<p>ucbalumnus - true. It depends. I am referring to some excellent entry level engineering positions. And that’s why I used the word “CAN”. </p>
<p>But $60,000 starting pay isn’t bad either. If you have acquired, $31,000 in student loans - it’s not an insurmountable hill to climb. A few rough years with a “only the basics” lifestyle, some serious discipline, and you can be done to enjoy your life.</p>
<p>Rhandco seemed to be saying that if you didn’t pay for all your kids’ college, the poor child would just be sunk, and that a degree with a B average at, frankly, a normal run-in-the-mill college was useless.</p>
<p>In my experience, neither of those things is true.</p>
<p>Yes, UCB, many college students greatly over-estimate their own starting salaries, which in their minds helps to justify taking on too much debt.</p>
<p>When anyone is looking at surveys of starting salaries of graduates, keep in mind that the more successful people are the most likely to complete them. No one wants to fill out a survey and say “unemployed and living in mom’s basement”.</p>
<p>Today, we have many employers checking credit ratings before they hire people. If a student falls behind on student loans, it may actually hurt their chances of getting a decent job. Some students find the only way they can temporarily escape their student loan debt is by going to grad school and piling more debt on top of it.</p>
<p>We did a spreadsheet to let each kid see how much college would cost out of pocket, also letting them know how much we would pay toward college. They knew that anything beyond this amount (that wasn’t covered by merit and other scholarships) would need to be covered in loans. They made good financial decisions and are motivated to keep their merit awards. </p>
<p>Furthermore, we promised to pay their loans (up to a certain amt) off for them if they graduate in 4 years. I think that’s plenty of skin.</p>
<p>Here is how I have encouraged my children to maintain a respectable, responsible approach to college and their grades.</p>
<p>My contribution to their college education is in direct relation to their grades. That is:
an A in any subject earns them 90% of their tuition for that class. A B in any class earns them 80% of their tuition for that class. A C earns 75%. Any other grade received they will pay for their class on their own.
I pay 100% of room and board and other incedentals for GPA’s above a 3.5
85% for GPA’s between 3.0 and 3.49 and 75% for GPA’s between 2.5 and 2.99. Anything below that, they can pay for on their own. </p>
<p>This teaches responsibility and reward for a job well (or not so well) done. That’s how it is in life, and college is part of life.</p>
<p>What about courses taken passed / not-passed (some courses at some schools can only be taken passed / not-passed)?</p>
<p>Your incentives align well to the incentives of pre-med and pre-law, but may otherwise discourage intellectual exploration due to needing to protect one’s GPA.</p>
<p>My kids HAVE to protect their gpa or they lose their scholarships. Plus, exploration is discouraged anyway because if you far exceed the number of hours it takes to get your degree you can be charged at the rate of a graduate.</p>
<p>So crommet, if your child had a 3.8 has, say a poly sci, major, and came to you and said that he or she wanted to take a few accounting courses, even if that meant Bs, you would be OK with discouraging the child from trying?</p>
<p>To all who have chimed in, I am sending my 1st of 3 off to college. While my spouse and I are both Registered Nurses, any school above 58-60K would be a “financial stretch” for a COA greater than 35K. In comparison, however, I have witnessed a high school student graduate 1 year early and not having received any financial (parental) support (which I think is a travesty). All in all when you have a student with “gifts” you should stay within your means but support and contribute SOMETHING</p>
<p>And every child is different, there are some students who would likely fare better at community colleges than others. However, if you have an A student graduating 1 year early, it is (in my opinion) partially the parent’s responsibility to ensure there are funds via scholarships and private pay (or loans) to make college a possibility</p>
<p>confetti247 you are to be commended. I am finding that with a 4.244 GPA, 32 ACT (in one sitting), good EC’s…often times there are definitely other sources of college funding than Merit Scholarships</p>
<p>KayF, I don’t tell my kids what to take. I’m just saying, if they are not careful with their gpa, they lose their scholarships and will either have to take out more loans or won’t be able to go to college. My kids are going to college for very specific things and are pretty focused on those things and understand that they need the scholarships.</p>
<p>They know what they need to maintain. It’s up to them to assess risk and make decisions for the most part. I wouldn’t stop them from taking an accounting class. And I doubt one or two B’s is going to trash a 3.8 with 60+ hours to the point where they lose their scholarships. They just need to be prudent.</p>
<p>cromette=same here, and since their scholarships are what is paying for 90% of their schooling, that’s a lot of motivation :D. Besides that, a high GPA is critical if D wants to go to med school and just the fact that they want to do well in college will be enough. I’m not worried about them and their grades in college. They have good study habits and are level headed kids.</p>
<p>Wow, all the posts seem like your really able to help your children out with college loans and everything, makes me feel bad because i am single parent of a straight A, 4.23 weighted gpa student who is unable to contribute hardly anything towards her tuition ect… and hate to say this but unfortunately she aspires to be a vet that takes 8+ yrs of school., and whats even more unfortunate is with her fathers income she won’t be able to get alot of need based help, and his feeling is this is her responsibility. He is willing to split co signing loans with me for the 8yrs, but will not help with paying any of them off. my question is when cosigning school loans can i pay interest off as D is going to school so she wont be overwhelmed when she graduates?</p>
<p>^ With a GPA like that (and if she has test scores to match), you shouldn’t need loans. There are plenty of schools that would be willing to give substantial scholarships for stats like that.</p>
<p>Student should look for large merit scholarships if parental income will prevent need-based aid but the parent in question is not willing to contribute the assumed EFC.</p>
<p>For non-safeties, there are also competitive large merit scholarships at places like NCSU, UNC-CH, Duke, Georgia Tech, possibly in-state public universities, etc…</p>
<p>Thank you for all information,she applied and was accepted at U of D, which is where she wants to go, but nothing about scholarship was included. Do ya think its too late to apply for other schools that might give her merit scholarship?</p>