a junior/senior she'll need to go to the hospital daily for nursing clinicals. At that point, she'll be able to park in the upper classman lots (unless she's in an apartment by then) and it'll be unreasonable for her to wait for the bus on a daily basis. So she'll definitely need a car by then. I think that's a fairly typical story -- no real need for a car as a freshman, but a definite need for one later.
Apparently they give out quite a few.
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