Reading some of the discussions concerning what you can and can't get in our country leads me to this? I'm one that believes that just about anything is possible and higher education is definately attainable for us all. Yes, you might not get it "free", but most excuses for not going to school don't fly well with me. So, how did you or are you doing it?

I joined the Marine Corps and collected the GI Bill money. Spent 8 years as an 0341 infantryman, fought in Desert Storm, went to school while serving and finished after getting out. BTW - I bought my first house with a VA loan.

Took a student loan and worked my a$$ off during the summers for the 1st two years...Last two years I worked full time at the Post Office (40-60hrs a week) at night while going full time school during the day...

It is not for everyone cause not everyone is willing to take responsibility and bust their a$$ for something worth while...They would rather piss, moan and groan cause they didn't come from a "wealthy" family and blame the system...

Anyone who is willing to work hard and use contraceptives can get a top of the line college education regardless of their family situation...

scholarships and work for 2years, until i got married and had to drop out.
now i'm making monthly payments so my twins can go.

sec

I was fortunate enough to have a grandfather put aside $30K in a fund for my sister (who is 2 years older) and me. Unfortuantely, my sister (who has never held a full-time job) blew threw most of it in 3 years. My parents made too much $$ for me to get financial aid, yet not enough to pay our way. I had to take a few semesters of only around 6-9 hours while working nights at a liquor store. Once I turned 23 I got student loans. I currently owe around $8,000.

My wife had no such family support and currently owes $35,000.

Together, our payments are around $400 and neither one of us is doing anything close to what we went to school. But we graduated and are getting by.

What is scary is that almost all of the people that I knew who dropped out of college now make better money than the Mrs. and I combined. Education does not always equal financial success.

MM
~~Knows that anyone who wants an education can get one.

[Edited by Mark M on 02-21-2001 at 11:28 AM]

Bob Dole went his first time on a full-ride merit scholarship (ACT cumulative score coupled with competitive testing.) Bob Dole partied his way out of that one after 2 semesters.

Bob Dole went his second time on a full-ride merit scholarship earned by wins at state-wide math relays. Bob Dole also partied himself out of that one after 2 semesters.

Bob Dole then worked his tail off at unrewarding jobs for 6 years and decided that was not what Bob Dole wanted out of life. Bob Dole enrolled in 9 hours during a summer semester at a community college and performed well enough to qualify for the Honors Program (after writing essays and sitting through awful faculty interviews). The program came with a full-ride. Bob Dole's performance, more essays and more interviews then allowed Bob Dole to obtain a full-ride merit scholarship for his BBA. Grades and GMAT scores led to similar interviews and essays for graduate school.

Bob Dole was fortunate.

Miscellanous scholerships, odd jobs and student loans.

I came from a large family, 2 sisters 2 brothers, and by the time it was my turn to graduate high school all the funds were used up. We were too "rich" for fincial aid.
I've been out for about 2 years now and still have roughly $10,000 to pay off.

Graduated in '98 with a BS in comp sci and now I sit here all day writing code, sitting in meetings and working with our EDI people putting out the never ending fires that spontanously combust wishing I was back in school full-time.

Well back to the Java and RPG! :rolleyes:

[Edited by Otter on 02-21-2001 at 03:51 PM]

First I took scope of what means I had and coupled them with my educational desires. The means came nowhere near the desires and I quickly shelved my Mizzou, KSU, KU ambitions. I settled on my hometown college; MWSC which had an excellent computer/math department.

Having done this, I talked to my high school counsler and applied to every scholarship under the sun. Did you know that there's a scholarship for left handed people? I also worked full time in a warehouse. Loading/unloading trucks outside in Feb strengthens ones resolve. Coupling this with a little free lance tutoring and I graduated with BS's in Comp Science and Math and no outstanding bills. I also developed a taste for fried potatoes and pinto beans. *L*

Sold crack cocaine to white suburban school kids...
;)




Actually, paid my own way for 2 semesters at a JuCo... maintained a 4.0, received an academic scholarship. :)

Worked, joined the Army Reserve and used the GI bill, and lived frugally. Also took out loans.

What kinda sucked was that my parents made too much money for me to get the "free" money-- grants, interest-free loans, etc. but they weren't GIVING me any of that money. There should be a spot on the fin aid application where they ask if you're actually GETTING any of the money your parents are making.

Anyway, I graduate in August with only about 15k of debt, so I guess that's not TOO bad, considering what it could be. My lifestyle helped to keep the costs down. I drive a 10 year-old fuel efficient Saturn that I bought used, I don't waste a lot of money on things like eating out, and I don't go through clothes that quickly. I have had some of my shirts for 5 or 6 years. It's amazing how cheaply you can live if you're willing to make a few sacrifices.

Funny thing is, once I graduate and start making real money, I expect to accumulate a substantial nest egg quite quickly because I'm now USED to living like this. I don't plan on buying a new car until this one falls apart (150k miles on it now-- I bet I can get it to 200), and I have gotten to where I wouldn't go out to eat even if I had the money because I see it as a waste.

My parents made what seemed like a dream offer, and it turned out to be one indeed. . . for them. they'd pay for undergrad and I'd take it from there. Well I was a national merit finalist [PSAT] and a merit scholar [ACT]. That, with the combined ability scholarship [grades, athletics and music] provided by the university, paid my way through undergrad and then some [a paid internship and a modest lifestyle actually yeilded a net profit on the venture].
Then came Law School, 21K a year plus expenses. I maxed out every available loan [Perkins, Stafford, Law Access] to the tune of $73,500. Now I pay approximately $900 monthly in school loan payments. Then I recently find out that my next pay raise will 'phase' me out of deducting any of the $2000 of approximately $6500 in interest they now allow me on my taxes.

Started my own cleaning business at 17. Used my contracts that I had to collateralize a small business loan for $15K(contracted to clean schools and office buildings during the summer's). Paid my small bus. loan back after one year, and I sold all my contracts when I turned 21. I made enough to pay the rest of my college costs plus a new car and plenty for the stock market. Best practical business experience of my life (at that time). To owe nothing coming out of school was fantastic. It was a b!tch being that responsible at such an early age, but it was worth the sacrifice. I guess that is why I acted on the urge to start my own business later in life.

You guys'll love me...

Paid 12,000 dollars for my first year out of my own pocket.
Parents paid remaining 4 undergraduate years.
Didn't pay a cent for graduate school - 1st year of grad school I was a graduate assistant, 2nd year I was a teaching assistant.

Don't owe anything...

Two weeks before finishing my masters I dropped out of college due to some really ugly office politics (very good friend of mine, tenured professor, was bascially fired because he was unpopular with several other professors...)and the realization that I hated what I was doing, and always had.

Haven't looked back. Much happier now than I ever was in college.

Struggled with depression for a while, not knowing exactly what I was going to do. Drank a lot, spent a lot of time on my computer hiding from everyone, including my fiance (almost lost her for good...). This actually lasted almost two years, until about last October or November.

Thankfully I had about 20K bucks saved away so I was able to help her pay the bills, since I've been unemployed since 1999, except for some odd work here and there. Now, after much soul-searching and conversing with my better half, I've set my sights on writing a novel, something I've always felt I should do. Have set myself a limit of 6 months to do it, and if I am unable to do it in that amount of time, the dream dies and I find some more traditional employment, probably something that doesn't pay much over minimum wage since my emplyment history for two years is nil, and prior to that it consists only of a few years working full-time in motels as either a clerk or a maintenance man. I have her blessing, however, and I believe I will succeed, which isn't something I've ever believed before now (long, long story).

Supposed I've exceeded the bounds of the question, but hell, we're all friends here in a bulletin-boardish sort of way, and I don't have anything to hide.

The moral of the story, I suppose, is that 7 years of college have absolutely no bearing on my future. For those of you who haven't gotten to college yet, if anyone is willing to listen, don't go because it's what is expected of you, or what you should do, go because you want to go, and study something you love. Will work out much better for you in the end. Trust me, I know... http://cwm.ragesofsanity.com/s/3dlil/wink.gif

Good Luck, Kyle. hope you're the next Grisham. I also hope that wasn't an insult!

Full ride undergrad.
GTA for grad tuition plus stipend
GA for phd.

By the way, there ARE people who shouldn't be in college!!!

Kyle best of luck to you with your book. You can be successful without college, neither of my parents went to school, and my dad had a very good paying job before his illness, and my mom lives very comfortably as well.

I'm currently still attending college. My dad is disabled, and part of his disability plan pays for my college tuition.

I'm in the middle of switching to a state school in Pennsylvania (Kutztown, where John Mobley graduated from!)from a private and that will save me roughly $11,000 a semester. The private school cost me $19,000 to go there and live at home and the state school will cost me $8,000 (not including financial aide) and I will be dorming there.

I have about $6,000 in loans right now, and the job I'm working in now helps pay for some of that.

Hopefully all of this will pay off someday when I'm a successful print journalist, or working in front of a television. The skys the limit, I just need to reach my potential.

I'm a cross between WisChief& jl80: joined the Navy, and currently drawing my G.I bill, and also working part-time(30-35hours) at the Post Office.

Wish i'd taken school more seriously, but my sister graduated with a 3.95 GPA, scored high 20's on her ACT,(I scored mid 20's, but a much lowerGPA), got a full ride scholarship to Michigan State, and is now further behind in College than me. She dropped out to join the Navy, and I have yet to figure out why.

save me roughly $11,000 a semester - 11k per semester?!?! :eek:

HC, I had a sister who went to Harvard, and with no finanical assistance. Then she did her graduate and doctoral work at the University of Michigan. Should'a seen her bills...

Of course, she's making 6 figures and living in LA now (works for Kaiser Permanente as a researcher), and I think she's paid them all off...

I'm the other end of the spectrum, hehe.

btw, thanks frank and brock for the kind words. I appreciate it.

HC Chief,

I meant $11,000 a year. Haha, if I was paying $22,000 a year, and living at home, I would have to sell most my blood and a couple organs to afford school.

I've had a long day, it's been a real busy newsday over at NFLScoop, and I'm in desperate need of some z's.

lol frank :)

Kyle- why did she complete her studies at Michigan rather than Harvard?

Bob Dole would have to agree that you should only attend college because <b>you</b> want to, not because someone else expects it. Bob Dole was basically booted from the house and was not ready to attend/apply himself the first two times around. When Bob Dole went back, it was because Bob Dole wanted more from his life and determined that a college degree could go a long way toward making that happen. Made all the difference in the world. First time GPA 0.0, second time GPA < 1.0, third time 3.92.

She studied microbiology at Harvard, then apparently (as I recall) did her graduate/post grad work at Michigan because it was tops in the country in epidemiology, her chosen field.

Epidemiology, by the way, is the study of disease (epidemics) and not skin (epidermis) which is a common misperception. Just for everyone's info...

As for the 22,000 per year you and Frank were talking about, if I had gone to Michigan in '92 (almost did), my yearly tuition would have been 23,000, which was why I went to a small school in Virginia, James Madison University, for about 12,000...

Shudder to think how much tuition there for an out-of-stater is now.

Bob, you're exactly right. I wasn't ready for college, but I did manage to make it through just a shade under 3.5. for 5 years. If I had it all to do over, I'd probably have waited a year or two to decide what I wanted to do. Of course, if I'd done that I wouldn't be about to move into a new house with my future wife, so I'd say things have turned-out okay in the end.

Still, my kids won't be pressured to go to college, although it will certainly be...recommended as an option for their future.

kyle - yikes! scary field...

Still surprised she went to Michigan - most of the ERI centers are located on the East coast (MA & MD)

I studied nuclear medicine(pre-med actually) for two years before switching to computers (decided I wanted to graduate before the age of 30) ;)

Yeah, not sure what she's into now, but I know she did some study of both HiV and chronic fatigue syndrome in the past.

nasty, nasty business she's in...

Grants and/or Loans...paid it all back too...

Chi- Thats a pretty damm impressive story. If I or anyone of my friends tried that at 17 we would have drank the money and smoked the profits. Still less mature than I should be.

Kyle- I expect an autographed copy for all the wonderfull insight I've provided. :D

After High School, I was managing a SONIC and doing quite well. Met a guy that would become my husband, got married had a child, worked at the local Pizza Joint as manager and stuck my foot in a floor safe shattered the naviculuar bone in right foot...workmans comp sucks...

Went to Jr College on pell grants 4.0 No expense

Went to State College...had scholarships and grants. Found out loans were available and decided that the extra money would be great...CAN WE SAY STUPID

Total student loan bill for myself and hubby 40,000
over 500 monthly in loan bills for UNNECESSARY money. We could have lived without.

Final GPA 3.94
(Dad Died in 97 received two C's)

College was about 40% my parents, 40% my beloved alma-mater (which had a need-blind admissions policy) and 20% loans, scholarships and work.

My graduate work has been at a state-school, so the taxpayers of Illinois (God bless us) are really footing the bulk of the cost. My employer and I have each picked up about half of the bills. I took out a $8,000 loan for the master's degree and paid that off about 2 years into my Ph.D. coursework. I hope to get my dissertation done in about a year or so.

Worked two jobs through high school and paid for the first year with the help of a loan. Dropped out half way through my second year with the intention of perhaps going back.... ended up working 2 jobs -- roughly 60 hours a week just to realize I was better off at college. Paid for what I could in cash, and took out loans when I needed to. Sent in resume for an internship at Sprint that will hopefully go a long way in paying for next year, and I'm sure I'll go back to serving over the summer, too.

Northwest Missouri State is a very reasonable school when it comes to the cost of tuition, room/board, food, etc. My roommate transferred from Iowa State and owes $45,000 after a year and a half of out of state tuition..... insane

Worked part-time, lived at home [thanks Mom & Dad!] and got some timely help from my parents [thanks Mom & Dad!].

I love mathematics and envisioned myself going into math as a career. I quickly determined that one of two things result from a mathematics degree:

1. You are brilliant and work on theoretical mathematics, your expenses paid by grateful institutions and grants.
2. You are not brilliant and you teach.

I was forced to admit that I was not brilliant and I had no interest whatsoever in teaching [no offense to teachers intended, but it is certainly not for me].

That is when Engineering caught my eye. I got to play with some pretty hot mathematics but I could also make a pretty good living.

xoxo~
gaz
Engineer by default.

Ouch, Gaz!!! That no.2 hurts like a somabich!! However, you may have me pegged. Still looking foreward to that phd. in math ed, though.

90% loans and grants, 10% BK/summer work, etc., and a little spending money from my mother.

PG-

It came as a shock and disappointment to realize that I was not brilliant. I was good at mathematics and I liked it. I got good grades and was having a good time. But "brilliant" is reserved for those elite few who work in the rarefied theoretical fields of number theory. I tried to follow some papers in that area and had some success, but quickly realized that the DNA machine had shorted me on genius and that was not going to be one of the elite. I was a follower, not a leader. And only leaders would have the jobs I wanted.

There is nothing wrong with teaching. I certainly did not intend to convey that impression. I, however, am not wired for classroom teaching. I do a fine job one-on-one [tutoring and teaching new recruits the MRB business here at work], but the thought of teaching a class [unless it were at a very, very high level, with students who all wanted to be there with all their hearts and souls] gives me the heebie-jeebies.

Best of luck in your degree.

xoxo~
gaz
coulda been a contendah.


[Edited by Gaz on 02-23-2001 at 08:19 AM]

That's actually a good bit of the reason I quit my degree at the end Gaz, I just couldn't stand teaching another day...

Best decision I ever made.

For me...

More power to the people who can do it.

I paid for college by Gigelloing myself to lonely wives of guys who spend all day on the internet;)

I was pretty unmotivated academically in HS and decided to go to college after flipping a coin when a buddy asked me to go to NWMSU with him...It was heads 3 times in a row so I went...Had enough fun to stay and ended up with a BS...he flunked out after 1 year....

Paid by working summers with a autocrusher crew in HS, working for farmers and at a grocery store...and worked construction in the summers at college, and crushed cars for spring and winter break while my friends were on vac..also sold some ink drawings along the way..still get pissed writing the loan checks twice a month.

went to colorado 2 summers to build houses, and took a side job building a horse barn "after work and sundays" with a guy i worked with....

A point of interest...built a house for VP Cheney's daughter..

[Edited by Iowanian on 02-23-2001 at 09:12 AM]