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Of course there are options; there's community college, transferring, less prestigious schools, etc. However, it sucks to tell your kid that worked their ass o

by agar 3y ago

Of course there are options; there's community college, transferring, less prestigious schools, etc. However, it sucks to tell your kid that worked their ass off their whole life that they can't go to their first choice schools because of administrative mismanagement. Read the WSJ article that is linked elsewhere to see the systemic issues facing higher education. It's bleak. "Congratulations, you got into Rice! Can I interest you in University of North Texas instead?"

nunez 3y ago
UNT has a world-class music program, so maybe?
TexanFeller 3y ago
Welcome to life for most of us. Precious few are privileged enough to go to whatever school they want to. Almost everyone has to make tradeoffs based on economic factors, it's been that way forever. It was that way over two decades ago when I went to school. I dreamed of going to MIT or more realistically UT, but that wasn't affordable to me with the support my family struggled to provide. I took all the measures I suggested, lived first 1hr away at home and then in a trailer park instead of on campus, and worked as much as I could between classes. A big chunk of my classmates were worse off. UNT has some perfectly good programs by the way, some of the most brilliant and successful people I know graduated from their math and physics programs.
- agar 3y ago
  Yeah, I totally get it's a high quality problem. And, I feel you. Not to be "back in my day..." but I had to work 40 hours a week and live with 3 other people off campus to put myself through school. I understand sacrifice and hard choices. But dude, after all that I wanted to give my kids the college experience I couldn't have. Let them live on campus, not have to work to pay tuition, be able to enjoy the benefits of both a strong curriculum and extra-curriculars and maybe even a social life to build networks for the future. After working my own ass off my whole life, I make good money and have kids that can go almost anywhere. But...can't. All the living in a trailer park and full-time work will barely make a dent in some of these numbers. But this really isn't a "woe is me" - I talk to a lot of other parents in exactly the same situation. I'm just at one end of a systemic middle class problem. You're either rich, in which case dropping $200K-$400K for a bachelors isn't a problem, or you're poor, in which case there's huge need-based aid available today. If you're in the middle though, you're either squeezed out or taking on massive debts. This isn't even touching on the declining value of a bachelors and possible need to pay another $50-$60K for a Masters just to have an ROI. (and I really wasn't slagging UNT. It's a fine school. My point was that it's hard to shift a teenager's thinking from a "dream school" to an affordable school without a significant amount of disappointment -- and the concomitant feelings of failure as a parent.)

by agar 3y ago

nunez 3y ago

UNT has a world-class music program, so maybe?

TexanFeller 3y ago

Welcome to life for most of us. Precious few are privileged enough to go to whatever school they want to. Almost everyone has to make tradeoffs based on economic factors, it's been that way forever. It was that way over two decades ago when I went to school. I dreamed of going to MIT or more realistically UT, but that wasn't affordable to me with the support my family struggled to provide. I took all the measures I suggested, lived first 1hr away at home and then in a trailer park instead of on campus, and worked as much as I could between classes. A big chunk of my classmates were worse off. UNT has some perfectly good programs by the way, some of the most brilliant and successful people I know graduated from their math and physics programs.

agar 3y ago
Yeah, I totally get it's a high quality problem. And, I feel you. Not to be "back in my day..." but I had to work 40 hours a week and live with 3 other people off campus to put myself through school. I understand sacrifice and hard choices. But dude, after all that I wanted to give my kids the college experience I couldn't have. Let them live on campus, not have to work to pay tuition, be able to enjoy the benefits of both a strong curriculum and extra-curriculars and maybe even a social life to build networks for the future. After working my own ass off my whole life, I make good money and have kids that can go almost anywhere. But...can't. All the living in a trailer park and full-time work will barely make a dent in some of these numbers. But this really isn't a "woe is me" - I talk to a lot of other parents in exactly the same situation. I'm just at one end of a systemic middle class problem. You're either rich, in which case dropping $200K-$400K for a bachelors isn't a problem, or you're poor, in which case there's huge need-based aid available today. If you're in the middle though, you're either squeezed out or taking on massive debts. This isn't even touching on the declining value of a bachelors and possible need to pay another $50-$60K for a Masters just to have an ROI. (and I really wasn't slagging UNT. It's a fine school. My point was that it's hard to shift a teenager's thinking from a "dream school" to an affordable school without a significant amount of disappointment -- and the concomitant feelings of failure as a parent.)