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Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EDS_
...The top say 10 or 15% or so of high school graduates are better prepared for college than 40 years ago and that logic follows into college.
10-15% is pretty low odds, considering the vastly larger number of HS kids going on to college now vs, 40 yrs ago. + the technology to track / teach to test / teach with college as a primary objective is much more prominent today. I would expect to see 90%+ being better prepared for college today.
But to OP point ... alternatives to college for a young child There are many alternatives today, expect many more in 12 - 15 yrs. For some students college will be the ticket, but that is NOT an 'alternative' to college.
From the perspective of an instructor and a small business consultant and a college student... I am not pleased with the large emphasis of Entrepreneurship as a college course / major. Good info, but potentially more false hopes for those students who expect to magically graduate from a college and be a successful entrepreneur. They should really be considering alternatives to college.
I'm surprised that no one here has mentioned what I always thought was the obvious alternative to going to college: the service. My folks always told me that at 18 I had three choices -- get married, go to college, or join the army. A lot of my friends' parents gave them the same spiel. (Less subtly, it was "You can do whatever you want when you're 18. You just can't do it here.")
Sure, the military is scarier than it was when I was a kid now that it seems we are in a never-ending war. But there are spots in the air force, navy, coast guard, army, (especially the first three) that are not combat. I never served, but I saw how it straightened up a few kids I knew who needed straightening out AND gave them the chance to figure out what they wanted to do with their lives AND helped them pay for school to do it. Maybe it's not for everyone, but it should still be a consideration for some kids.
10-15% is pretty low odds, considering the vastly larger number of HS kids going on to college now vs, 40 yrs ago. + the technology to track / teach to test / teach with college as a primary objective is much more prominent today. I would expect to see 90%+ being better prepared for college today.
But to OP point ... alternatives to college for a young child There are many alternatives today, expect many more in 12 - 15 yrs. For some students college will be the ticket, but that is NOT an 'alternative' to college.
From the perspective of an instructor and a small business consultant and a college student... I am not pleased with the large emphasis of Entrepreneurship as a college course / major. Good info, but potentially more false hopes for those students who expect to magically graduate from a college and be a successful entrepreneur. They should really be considering alternatives to college.
Low odds? That's roughly half of the kids with any business in college.
10-15% is pretty low odds, considering the vastly larger number of HS kids going on to college now vs, 40 yrs ago. + the technology to track / teach to test / teach with college as a primary objective is much more prominent today. I would expect to see 90%+ being better prepared for college today.
But to OP point ... alternatives to college for a young child There are many alternatives today, expect many more in 12 - 15 yrs. For some students college will be the ticket, but that is NOT an 'alternative' to college.
From the perspective of an instructor and a small business consultant and a college student... I am not pleased with the large emphasis of Entrepreneurship as a college course / major. Good info, but potentially more false hopes for those students who expect to magically graduate from a college and be a successful entrepreneur. They should really be considering alternatives to college.
Most colleges do not focus on entrepreneurship. You’re lucky to find more than a single course on it in many b schools. I have no idea what you’re talking about.
I also find the ”i learned more in high school” thing ridiculous. What did you major in?
I went to a college prep high school, and after that the first two years of college were mostly a rehash.
I mean, the 200 level bio class I took was the third time I had to memorize the citric acid cycle.
The teaching quality in college also didn't compare to the teachers I had in high school. High school teachers focus more on pedagogy as opposed to just content mastery and it showed.
I agree, if you go to a normal public high school you will probably learn more in college. But that wasn't the case for me.
Wouldn’t the market adjust college pricing at that point?
When you say fungible, do you mean liquid?
529 funds are liquid because you can spend them on education at any level. However they are not fungible because you cannot use them to invest in, say, real estate.
I'm surprised that no one here has mentioned what I always thought was the obvious alternative to going to college: the service. My folks always told me that at 18 I had three choices -- get married, go to college, or join the army. A lot of my friends' parents gave them the same spiel. (Less subtly, it was "You can do whatever you want when you're 18. You just can't do it here.")
Sure, the military is scarier than it was when I was a kid now that it seems we are in a never-ending war. But there are spots in the air force, navy, coast guard, army, (especially the first three) that are not combat. I never served, but I saw how it straightened up a few kids I knew who needed straightening out AND gave them the chance to figure out what they wanted to do with their lives AND helped them pay for school to do it. Maybe it's not for everyone, but it should still be a consideration for some kids.
The services seem like a solid career path depending on the role, thanks. I've heard naval nuclear specialists are a particularly good path.
529 funds are liquid because you can spend them on education at any level. However they are not fungible because you cannot use them to invest in, say, real estate.
I went to a college prep high school, and after that the first two years of college were mostly a rehash.
I mean, the 200 level bio class I took was the third time I had to memorize the citric acid cycle.
The teaching quality in college also didn't compare to the teachers I had in high school. High school teachers focus more on pedagogy as opposed to just content mastery and it showed.
I agree, if you go to a normal public high school you will probably learn more in college. But that wasn't the case for me.
I majored in a social science.
That’s an interesting perspective. Not one I think most people share.
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