College for kids graduating high school

[jcarey]

Assuming she won't commute, consider purchasing a 2-3 bedroom apartment/condo for your daughter to live in while she's at school and have her get roommates to basically pay the mortgage. When she graduates, you can keep renting it out to college kids or sell. Your daughter will probably have to be the point woman for keeping stuff under control if you're not close by, but it usually beats paying rent for 3-4 years (or more if other children follow in your daughter's footsteps).

[JL25and3]

You're just trying to bring the conversation back to that deadbeat little Johnny, aren't you?

Lazy little bastid.

[BobLoblaw]

When I found out that I would have to pay for part (which turned in to all but thats another story) of school I discovered that schools that start with, "State University of New York," were very appealing.

College books are the biggest rip off of the whole thing. Plus now schools are having "special editions" made specifically tailored to the school so its more difficult to sell them online. Make sure your kids know the words, "International Edition."

I agree, SUNYs are a nice choice financially

As for the books, I was an Econ major and I got by buying cheap off Amazon (tended to have better prices than other sites, like Half.com).

Also, I rented a textbook one semester from Chegg, and that was a good idea too. Also most of my textbooks were put on reserve in the library, so some semesters I didn't buy books at all. Most of the time I didn't read them anyway, the lectures were all that mattered. So definitely tell your kids to wait until the semester starts and decide if they're going to really need the books or not

[GiambiRocks]

Thanks everyone for the advice! Much appreciated.

We're off to College of NJ on Friday. Fairleigh Dickinson next week. 2 things my daughter is interested in 1) BS in Nursing and 2) Lacrosse

Vickie....I work directly across the street from the College of NJ. What time are you going to be there?

[Soriambi]

When I found out that I would have to pay for part (which turned in to all but thats another story) of school I discovered that schools that start with, "State University of New York," were very appealing.

College books are the biggest rip off of the whole thing. Plus now schools are having "special editions" made specifically tailored to the school so its more difficult to sell them online. Make sure your kids know the words, "International Edition."

Also, at least where I work, they're sometimes even tailored to the professor. In my experience a lot of the time the professors aren't even that aware that the books are such a rip-off when they assign them. When I was a student, I had to buy a paperback 300 pageish textbook that cost almost $100. The professor was floored when she heard that's what they were charging.

The other thing is that the publishing companies come out with new editions of a lot of their textbook type books on a very frequent basis (so they can charge full price), which can make them more difficult to buy on the secondary market.

[Mr.Muhozi]

Money is no option. Bring on the 60K tuitions!

I'm never going to complain about my tuition fees ever again.

[4bronxbombers]

I'm never going to complain about my tuition fees ever again.

No way would we or could we afford that!

[4bronxbombers]

Vickie....I work directly across the street from the College of NJ. What time are you going to be there?

You do? How cool. Actually, Kev is taking her. I was going to but my middle kid has his Confirmation on Sat at 11 so one of us needs to stay back and get the food etc. Too bad - that would have been cool to have lunch or something. Do you ever go there for lunch?

[4bronxbombers]

Thanks everyone - great comments and feedback. I appreciate it. I had no idea about Amazon for books either - that's a new one for me.

[GiambiRocks]

You do? How cool. Actually, Kev is taking her. I was going to but my middle kid has his Confirmation on Sat at 11 so one of us needs to stay back and get the food etc. Too bad - that would have been cool to have lunch or something. Do you ever go there for lunch?

I walk the campus a lot during my lunchtime. It's a great campus.

[krystl]

Thanks everyone - great comments and feedback. I appreciate it. I had no idea about Amazon for books either - that's a new one for me.

There are other options for books, thankfully. Some can even be purchased online (a downloadable version). Shannen did that for an art history class and the professor told them they only needed to download certain chapters. It was much cheaper that way.

But I agree about waiting till the semester starts. Sometimes the professor will say they never use the text book or tell you to get a totally different one.

[dabomb2045]

Unless your kids are getting scholarships....go to a community college for 2 years and then transfer. Will save you a ton of money. Also follow this advice if your kids are saying "I have no idea what I want to major in"

Also, state schools are your friend. I can speak for NY'ers that going to a SUNY school as an in-state resident as opposed to out of state is a very significant savings on the tuition.

[NYDCYankee]

Actually, I once read something that said that you're far better off financially going to one of those three schools than a lot of other schools, because the financial aide at the Harvards and Yales and Princetons is so strong that unless you're completely and totally loaded, a lot (sometimes even a large majority) of the tuition might be covered. For instance, if your family income is under 65K, you don't have to pay a dime of tuition to Harvard.

This is absolutely true. They always top the lists of schools that provide the best value.

[The Comic Book Guy]

Provided you kids have strong study habits, wherever they end up enrolling I would highly recommend looking into which CLEP tests their school accepts. Many of them are reasonably easy and can be studied for in about 1-2 weeks, and offer anywhere from 3-6 college credits for a $77 fee. That's a pretty ridiculous deal. I know some people who were able to finish undergrad a year+ early, enabling them to save a hefty chunk of change and get their bachelors and masters in 4 years.

With the way the cost of college keeps going up, and considering that in most professions just having a bachelors is markedly less impressive than it used to be, any opportunity to get an advanced degree at more or less the same cost as just an undergrad degree is something one should look into, imo.

[Maynerd]

I'll bet an educational background like that wouldn't even qualify you to be a public-school math teacher.

Nope. But, it qualified me to go to flight school, which was a much more palatable career field for me when I was 17.

Lazy little bastid.

Indeed. Rotten kid.

[GiambiRocks]

Scholarships, scholarships, scholarships....there is a ton of money out there. It take time but apply for them. My daughter went to a $35,000 yr. school. The most I paid out of pocket for tuition, room and board was $6,250 a semester. She has a little less than $12,000 in student loans.

[4bronxbombers]

Scholarships, scholarships, scholarships....there is a ton of money out there. It take time but apply for them. My daughter went to a $35,000 yr. school. The most I paid out of pocket for tuition, room and board was $6,250 a semester. She has a little less than $12,000 in student loans.

Wow, I might need to talk to you, Teri. Not that College of NJ is going to be the school she goes to but if so, tuition etc is about 40k/35K. What scholarship other than a merit did your daughter get?

[Norge]

LOL. I'm sure those are pretty inexpensive schools.

FWIW, when I was applying to college a couple of years ago, Princeton would have been the cheapest for me to attend. The Ivys typically have really good financial aid programs. Unfortunately I was rejected by every Ivy to which I applied lol.

[4bronxbombers]

FWIW, when I was applying to college a couple of years ago, Princeton would have been the cheapest for me to attend. The Ivys typically have really good financial aid programs. Unfortunately I was rejected by every Ivy to which I applied lol.

I know what you mean.....even a few kids I know with really high GPA's and SAT scores get rejected. Who knows why.....

[Norge]

I know what you mean.....even a few kids I know with really high GPA's and SAT scores get rejected. Who knows why.....

They have an absolutely insane number of applicants from all of the world. It's a crazy crapshoot (even considering policies such as affirmative action). There's an alternate universe somewhere where those kids and I are attending an Ivy!

[fredgmuggs]

FWIW, when I was applying to college a couple of years ago, Princeton would have been the cheapest for me to attend. The Ivys typically have really good financial aid programs. Unfortunately I was rejected by every Ivy to which I applied lol.

My kid had a second interview, I was starting to get worried he would get accepted.

The funny thing now is he is already planning for his 2 year daughter to go to Yale. I guess even though he couldn't get in, come hell or high water, he's getting his daughter into Yale. (the poor kid, her dad is going to drive her crazy )

[Soriambi]

Wow, I might need to talk to you, Teri. Not that College of NJ is going to be the school she goes to but if so, tuition etc is about 40k/35K. What scholarship other than a merit did your daughter get?

It kind of sounds like they just applied for a whole lot. Like she said, there are about 10 billion scholarships out there to apply to, many of which your daughter probably won't qualify for one reason or another, but many of which she will. $400 here, $200 there, $350 there, and pretty soon you're talking real money.

[Soriambi]

I know what you mean.....even a few kids I know with really high GPA's and SAT scores get rejected. Who knows why.....

I'm sure they get some people who clearly aren't qualified, but like someone said above, they have 2,000 slots for 34,000 applicants, and a vast majority of those applicants are going to have incredibly high GPAs/SATs/extracurriculars.

[JL25and3]

I'm sure they get some people who clearly aren't qualified, but like someone said above, they have 2,000 slots for 34,000 applicants, and a vast majority of those applicants are going to have incredibly high GPAs/SATs/extracurriculars.

Things have changed a lot. Honestly, there's no way I would have gotten into my Ivy League school today. I have no illusions about how I got in: (a) I went to an elite prep school, on whose name might have helped, though my grades there sure didn't make a strong case; (b)I was extremely good at multiple-choice, fill-in-the-bubble tests, and (c) I had the benefit of old-style Ivy League affirmative action, a/k/a "legacy."

[jlw1980]

Things have changed a lot. Honestly, there's no way I would have gotten into my Ivy League school today. I have no illusions about how I got in: (a) I went to an elite prep school, on whose name might have helped, though my grades there sure didn't make a strong case; (b)I was extremely good at multiple-choice, fill-in-the-bubble tests, and (c) I had the benefit of old-style Ivy League affirmative action, a/k/a "legacy."

You lucky bastid.