[quote=squat250]i have a new idea for enhancing college performance.
let kid get the “dorm” experience by living close by campus in student type rental housing and hang out with student roommates and work for a living for a year before going to college.
in this way, he can party his ass off, kind of hang out at the college he’s intereste din, sit in on some classes, meet people, but not ahve to do any academic work, accumulate no debt, but kinda clear his head or cloud it, depending on how things go.
i probably shoulda done that.[/quote]
scaredy, this is an excellent idea for a kid who is thinking of attending an out-of-state college with a CA HS Diploma. ESP if they have relatives in the area to look in on them and invite them in for a meal periodically so they can report back to the parents how they’re doing. I think doing this for a little more than a year might be a better plan (from June when they graduated HS to August of the following year when they enroll in college in the new locale) OR from May when they receive their Associate Degree at a(n) (inexpensive) CA community college until August of the following year when they check into the out-of-state campus. Of course, they will need to file at least ONE tax return in the new state (claiming themselves only), using W-2’s showing earnings received in that state. This is the way my brethren did it back in the day to avoid out-of-state tuition. A major caveat is that the prospective student should be continuously employed (full or part-time) and have a rental agreement or lease with their name on it showing intent to remain a resident and the CA-resident-parent will have to cease claiming them on their tax returns even if they’re helping with rent and bought them a vehicle. (Obviously, the out-of-state leaseholder can be a relative, preferably with a different last name than the prospective student).
In most states, out-of-state tuition is at least 275% of in-state tuition and should be avoided at all costs.
Again, working a year before college is an excellent idea for CA residents who won’t, by any stretch of the imagination, be able to be accepted into a CA university that they would want to attend (due to intense competition and VA preference) in the coming years. Even if accepted, it is and will be increasingly difficult to graduate in four years at UC/CSU (with CSU being more difficult) due to the systems cutting classes from their budget which are critically needed for degree programs. At CSU campuses, it often takes three semesters of waiting in line and crashing classes just to obtain a needed 300 or 400 level class to graduate in ANY degree program. Other, less-populous states don’t have this problem with their university system and so the student can easily finish in 4 years (or 2 yrs if they entered with an Assoc Degree). This “5-yr work-first-plan” is likely faster than if the CA HS/CC graduate were to enroll in a CA university and be unable to graduate in even six years due to critical class cuts.
I’m with CAR in that dorms EVERYWHERE are ridiculously expensive and small/lacking privacy when compared to 3-4 students living in a 2 bdrm apt, ESP in states with lower-cost rents. In addition, a ($350-$400 mo) campus meal ticket is a ripoff if the student is unavailable during the times the meals are served due to work/study commitments. And many student jobs offer an “employee menu” of free food so an expensive campus meal ticket is not necessary.
Graduating out-of-state college students always have the option of bringing their degrees back to CA to compete for jobs at “home” if they wish to return after college.
