<p>Yes, the generation ago, college was NOT a mjaor investment. OUr family has experience with this, our kids are very very much apart, practically a generation. But even way back, when my oldest who has been a very good artist who took private lessons outside of school, all the way thru graduating from HS, well, when he was back in the middle school, he simply stated that it is not possible to support himself being an artist, so he will start looking into Graphic design. Well, few decades later, he is a Graphic Designer and so is his wife, while spending the minimum years to accomplish that and having huge amount of time to research the best and sheapest place to accomplish that. It did not hurt him and much later his sister to “lock” themselves in certain field of study with minimum financial risk for the parents. Both of them also ended up at their “dream” schools, so worked not only for us, but pretty much for them.
Just want to point out, that planning ahead is much more crucial now than it was few decades ago as the financial risk has risen substantially.
So, go ahead, dream in 8th grade and certainly dream much harder in 11th grade. Very well worth it!</p>