OT: college; fear of debt

[scaredyclassic]

selfish?

i hadnt thought of it that way.

people tend not to value what is given to them.

isnt it better to make them work for it, help on the back end?

also, back in my day, kids filled outt heir own damn application! seems like if you’re gonna go take on 50-100k in debt, you oughta at least be able to fill out the application!

[cvmom]

[quote=squat250]i think a physically fit parent does help.[/quote]

I absolutely agree with this. Physical fitness is just as (or more) important than mental fitness, and as a parent you have to prioritize it for yourself, not just for the kids. “Do as I say, not as I do” doesn’t work very well.

We also prioritize education, though, and have saved large quantities of $ in 529s for our kids. They will be able to do whatever they want in terms of college. I am also allergic to debt and would hate to saddle my kids with that at the start of their careers.

I’d really like some advice on what to advice my math-whiz-kid high schooler in terms of college majors and careers. Maybe I’ll post another thread at some point for all you smart people to help me with this.

[cvmom]

dup

[scaredyclassic]

i also lie the idea of showing that you can do crazy new shit when you’re older.

just cause you’re old and skinny doesn’t mean ya cant go buy a squat rack put it in your front yard andsquat 300 lbs !

[desmond]

[quote=squat250]i also lie the idea of showing that you can do crazy new shit when you’re older.

just cause you’re old and skinny doesn’t mean ya cant go buy a squat rack put it in your front yard andsquat 300 lbs ![/quote]

Here’s some crazy shit…

[NotCranky]

[quote=squat250]i also lie the idea of showing that you can do crazy new shit when you’re older.

just cause you’re old and skinny doesn’t mean ya cant go buy a squat rack put it in your front yard andsquat 300 lbs ![/quote]

I’ve been thinking about changing my pigg name to “Sub5mile”. Would it teach my kids anything to see their 50 year old dad break 5 minutes in a masters race? Probably be 51 and a lot of luck against injuries,before I could do it, since I haven’t ran in 15 years. They like riding their bikes with me when I run. It would be a lot of fun to train a little with them when they are older. Yes, my other name could be “OLD DAD”

[sdduuuude]

[quote=spdrun]… who wants to attend school in a desert hellhole like Zonieland anyway?[/quote]

Me, me, me ! My studies show that students in AZ wear 50% less clothing than students anywhere else.

And they are all tan.

And there isn’t anything to do except study.

You asked.

[sdduuuude]

[quote=cvmom]I’d really like some advice on what to advice my math-whiz-kid high schooler in terms of college majors and careers. Maybe I’ll post another thread at some point for all you smart people to help me with this.[/quote]

I happened on this strategy by chance. I believe it is optimal:

Cheap, big, public undergrad. Save money. Get the big college experience. Meet a wide variety of new people. Any big top 25 engineering school will do.

Expensive, high-profile private school for graduate school if interested.

[upwardspiral]

I would vote for good 4-yr.

The odds are better that your son will surround himself with a higher caliber of kids. I’m not saying that there are not great kids that start at community colleges (I work with and am friends with plenty), but the average motivation of 4-year college student is going to be greater. If your kid is competetive, I would recommend trying to surround him with the best and brightest.

[anxvariety]

Programming book. See if it sticks.

[Coronita]

You know, after seeing some of your responses and how much more affordable JC versus 4 year school (not even mentioning Ivy League private schools)… I’ve had a change in heart.

….Screw Ivy League school. Screw even top rank public 4 year college…I’m not sending my kid to a 4 year college anymore..I’m going the JC route…

First of all, she Asian. Not overseas Asian, but American born Asian…Which means, she’s fvcked…Because, she’ll automatically get a -20 point deduction to any college admissions at a top rank school for the majors that only Asians can/will do..Simply because she’s Asian…

If I go down this path, I’m forced to be a tiger dad. Because I now need to figure out a strategy which allows her to screw over some other constituent Asian American kid her age so that she can take their spot (after all, US colleges have already earmarked those spots as young as kindergarden)…This is extremely troubling because I know of some parents of her classmates who have already figured out how to teach their 1st grader how to solve binomial equations…Must be the 6+hrs of homework that they do every day…I think their plan is for their kids to pass Calculus BC AP before they are 8 years old. Since my kid is just starting multiplication and more than 2 digit arithmetic, obviously my kid is behind already… So I would have to spend probably like 10+hrs each day on homework for her to catch up…Just because she’s Asian…At one point I considered changing her last name, but then I’m learning more and more schools are doing face-to-face interviews… So short of changing the hair color and doing the Michael Jackson bleach-the-skin-color thing, I don’t think this will really work….

Second, regardless of what, admissions board will expect her (cough, sorry, I mean her parents) to pay full tuition, even if she’s a CA state residence applying to a UC school…Why? Because if she doesn’t, clearly there are a bunch of foreigners from overseas that have no issues doing so..Because they have money now….Well, actually part of it was my money that I sent overseas, because obviously nothing is made in the U.S. anymore, so the majority of both necessary and discretionary spending in the U.S. inevitably gets re-routed to overseas parents….But that’s a separate problem….

Third, even if she can overcome this hardship, the college will most inevitably expect me to mortgage my life to death to be able to send her to school…Financial assistance? Pfhhh!…Last name Chong,Cheng, Chan, Wong, Wang, Wu ???…Sorry..denied….

But then, they’ll force her to take mandatory coursework in things such as underwater basket weaving, speaking to the dead (IE religion 101), or some other bs fluff….And it will take 6 years to complete these required courses instead of 4…..Because more teachers are going to furlonged during this time that teach science/math/reading/writing/etc….After all the more important coursework I mentioned above are taught by professors/teachers with guaranteed retirement benefits/pensions that can’t be touched and cut…

Fourth, by the time she’s a junior trying to apply for an internship, U.S. companies will offer an “unpaid internship” to her…What this means is she will have the privilege of working for the U.S. company for free “to gain practical working experience” while daddy gets to pay room and board for this “privileged internship”…Just so when (if?) she graduates, she can compete with someone overseas for which a U.S. company can pay 10cents on the dollar for the same work…..

Fifth: if she does graduate and apply for a job…Once again, she’ll be fvcked. She’s Asian, after all. And people will wonder.. No prior work experience, took 6 years to finish (underwater basket weaving)…And you had a 3.9GPA instead of your other Asian constituents that had a 4.33GPA…Sorry, we don’t think you’re qualified to handle pouring coffee for us…But if something else opens up in the U.S., we’ll let you know….

————————————————-
Hence, I’ve come to the conclusion that not going the 4 year college route, I will have saved a hell of a lot of money from doing this…And with that much more money, I can make more a financially prudent decision….

I can save 25% of that amount for my kid….and the rest of it I can apply towards the most important investment of all: a Porsche GT3…. Because if I were actually to wait until I finished paying off the house, paying off my kid’s college admissions, I’d be way to old to enjoy the rest of my life…

Besides, I want my kid to always feel good about herself. If she on average does better than everyone else, I’d rather have her go to a place where she is top ranked versus fumbling around at the bottom with a bunch of kids that does better than her.

Going the JC route, if she actually hates school, and can’t get her act together, then in this worst case scenario, I’ve only wasted money on 2 years…. Although, I’m stuck supporting her the rest of my life, at least I have a Porsche.

On the other hand, the worst thing that I can think of is she ends up going to a 4 year college (or worse an Ivy League school!), and ends up hates it, drops out/flunks out…Then, I’ve just wasted my money (4 YEARS OF IT!) on an expensive piece of paper……I’m still stuck supporting her the rest of my life…And worst part of all, will be completely Porsche-less! And no way in hell will she be ever be able to get me one (legally)….

So it makes perfect sense to me now…
Thanks everyone for enlightening me. My kid thanks you…Porsche Automobil Holding SE thanks you… The eurozone thanks you… And I can finally stop nagging my kid every single time I sigh when a Porsche whizzes by, that she owes me one when she grows up….

[matt-waiting]

Law school acceptance depends on undergrad GPA/degree/esteem of school/and LSAT You can get into a good law school if you go to a CSU, but you would need a 4.0 in a difficult major and a top LSAT score.

The law school will not care if your kid went to JC for two years and then transferred to a good UC. They will only see the UC.

Here is the biggest trap. Unless your kid gets into a top 40 law school, the cost/benefit of becoming a lawyer (for purely financial reasons) does not make sense. Lots of lawyers out there making 60K with 160K in debt.

[scaredyclassic]

one way law school could make sense:

you just get an A.A. degree (you do NOT need a 4 year degree to sit for the bar in CA; check the rules); and then go to a super cheap small law school. say 8k a year. pay as you go and pass the bar.

if you’re debt free, you can maneuver better out there…graduating law school with zero debt could work out very well…

flu, if you tell that plan to other tiger parents, they will think you are super low class…

[scaredyclassic]

there are lots of lawyers out there making 60k with 250,000 in debt.

[spdrun]

flu, if you tell that plan to other tiger parents, they will think you are super low class…

Smart, rather. Law-school/passing the bar is just an entryway into a professional guild. If one can graduate with low debt and hang out a shingle within 2-3 years, then they’re much better off than the average stupid tethered goat working for biglaw.

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