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September 20, 2006
Keep your options open
Right about now you may be considering that long list of colleges you might apply to with an eye toward editing it down. You may decide to cut the ones that are too close, or too far away. Or too small, or too big. Whatevery you do, don't cut a school just because it's expensive. You may decide not to go there. You may decide you can't afford it. But you won't really know how much it will cost you until you get admitted, learn if you are eligible for scholarships, and see what the financial aid packages looks like.
I feel very passionately about this because I went to a private college. Not only was I the first person in my family to attend a private college, but I was part of the first generation of my family to go to college at all. My older siblings went to public colleges (not that there's anything wrong with that). Most people we knew were pretty sure that my mom and I wouldn't be able to afford a private education, but my sister convinced me to keep an open mind and see how the financial aid panned out.
In the end, it was going to cost just as much for me to go to a public college as a private one. Of the places I visited, the private college I attended was the college where I felt most at home.
I was reminded of all of this today when a colleague forwarded me the article A Little Learning Is an Expensive Thing. It makes some really excellent points. Like your family won't be paying for it yourselves, and you wouldn't like college if it was scrimping on facilities, and your future income will more than make up for educational expenses.
And then there is the acknowledgement that many students begin their adult lives in serious debt. Recently, my husband and I have been looking at houses to buy, so borrowing and affording have been hot topics of conversation. My mother in law brought up that favorite point of realtors: in a few years, your payment won't seem big anymore. You income will go up, inflation will go up, it'll start looking like a cute little sum next to, say, your gas bill. Student loans are the same way.
The other bit of wisdom we've been getting from my mother in law is to not be afraid to spend a bit more on something we will really be at home with.
That's definitely the case with education. Sure, the student loans seem eternal (their not), but at the end of it all, will you still be happy with your decision? I know I was because I went with the one that fit instead of the one with the lowest sticker price.
Posted by pls9 at September 20, 2006 02:13 PM
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