College/ $ vent

[MerryAtHope]

 

For now he works and pays state school tuition while living at home. He works and studies and works and studies. It's not terrible but it's a bit uninspiring. 

Just so frustrated for him- he is such a hard worker and feeling bad as he watches friend after friend leave for their cushy private school. 

 

I know it's hard not being able to offer what you would like to (my ds is doing the first 2 years at our CC because of cost--I will not be jealous that you have a state school close enough for him to live at home!) 

 

However, I think, in the long run, that your son will be better off than many who didn't have to work as hard during their college years. His work ethic will get him far in life. 

 

I worked my way through college (back when a student actually COULD do that and come out without loans!), and while I couldn't brag about a magna-cum-laude GPA (I had a respectable mid-3's though), I could point out that I worked my way through and was willing to work hard on my resume, and that often got me in the door and landed at least one of my jobs. There are a lot of students who come out of college not really knowing how to work hard, unfortunately. Some will work hard no matter what, of course (not trying to over-generalize!) Nevertheless...your student will have learned some valuable skills in this time that can't be learned in a classroom, and hopefully he'll come to treasure those.

[creekland]

What does LAC stand for?

 

Liberal Arts Colleges are smaller schools that tend to focus on smaller class sizes and more interaction with profs, etc.  They also grant many of their degrees in the humanities.  Most do not offer majors like engineering, etc.  Some do research and some don't.  Those that do often don't have as much variety to offer due to their size, but you can get some nice specialty niches that match students well.  There are no grad students around, so undergrads get to do more things more easily.

 

Two of my three boys chose LACs as their best fit and are quite happy with their decisions.  Middle son chose a mid-sized Research U and is equally as happy, but the types of schools are definitely different.

[shawthorne44]

I know it's hard not being able to offer what you would like to (my ds is doing the first 2 years at our CC because of cost--I will not be jealous that you have a state school close enough for him to live at home!) 

 

However, I think, in the long run, that your son will be better off than many who didn't have to work as hard during their college years. His work ethic will get him far in life. 

 

I worked my way through college (back when a student actually COULD do that and come out without loans!), and while I couldn't brag about a magna-cum-laude GPA (I had a respectable mid-3's though), I could point out that I worked my way through and was willing to work hard on my resume, and that often got me in the door and landed at least one of my jobs. There are a lot of students who come out of college not really knowing how to work hard, unfortunately. Some will work hard no matter what, of course (not trying to over-generalize!) Nevertheless...your student will have learned some valuable skills in this time that can't be learned in a classroom, and hopefully he'll come to treasure those.

 

 

Me, too.  I remember my first real job.  It seemed so incredibly easy and quick.  I could leave work and do fun stuff.  I'd worked around 30 hours per week during school and got a 140 hour degree in 4 years.  

 

In a way, I think that the high price of college is taking that away from kids today.  Now if a student works through school their debt is merely a small amount less than it otherwise would be.  Not quite as motivating as bringing it down to zero.  

 

[MBM]

We've made all of our kids work in high school as soon as they legally could and also in college. My youngest is working at our pool again this summer but is trying to find a different job. He's also filled out job applications for positions at his university. Work has taught them just as much as their academics.

 

I also worked and paid my way through college. Unfortunately, that is not possible at many universities today.