How did you guys fund your education? - Page 3

If it cost 17k a semester, I don’t think it is worth it. There is no way you can afford that even if you work during school. It is just impossible amount of money.

17K A SEMESTER!?! I Absolutely agree, it's not worth it. OP look into a community college. They are much much cheaper and you'll be able to work during school.

ah yeah the community college path.. yeah I dont understand why there are certain dreamers who want to get into private or good schools and not settling for anything less while fully understanding their situation. Dont get me run, going to a good school does have it merits but there are other roads to get your degree.

You can do what some of us did, enter a dual enrollment program, attend both college and university at the same time. You could also 2 years at college and 2 years at a university.

17k per semester is a lot of money

Start community college>transfer + work full time + take less classes is the way.

A full ride scholarship for the first two yrs at an instate community college then paid instate tuition at a local university here in Texas.

This is advice I received from a friend of the family when I was most anxious about graduating High School and trying to figure out what to do next.

My first bit of advice is do not go if you aren't sure of what you want yet. Don't do it because society expects you to go to college right off the bat. If you're asking for advice, I'm assuming its because your family can't afford it. And loans aren't the magical solution you think they are. So think about whether or not its fair to ask for that of you parents if there is even a hint of a doubt about whether or not your area of study is what you actually want. I challenge you to take a year off and try new things if you need to. If you have to work during that time, so be it.

Like John Wooden, the 10-time NCAA Mens Basketball winning coach says, "Be quick, but not in a hurry."

Which leads us to this next point, read the book managing oneself by Peter F. Drucker. Its $5 on amazon in a nicely condensed 50-page read. A few takeaways from the book.

- "Most people think they know what they are good at. Most people are usually wrong. More often, people know what they are not good at."

-"Most people, especially highly gifted people, do not really know where they belong until they are well past their mid-twenties. By that time, however,... they should at least know where they do not belong."

-"Successful careers are not planned. They are developed when people are prepared for opportunities because they know their strengths." (Do not confuse with, I'll pursue X opportunity because it yields more money. He also states in the book: "There is no point in being the richest man in the cemetery.")

I also recommend listening to Freaknomics Goes to College Also check out part 2, which you can watch exclusively if you're only interested in the financial side of things.

Second, don't be prideful. Go to community college. Its like getting the generic drug vs the name brand drug...it has the same damn active ingredients (in this case, education principles you'll need) anyway. And its half the cost practically speaking.

If you already did community college, or are past the point of no return, find internships, find people to work under. If you have to work for free, don't be ashamed of it.

Secondly, see what credentials your field actually requires. Not what your HighSchool counselor says they require.

I have a friend who works at SAS. He says a few of his colleagues have degrees in unrelated fields, and some only have 2-year degrees, but they all had a portfolio or experience to back it up.

I also used to work for a Light Manufacturing company. I was labor there, but I had a chance to speak with the Human Resources head. Mind you, its a multinational company with a majority ownership by a fortune 500 company. Head of HR told me when they look for people to hire in the office or corporate setting, they always look in-house first (this is important, this is where an internship can land you a job. If its not a intern-to-hire position, you can still form valuable connections).

If they can't find someone, they look outside. But she admitted that they focus more on how their experience relates to the position they apply for than their education. I asked if this meant they'd hire someone without a degree. She said no, but simply because it would be against the company's policy.

There isn't just one path to getting what you want unless you are sure that you want something highly technical like STEM, Law, or Med. Which, by the way, for the latter two fields, become a paralegal first. See if the law is what you want. If Med, become a Nursing Assistant first. Those are quick and cheap ways to test out what you really want. Interested in programming? Find free resources online, one member on the this forum self-taught himself programming, and after 4 years of cold-hard experience he landed a job making 60k, a year later he was making 80k I think he claimed.

brosky,

go to community college, do good, work while in community college- get a scholarship, transfer, pay less. use money saved up- conquer the world. go get em'

p.s. think twice before doing something

p.s.s. theres always another way

Tuition reimbursement assistance from UPS. Was reimbursed 2,600 dollars a semester.

I'm about to be done with 75% of my degree, and stretching it an extra year helped with 'reduced' semester payments.

Maybe he's paying out-of-state tuition?

From personal experience, I was STUPID; I thought that 'community college' (or just 'college', since I think most have dropped the 'community' name) wasn't 'good enough for me'. Yes, I've seen that happen with a LOT of people here...but then it hit me, I was getting old and had no education, so I realized I was being an IDIOT.

As for my education...I finished the two-year associate's degree in three (yes, longer, but there was a reason why), and now I'm finishing the last two in a 'real' university. If I'm lucky to get a good job (I'm unemployed at the moment) and work through the corporate latter, right after graduating next year I would like to start the MBA.

I think it's still sad to see people belittling those who had to go to two-year colleges and got an associate's degree. Any way you wanna see it, it is still a great accomplishment.

I actually started at a community college. When I took the placement tests I excelled and was offered a presidential scholarship. When I told them my status they said I couldn't have it