6 ms·

> We were middle class, but not rich, so I had to borrow to afford a $44,000/year RIT tuition. It’s what everyone else does, right? Sorry, not amongst myself a

> We were middle class, but not rich, so I had to borrow to afford a $44,000/year RIT tuition. It’s what everyone else does, right? Sorry, not amongst myself and all my friends. 44K/year is an absurd amount of money. I just posted on how I got a BA degree in 2004 from UC Berkeley for 11K total. See here: [http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5154095 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5154095] I think your title should be: "Going to an expensive college with no game-plan nor interest in working hard is the biggest mistake."

jstalin 14y ago
I did the same. I spent 3 years at a local CC and then one year at a state university to get my BS. Total cost was about $9k. I worked while I went to school and have no student loans. EDIT: I should also add that I didn't do so well during my first semester at CC, right after high school. I did finish the semester, but I took a break while I worked my way up in an IT department. Eventually maturity caught up with me and I went back to school and completed in about four years, going part time in the evenings. Going to university right out of high school isn't for everyone and I'd even say that I'm glad I waited. Taking classes while working in a professional environment made those classes MUCH more relevant to my daily life. I ended up graduating with a 3.90. That's not meant as a brag, just an example that waiting to get your degree can make the experience more meaningful and improve your chances of success.
- up_and_up 14y ago
  Agreed. I worked all four years doing odd jobs and some research assistantships. Working 20 hours a week while taking 18-21 semester units. End result was zero debt and adept time management skills.
  - notdrunkatall 14y ago
    >18-21 semester units Yikes!
    - justinlloyd 14y ago
      Is that a lot? Not trying to be funny. I just don't know.
      - zalzane 14y ago
        it's generally not recommended to take more than 15 or 16 semester units of classes it feels like the difference between working a job for 35 hours a week and 50 hours a week.
        notdrunkatall 14y ago
        That depends on your major. As an engineering major, 14 hours a week already feels like a 50 hour a week job.
shiftpgdn 14y ago
Sorry but your scenario is fallacious. Just because you got a scholarship does not mean it is possible for everyone to get a scholarship. There are only so many scholarships to go around and universities can only reduce their tuition by so much. Additionally you did not list living costs, books, or any other additional charges you get hit with when going to school. Unfortunately the system depends on the majority of students paying the full price for tuition and housing. Don't try to pass off what happened to you as something that can happen to everyone if they pull up on their bootstraps hard enough.
- rdouble 14y ago
  Loads of people do the CC -> UC route in California. The last two years has seen something like 25,000 students transferring from a CC to a UC per semester.
  - shiftpgdn 14y ago
    Look, I did CC -> State University as well and it served me okay. But you are ignoring the fact that the university could not exist if all students went that route. There is no such thing as a free lunch. Somebody HAS to pay the full price or the University system could not continue to exist in its current form.
    - rdouble 14y ago
      Sure, but I was not arguing against that. The tone of your comment made it sound like the OP was an extraordinary case, when in reality tens of thousands of students save money in the same way. (including yourself!)
      - kbar13 14y ago
        tens of thousands sounds like a made-up number
    - bozman 14y ago
      > Somebody HAS to pay the full price If everyone does CCx2 years -> Statex2 years, then it simply means the market also has to double which I think isn't a problem.
ahoyhere 14y ago
The statistics for young people across the US show that the OP's situation is more "normal" than yours. Most people don't end up with $40k of debt but they still have a lot more than you spent: $27k. Considering that's an average there are probably a lot of dropouts with not much debt and a lot of graduates with much more. Friends of mine went to a shitty tech university (because they were young & didn't know better & as with the OP's family, their families pushed them), and they have nearly $60k in debt each. Without somebody advising you "This will be one giant expensive fuckup if you're not careful," and with everyone around you saying, "You HAVE to do this," this is what happens. You were lucky.
taurath 14y ago
In 2004. Tuition alone has doubled since then, housing prices have gone up by 30-40%. Scholarships are far more competitive now because more and more people can't afford college. http://californiacollegetuition.blogspot.com/2011/06/tuition-increase-graph.html http://californiacollegetuition.blogspot.com/2011/06/tuition...

jstalin 14y ago

I did the same. I spent 3 years at a local CC and then one year at a state university to get my BS. Total cost was about $9k. I worked while I went to school and have no student loans. EDIT: I should also add that I didn't do so well during my first semester at CC, right after high school. I did finish the semester, but I took a break while I worked my way up in an IT department. Eventually maturity caught up with me and I went back to school and completed in about four years, going part time in the evenings. Going to university right out of high school isn't for everyone and I'd even say that I'm glad I waited. Taking classes while working in a professional environment made those classes MUCH more relevant to my daily life. I ended up graduating with a 3.90. That's not meant as a brag, just an example that waiting to get your degree can make the experience more meaningful and improve your chances of success.

up_and_up 14y ago
Agreed. I worked all four years doing odd jobs and some research assistantships. Working 20 hours a week while taking 18-21 semester units. End result was zero debt and adept time management skills.
- notdrunkatall 14y ago
  >18-21 semester units Yikes!
  - justinlloyd 14y ago
    Is that a lot? Not trying to be funny. I just don't know.
    - zalzane 14y ago
      it's generally not recommended to take more than 15 or 16 semester units of classes it feels like the difference between working a job for 35 hours a week and 50 hours a week.
      - notdrunkatall 14y ago
        That depends on your major. As an engineering major, 14 hours a week already feels like a 50 hour a week job.

shiftpgdn 14y ago

Sorry but your scenario is fallacious. Just because you got a scholarship does not mean it is possible for everyone to get a scholarship. There are only so many scholarships to go around and universities can only reduce their tuition by so much. Additionally you did not list living costs, books, or any other additional charges you get hit with when going to school. Unfortunately the system depends on the majority of students paying the full price for tuition and housing. Don't try to pass off what happened to you as something that can happen to everyone if they pull up on their bootstraps hard enough.

rdouble 14y ago
Loads of people do the CC -> UC route in California. The last two years has seen something like 25,000 students transferring from a CC to a UC per semester.
- shiftpgdn 14y ago
  Look, I did CC -> State University as well and it served me okay. But you are ignoring the fact that the university could not exist if all students went that route. There is no such thing as a free lunch. Somebody HAS to pay the full price or the University system could not continue to exist in its current form.
  - rdouble 14y ago
    Sure, but I was not arguing against that. The tone of your comment made it sound like the OP was an extraordinary case, when in reality tens of thousands of students save money in the same way. (including yourself!)
    - kbar13 14y ago
      tens of thousands sounds like a made-up number
  - bozman 14y ago
    > Somebody HAS to pay the full price If everyone does CCx2 years -> Statex2 years, then it simply means the market also has to double which I think isn't a problem.

ahoyhere 14y ago

The statistics for young people across the US show that the OP's situation is more "normal" than yours. Most people don't end up with $40k of debt but they still have a lot more than you spent: $27k. Considering that's an average there are probably a lot of dropouts with not much debt and a lot of graduates with much more. Friends of mine went to a shitty tech university (because they were young & didn't know better & as with the OP's family, their families pushed them), and they have nearly $60k in debt each. Without somebody advising you "This will be one giant expensive fuckup if you're not careful," and with everyone around you saying, "You HAVE to do this," this is what happens. You were lucky.

taurath 14y ago

In 2004. Tuition alone has doubled since then, housing prices have gone up by 30-40%. Scholarships are far more competitive now because more and more people can't afford college. http://californiacollegetuition.blogspot.com/2011/06/tuition-increase-graph.html http://californiacollegetuition.blogspot.com/2011/06/tuition...