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Just by being a stem major, you should have gotten a smart scholarship had you applied and they have this kind of scholarships for any major too, arts/music/language/history (not by that name but under their own specific programs)
This is entirely untrue, sure the poor folks get more information on scholarships because the schools push the info to encourage them to attend. That by no means mean that there are no scholarships for other people. It just means that you have to put in more time into researching them yourself. The reality is that there is enough scholarship money out there that most people don't need student loans outside of living costs if they bothered to find the scholarships. Most instead rely solely on fafsa to do all the work for them, guess what, that is just aid based on financial need. It doesn't look for any other scholarships outside of that narrow criteria. For all the people that complain about now costly their loans are, how often did they hit up the financial advisers at the school and work with them to find scholarships (or did they just ask what loan is best)? what about going to the school library and getting the books that lists the ones the school itself offers?
edit: not to say you didn't do your own research, nor is there anything you can do about it now since you graduated :S spilled milk at this point, but you could still get tuition re-reimbursement through some employers. Even joining the reserves would help pay it down, plus if you kept with it you could get a small pension out of it.
edit some more: it just irks me when people claim there is a lack of something when they were just ignorant of what is available. The same can be said about the jobs market. no offense poor chemist, just quoting you but not directed at you, I left out your name in quotes
I didn't know anything about the smart scholarship guess I didn't do enough research. Lol! I went to an urban university ( Georgia State in Downtown Atlanta) most of the university scholarships seem to cater to first generation college students like the coke foundation scholarship. Most of their academic scholarships were very competitive at least the ones that paid for abosulety everything (tuition, room and board plus a stipend). The presidential scholarship paid for everything but it required each candidate to have a 3.9 high School GPA and a 1300 SAT score (critical reading + math only) that is like a 650 in each section. If I had those credentials I could of got into Emory. My high school GPA was a 3.41 and an 1130 SAT (verbal + Math) so I only qualified for the states hope scholarship and had to pay the remainder of the costs out of pocket. The company I temp for now has a tuition assistance program for employees to get their masters for free as long as you commit to work for the company for 3 years and get your masters part time while working full time. That is why I really hope this gig becomes permanant at the end of my contract. I can get my masters for free and probably get a promotion in the process!
Last edited by Poor Chemist; 06-28-2015 at 02:39 PM..
The biggest open secret in America is that colleges exist to vacuum money while the trades are still the fastest most efficient route to the middle-class (and before you defend the college route to the middle-class please consider the time it takes to earn an advanced degree and, more importantly, the DEBT you will be saddled with).
Can someone offer some insights into trades? I hear both sides of the coin... it's (practically) a silver bullet to steady and good income, you do work that won't necessarily be able to be outsourced, not too difficult to do with training, but skilled enough to have value.
OTOH, folks are saying competition to get into these schools are fierce, it's labor that you won't be able to keep up for long. At the very least, it's not something you may be able to do when you get past your 40s or 50s, unless you switch career tracks and move to management.
how is that possible?
Just by being a stem major, you should have gotten a smart scholarship had you applied and they have this kind of scholarships for any major too, arts/music/language/history (not by that name but under their own specific programs)
This is entirely untrue, sure the poor folks get more information on scholarships because the schools push the info to encourage them to attend. That by no means mean that there are no scholarships for other people. It just means that you have to put in more time into researching them yourself. The reality is that there is enough scholarship money out there that most people don't need student loans outside of living costs if they bothered to find the scholarships. Most instead rely solely on fafsa to do all the work for them, guess what, that is just aid based on financial need. It doesn't look for any other scholarships outside of that narrow criteria. For all the people that complain about now costly their loans are, how often did they hit up the financial advisers at the school and work with them to find scholarships (or did they just ask what loan is best)? what about going to the school library and getting the books that lists the ones the school itself offers?
edit: not to say you didn't do your own research, nor is there anything you can do about it now since you graduated :S spilled milk at this point, but you could still get tuition re-reimbursement through some employers. Even joining the reserves would help pay it down, plus if you kept with it you could get a small pension out of it.
edit some more: it just irks me when people claim there is a lack of something when they were just ignorant of what is available. The same can be said about the jobs market. no offense poor chemist, just quoting you but not directed at you, I left out your name in quotes
Whoa, back up the bus. Someone gave you some bad information. Yes, SMART scholarships do exist, as do others, but they are only a tiny fraction of the total student population. The SMART scholarship program is very specific so not everyone, even STEM majors will get one. Only a small handful of these are actually awarded. I hire SMART scholars, so before you can get that scholarship, someone like me first has to establish the position, justify the funding, and then you have to be selected from among the applicants. It's not just a scholarship, but a job interview. You shouldn't assume that these, and similar ones from the other national organizations, are readily available to anyone who asks. They are not.
That's the key, college worthy. Many are not and would be better off perusing a skilled trade. Putting someone in college who isn't capable or willing to do college level work is a waste of money and time.
Exactly. These people will generally not get admitted into good programs and will have to pay for college themselves... wasting their own money.
This is simply an incorrect statement. I'm not going to argue about the "college-worthy" because I agree too many go that shouldn't. But financial aid packages are not nearly as generous to middle class students as you would believe. Much financial aid is decided by demographics, not merit. In fact I would argue, based on what we've learned getting DD into college, that most financial aid actually goes to the "non college-worthy" because it fills the demographic. While she got decent financial aid, debt will not be "minimal to non-existent." Based on the research we did, I also call "bull" on all those who claim their child got a full ride. The actual numbers from colleges show that isn't true and most of those "full rides" are really student loans.
Merit is already applied with admission to the good schools. Just getting in, proves that you're college-worthy. The financial aid doesn't care about anything except what you can afford to pay... because the student has already proven their merit by obtaining admission to a good school.
The admission requirements of good schools are extremely competitive. Harvard only accepts 6% of applicants. Those 6% are admitted based on merit. How exactly does most of Harvard's financial aid go to the "non college-worthy" when those who were admitted were in the top 6% of applicants? The generous financial aid packages of these colleges make debt minimal to non-existent for college-worthy students. I stand by my statement.
You must have been in the upper middle class if your daughter had to take on large amount of loans. Most of the good schools provide grants out of the enormous endowments.
Take a look at Harvard, Princeton, Yale, JHU, NYU, etc.... many children get full rides via financial aid without loans. You're absolutely wrong to deny this fact.
Outside of a few "hot" career fields jobs that require a college degree have not been created at a pace to meet the number of college graduates.
I have a couple of friends with children entering college and i have to bite my tounge when they brag on how "Susy" got accepted into the film program at "XYZ college". Of course it is an expensive out of state school and I wonder if "Susy" did any research into job prospects. I did when I heard about it; only 20% of "Fil" graduates ever work in the field.
Another friends son is majoring in "History" at community college. He has time to wake up if he decides to pursue a four year degree but history?
I look at our local state university (MTSU) and the majority of students are majoring in fields that will be VERY difficult to find work in. An example is the 800 students studying "criminal justice". Worse yet are the over 1100 students in the "recording industry" program. The over 800 students studying physcology is sad.
Outside of a few "hot" career fields jobs that require a college degree have not been created at a pace to meet the number of college graduates.
I have a couple of friends with children entering college and i have to bite my tounge when they brag on how "Susy" got accepted into the film program at "XYZ college". Of course it is an expensive out of state school and I wonder if "Susy" did any research into job prospects. I did when I heard about it; only 20% of "Fil" graduates ever work in the field.
Another friends son is majoring in "History" at community college. He has time to wake up if he decides to pursue a four year degree but history?
I look at our local state university (MTSU) and the majority of students are majoring in fields that will be VERY difficult to find work in. An example is the 800 students studying "criminal justice". Worse yet are the over 1100 students in the "recording industry" program. The over 800 students studying physcology is sad.
Many criminal jusitice majors end up working as police officers or as a secetary in a law firm. Neither of those jobs actually require a college degree. Police Officers only need a high school diploma in my area and training from a police academy. A bachelors in Psychology won't get you in a psychology profession. Most BA or BS psychology graduates are working in human resources, an administrative assistant, or as a retail store manager. A minimum of a masters in psychology is required to obtain a liscense as a psychologist. If college students motive is to get a decent or high paying job in their profession, they are going have to major in a very high demand field like engineering, computer science, or maybe nursing or accounting. Those last two I am starting to hear stories about nursing and accounting majors having a tough time finding work in their profession as well. If your only goal for going to college is getting a job you better major in a high demand field or do a lot of internships at big companies to build your resume up with lots of experience. In today's time it's not the piece of paper that is getting you hired, it's the experience you have and all the internships that you did that is compelling employers to give you a shot.
Adding on to the previous two posts, I learned the hard way that Criminal Justice is a horrible field to major in and is way, way, WAY over saturated. First off, it applies to a very limited, narrow selection of jobs in the public sector and said sector is dead in the water because of budget deficits. Furthermore, those jobs are often high stress and high turnover, and the pay is usually terrible as well. As for why so many students are deciding to major in Criminal Justice, my guess is that it's because of factually inaccurate movies/tv shows that make being a cop a more exciting glamorous job than it really is. Bottom line, avoid the government jobs like the plague.
Adding on to the previous two posts, I learned the hard way that Criminal Justice is a horrible field to major in and is way, way, WAY over saturated. First off, it applies to a very limited, narrow selection of jobs in the public sector and said sector is dead in the water because of budget deficits. Furthermore, those jobs are often high stress and high turnover, and the pay is usually terrible as well. As for why so many students are deciding to major in Criminal Justice, my guess is that it's because of factually inaccurate movies/tv shows that make being a cop a more exciting glamorous job than it really is. Bottom line, avoid the government jobs like the plague.
It would make much more sense to join the military and try to get a military police MOS. You do your four years, get the free training and get paid for it.
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