<p>lefthandofdog, I agree with you, and this is why we strongly considered the 2 private schools that offered financial aid grants.</p>
<p>My son is taking a detour to continue with an internship in a different city. Because I pushed him to pick a major and get on with it from day one, he has many of his core and major courses in hand. He could take a full year out as long as he takes a few elective courses at a local unversity.</p>
<p>weenie, if the three that are leaving were your son’s best friends, then perhaps, at some point, he might look at that friend selection process.</p>
<p>D had close friends from her freshman year that did not return…one transferred back home due to “culture shock”…from North Dakota to Az…another one returned home when his parents announced their divorce. Another (dorm mate but not a close friend) got arrested (loooong story…drugs)and was thrown out of the college. Her freshman roomate transferred after soph year to attend a combined 6 year pharmacy program at the other Az public university.While they werent rooming together that year,they were quite friendly and it was an emotional blow.I dont think its anything about how your kid picks friends,“stuff” just happens and those years are a time of upheaval.</p>
<p>There are of course great success stories but a large number who go to community college and just don’t ever gain the focus to finish a course of study.
I agree it can be difficult to stay focused when it is a commuter school, particulary when many students are adults working full time ( or high school students taking extra courses)
I think more should be aware of the offerings though.
When I left high school, I didnt’ know about community colleges, all I knew is that I didn’t have the coursework to enter the university ( which I didn’t find out about till after high school)
I moved out when I was 17, and I didn’t know that community college courses were both day and nighttime, and I could have easily fit some into my schedule in a non threatening way.
Some students may need a lot more motivation to continue their education, and they might not get it for a long time, but the first step is knowing something is out there that is more accessible than universities that require SATs ( which are very intimidating to many students) and essays.</p>
<p>Re community colleges’ bad rap here, isn’t it more of a practical problem, that there are relatively few transfer spots open at selective schools, and that these schools get enough well-qualified applicants from <em>other</em> (perhaps slightly less-) selective schools to fill the few spots? Or is the bad rap something akin to attacks on their quality? Thanks.</p>
<p>I’m not sure what the reason for the bad rap for community colleges is; I can’t answer that. I know our local community college is wonderful. My son took several classes there while in high school (homeschooled), and Stanford accepted them all, even the ones in his major. (They wanted to see the syllabi for those, but it turned out the cc used the same text as Stanford.)</p>
<p>I think the quality of community colleges may vary greatly around the country. Ours has a wide variety of programs, lots of adult education offerings, and a great reputation. Others may be less stellar. However, I do think community college is a great alternative for those who either can’t afford a private or four year college, prefer to stay at home for awhile, or just don’t have the grades. </p>
<p>I would also tend to think that most community college grads would be going on to the state university or colleges in their area, or directly into a career, rather than trying to get into the top colleges. (Not that there wouldn’t be exceptions, of course.) Selective colleges aren’t the only places to get a good education, after all.</p>
<p>Unless your family is wealthy, without a college degree you cant even be lower middle class these days. So, how can you even see dropping out of college as an “option?” It is a path to poverty and misery.</p>
<p>Not true at all Jimmy. I live on a block full of police officers, fire fighters, plumbers, carpenters, etc. who do not have college degrees but are middle class.</p>
<p>Most people in the this country do not have college degrees and are not going down a path of “poverty and misery.”</p>
<p>There is plenty of work that can pay well and does not require college. Working in Las Vegas as a dealer or waiter can easily pay $100k and casinos like to promote from within and are less concerned with degrees than performance. You can sell stuff–a good car sales person can easily be into six figures. I leased a house to one and he made around $250K. He leased while building a $1,000,000 home at the beach in NC.</p>
<p>While we value education very much- as I mentioned earlier- I know several close friends, who have grad degrees, but are now in fields that don’t require a degree.
Neither I nor my husband have ever attended a 4 year college & while we don’t have the income and assets that would allow us to fully fund a private school education, through medical school as some do on the boards, we are able to feed and educate our kids and keep a roof over their heads.( sending one to private school- through college graduation- the next still has a couple years before high school graduation-)</p>
<p>WHile I am concerned about students who don’t see education as something that fits in their life, I am also concerned about students who think that a diploma is a Golden Ticket
I think students and parents who feel that 4 years of an expensive university is going to set them for life or even for 10 years, is going to be disappointed.
Just look at all the computing /engineering jobs that are now going to workers over seas who only need $20,000.
SOme of those professionals who are being displaced may be able to find similar work, and some may not.
Many of the students at the community colleges, already have degrees, but they are taking classes to get more background in a technical field or to change careers.
Most people change jobs many, many times in a life time, the sooner you realize that flexibility is key, the happier you will be</p>
<p>Very true, ek4. My husband works in a blue collar job. One of his coworkers has a Masters in plant biology from Rutgers. Another has an advanced degree in, I think, math or philosophy. A number have college degrees. However, they either couldn’t find work in their field, or they found that work too stressful, so now they are doing manual labor–not getting rich, but drawing a steady paycheck with decent benefits.</p>
<p>On the other hand, the brother-in-law of my son’s best friend never attended college. However, he loves to work. He started out by buying homes, restoring them, and reselling. He moved up to contracting and doing work on hotels and other commercial buildings. The money he made he invested in real estate. He is now a millionaire, although he still works constantly, just because that is what he enjoys.</p>
<p>I, too, value education highly. However, I have never told my boys it is a ticket to a good paying job. To us it is a way to develop your talents and passions and find a way to do what you love to do, while still earning enough to live on. Oh, and I see a college education as a way to be exposed to lots of new people and ideas, thus expanding one’s view of the world. It’s not just about getting a job.</p>
<p>Susantm, your post reminds me so much of this couple who for some reason that dates back over ten years always come to our family christmas party. </p>
<p>This couple probably if they concentrated very hard and worked on it as a team could not even spell “house”, but, somehow, they got into the exact same thing - buying, then restoring, and selling homes. They have so much money it’s ridiculous. All they do? Wake up in the morning whenever they feel like it, and spend the day together working on whatever house is the current project. Each day they do as much or as little work as they like - there’s tons of money in the bank from the last several houses they’ve sold, so there’s no particular hurry to rush to get anything done. </p>
<p>They’re very talented; they love life and love what they do - and the homes they’ve restored are incredibly beautiful. I’m soooo jealous - I mean, I’m happy too, but how awesome is it to roll out of bed in the morning whenever you feel like waking up, and have a day filled with work you love, doing it with the person you love, punctuated by trips to Home Depot whenever you feel like going, etc. Too cool.</p>
<p>I think that this “fact of life” for college means that one very telling statistic to look for when applying to college is the % figures for students returning and the students graduating on time. I think it likely that your children will be far more likley to graduate themselves if they are in an institution where this is the norm.</p>
<p>There are plenty of contrary anecdotes on each side, but on average, a college education is estimated to add about a million dollars to life-long earnings.</p>
<p>My daughter was shocked to discover the number of students that she knew that were reasonably successful in HS, were not returning to college after freshman year. Especially since she graduated in the bottom 10% of her class - noone in her high school expected her to be successful in college. </p>
<p>However, I think the biggest difference between her success in college and their lack of success is that she is attending a school that totally captivates her interest and life’s goals, while they had no goals. The fact that she understood her weaknesses and chose an accommodating school is a big factor in her success.</p>