Planning for the future (Miami, Tampa: credit, student loan, homes)

[TheChosen1]

I made a similar to this in the Miami section, but over time my interest in actually living in Miami faded away and it's more of a place to visit sometime.

Anyways, I'm entering my senior year of high school in a few days and they're gonna cram this college stuff down our throats. My grades... aren't horrible, but aren't fantastic. My GPA is basically a 2.5 so I'm your normal, lazy ass high school kid. I've pretty much come to the conclusion that I should stay local for at least 2 years and go to a community college, and then think about leaving Massachusetts. I say this because I can't pick a major that I'd like to study. I want to do something fitness related because I've changed my life through staying active and eating healthy. Physical therapy is something I'm looking into, but again I just can't pinpoint something.

Tampa/Clearwater/St. Petersburg seems like a nice area from what I remember going on vacation a few years back. Orlando is nice, but it's crowded and is really aimed at visitors with Disney and Universal.

I'm pretty sure I want to live in Florida within the next 5 years. New England sucks and I hate the cold. Leaving some family behind, mainly my Dad, is gonna be hard (although he always jokes about moving with me, so we'll see what actually happens lol) and the community college plan seems good for now. I really don't look at colleges because of my grades and 2 years gives me plenty of time to figure out what I want.

I'm gonna try to get down there within the next year to check it out again. I'll ask my parents if we're going on vacation but I highly doubt that haha. Instead of going to beach week in June, I might fly down for a week or two stay.

Does my plan of going to community college first sound good? And do most schools accept transfer students? It would suck if I couldn't transfer to a school like the University of Tampa.

[rcnguyen]

Hi Woolyy. I can't tell you much about the Tampa area, because I myself am still looking into moving there. However, I can recommend a really good documentary that might save you quite a bit of trouble in the long run. Look on YouTube for a video titled "College Conspiracy." I know, the title alone makes me sound like an alarmist, but believe me it's worth watching.

If you are interested in manual labor, have you thought about an apprenticeship? People tend to look down upon laborers, but the truth is that there will always be a need for them. Computer jobs and customer service can be outsourced, but labor cannot (assuming that the jobs are not taken by people in the country illegally).

I was pretty close to completing my B.S. when I decided I just could not afford building that kind of debt. I have been looking into acquiring a more primary skill such as farming; my husband is looking into carpentry. Just know that in the event of a total economic collapse - we will probably not need salespeople, accountants, or web developers. But there will always be a need for building and for growing food, etc., even if just to provide for your own family.

By the way, if you find a way to attend college without building lots of debt (eg. scholarships), it wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing. I would still advise, however, to learn a more basic skill that can help you in survival outside of the workforce.

[Tampa Homes]

Just go to JC for the first two years. It's cheaper anyway, and most of the credits always transfer. Just double check with the University you'll be moving up to first. Keep student loan debt as low as possible. Going to JC, you should be able to wait tables somewhere and pay for a lot yourself. Have fun.

[TheChosen1]

Originally Posted by Tampa Homes

Just go to JC for the first two years. It's cheaper anyway, and most of the credits always transfer. Just double check with the University you'll be moving up to first. Keep student loan debt as low as possible. Going to JC, you should be able to wait tables somewhere and pay for a lot yourself. Have fun.

By JC do you mean community college? And staying local, too?

[tewas]

Woolyy,
Do yourself a favor and ignore rc's advice. While labor jobs are out there, there are are so many more people trying to get those, because it does not require education. Also i don't know about you, but i'm not really bit fan of working outside, especially in this Florida's heat.
That said, i would advice caution about universities/colleges. Getting a BA degree will not guarantee you a job, or well paying job. There are a lot of degrees that are useless and you will end up with 50-60k in debt and $8/hr job which will not let you pay off your loans. Go to community college for year or two, find out what you want to do. I can see you have interest in fitness which is where i would start. Get couple courses that are general enough to transfer between colleges, but are also in your major area (taking English or math won't tell you if you will enjoy your career). Just think about what would you like to do if you did not need any money. If you select a job that you love, you will be happy no matter what you do or what the pay is.
Get into cheapest college possible, find part time job, live with your parents and save money, try to graduate with associates without any debt. Also check out colleges/universities in Florida/Tampa are that you are considering to. Find out admission requirements, set them as your goals, find out what transfer policy is since you would be coming from out of state. Think really hard if you want to go to college out of state, since it is a lot more expensive, and graduating with least amount of debt is your overall goal. Consider another alternative: Move to FL, go to community college here for 2 years, get residency so you won't have to pay out of state costs for the college. It's harder but will give you advantage looking for a jobs after college since you will be local, also it will give you feel of Florida and all it can offer.

Have fun, and good luck

[rcnguyen]

Originally Posted by tewas

Woolyy,
Do yourself a favor and ignore rc's advice. While labor jobs are out there, there are are so many more people trying to get those, because it does not require education. Also i don't know about you, but i'm not really bit fan of working outside, especially in this Florida's heat.
That said, i would advice caution about universities/colleges. Getting a BA degree will not guarantee you a job, or well paying job. There are a lot of degrees that are useless and you will end up with 50-60k in debt and $8/hr job which will not let you pay off your loans. Go to community college for year or two, find out what you want to do. I can see you have interest in fitness which is where i would start. Get couple courses that are general enough to transfer between colleges, but are also in your major area (taking English or math won't tell you if you will enjoy your career). Just think about what would you like to do if you did not need any money. If you select a job that you love, you will be happy no matter what you do or what the pay is.
Get into cheapest college possible, find part time job, live with your parents and save money, try to graduate with associates without any debt. Also check out colleges/universities in Florida/Tampa are that you are considering to. Find out admission requirements, set them as your goals, find out what transfer policy is since you would be coming from out of state. Think really hard if you want to go to college out of state, since it is a lot more expensive, and graduating with least amount of debt is your overall goal. Consider another alternative: Move to FL, go to community college here for 2 years, get residency so you won't have to pay out of state costs for the college. It's harder but will give you advantage looking for a jobs after college since you will be local, also it will give you feel of Florida and all it can offer.

Have fun, and good luck

You actually reinforced a lot of what I was trying to get at; I may have just not done as well explaining myself.

As I hinted, I am not against college if debt can be avoided. Besides, I merely mentioned labor as an idea. My point was that obtaining a basic skill is more important than wasting 4 years and $100k only to end up earning $8/hr. And by that I don't mean that you can't get a job with a college degree - only that, as you stated, it is not guaranteed. My husband will likely be getting his degree because tuition will be free (or at least very cheap) with his G.I. Bill, BUT we both still realize the importance of skills that will help us and our children in the long run.

I hope that I have made my point more clear. I actually would very much encourage getting a college education if it can be done without going into massive amounts of debt... it just seems to be kind of difficult these days. I think it's important to know your other options.

[FloridaKash]

Work and do college with a 8 - 10 year plan. Do a little bit at a time, do some online. Eventually you'll have experience and a college degree.

[tewas]

Originally Posted by rcnguyen

You actually reinforced a lot of what I was trying to get at; I may have just not done as well explaining myself.

As I hinted, I am not against college if debt can be avoided. Besides, I merely mentioned labor as an idea. My point was that obtaining a basic skill is more important than wasting 4 years and $100k only to end up earning $8/hr. And by that I don't mean that you can't get a job with a college degree - only that, as you stated, it is not guaranteed. My husband will likely be getting his degree because tuition will be free (or at least very cheap) with his G.I. Bill, BUT we both still realize the importance of skills that will help us and our children in the long run.

I hope that I have made my point more clear. I actually would very much encourage getting a college education if it can be done without going into massive amounts of debt... it just seems to be kind of difficult these days. I think it's important to know your other options.

Fair enough. In your first post you have talked quite a bit about labor type of work rather than college education not always being worth the money.
Not getting college education is always an option, however it's not always the best option.

[Swimmer52]

Woolyy,

I think going to a Community College first is a great idea, that is what I did and helped save me a lot of money. I was lucky that all my credits transfered Also, before picking a college you should do your research about it first. There are many sights that you can find that will give you perspectives from the students. I don't know alot about the Universities in FL but in the one that I worked has a majority of the students that are from the area or somewhere in FL and go home for weekends. I've heard from many out of state students say it is hard to make the friendships that their friends attending other universities have since a lot of students go home early Friday and don't come back until Sunday nights/Monday mornings. I am not saying it is impossible, but many students told me that it doesn't have the feeling they were looking for when they thought about college life. Just something to think about. I went to a residential college for my bachelors and would not change a thing.