deciding on post high school education

In all seriousness, I know that she could honestly do whatever she wanted. And I'm not sure of the difference between a degree from least say Sam Houston and UCLA? Originally Posted by nikkivikkisix

Huge difference. Any idiot can get into Sam Houston State. UCLA is a top 20 school. It depends on what the major is though. No need to pay for out of state tuition if your kid chooses a bullshit major like music. Do your research. There are a lot of scholarship programs out there. And ask your kid if she wants to stay in California. UCLA and UC Berkeley don't mean much in Texas, but they mean a lot in Cali because they're very hard to get into...if she wants to stay in Houston after graduation, Rice is definitely her best choice. Again, check out the potential scholarships out there. She may qualify for many...apply immediately for them because the funds run out quickly and there are many applicants to choose from.

Best of luck to your kid. You should be proud of yourself for raising such a bright kid who has so many options.....I am always of the opinion of going to the best college you can go to. It's the one thing you can never change on your resume.

My experience at U of H Downtown was great. Very small classes yet access to everything within the University of Houston system.

Plus it doesn't hurt that the campus is basically a building so you don't have to walk for 15 minutes to get to your next class.

I can't remember exactly how much I paid but I did not have to take out any student loans, I took the payment plan and I think I made 4 payments each semester with each payment being in the $1000 range.

You'd think this is an issue, until you have a goddamn over achiever who's been accepted into

Baylor
Rice
SFA
U of H
TSU
Did I say Rice
UCLA
UCLA Berkley
ASU

Now she's like mom....how much can we afford?


In all seriousness, I know that she could honestly do whatever she wanted. And I'm not sure of the difference between a degree from least say Sam Houston and UCLA? Originally Posted by nikkivikkisix

Good problem to have. Unless she wants to be a lawyer or doctor, it doesn't matter. It's pretty clear it's not the school that counts, it's the fact that the kid was bright enough and hard working enough to get into the good school that counts. The cream will rise to the top with hard work. Unless JD or MD. Then that Rice shit matters.

Good problem to have. Unless she wants to be a lawyer or doctor, it doesn't matter. It's pretty clear it's not the school that counts, it's the fact that the kid was bright enough and hard working enough to get into the good school that counts. The cream will rise to the top with hard work. Unless JD or MD. Then that Rice shit matters. Originally Posted by zxcv101

^^^ Ditto

Rice is a waste of money for undergrad unless its free and/or necessary or a prerequisite for the job upon graduation.


If shes going MD, then Baylor is a good contender. But all this circles back to my initial point of state school for undergrad. Graduate degree or specialize at an ivy league or top tier school. Contrary to Lucas's statement every idiot cannot get into a state school.

If shes is ahead of her peers she may get offered tons of scholarship money to attend the school as they are trying raise their institutions status quo.

And all this doesn't matter if she doesn't know what she wants to be when she grows up. I'm still trying to figure that one out.

Those are the points, but isn't the game being changed ?

Schools have consistently told young students they must attend their school for the experience and opportunities. With the internet, we have seen all kinds of schools, from trade schools to Ivy League, starting to offer their same degrees online to remain competitive. Some try to hang on to their reputational advantage by requiring students to at least visit the campus a few weeks during the year - which is pure uselessness.

They have a saying for this in China that escapes me now. But it is something similar to doing 1000 math exercises to be able to add 2 plus 3. There is no need for it - but everyone does it to meed the requirements of society.

It looks to be a losing battle, similar to something like the phone landlines losing their usefulness to mobile cell phones.

The other side of the coin is the employers. What do they look for, and what do they need ? No real answer. That is the answer we need. Difficult to get anywhere as a national politician without a brand name school on your resume.

Prince didn't get a degree. Bill Gates dropped out. But they had talent. Tons of drama students spend years and tens of thousands. Others just show up in Hollywood.

My $.02:

To a large extent it depends on what you want to do with your degree. I'd look at the long game and work backwards.

If you just need any degree to move forward into a career or job (for example, to get a teaching certificate) then you're probably fine with getting a degree from the least expensive ACCREDITED school that you can. Although, to be honest, you will learn cutting-edge education techniques at Columbia Teachers College that won't even get mentioned in some local public college.

If the goal is to get a graduate or professional degree (like a JD or MBA), the reputation of the undergraduate degree is not nearly as important as class standing. Choose the school environment where you are going to flourish academically and graduate toward the top of your class so you can get into Harvard Law, Johns Hopkins Med or whatever your dream school is.

If you just want to get a bachelor's degree to open up possibilities like landing a competitive job or possibly getting a graduate degree at some point, visit as many of the schools you're considering as you can afford. Trust your gut: if a school doesn't feel like a good fit - too big, to small, too remote location, too corporate, whatever - then it won't be. Once you've narrowed down the choices, consider the costs and reputation. There is ALWAYS a chance that you can end up unemployed or underemployed with massive debt, that's a risk that comes with the game. You can minimize those chances by researching the school. I think reputation still matters: graduating at the bottom of your class at Harvard still lands you a Harvard degree. But if one of the schools specializes in your area of interest, give it serious thought. Yale is a great school - one of the best - but if you want to study computer science then Rice has a better reputation within the field.

As a general rule, there are a handful of schools with such strong reputations that they will open doors in almost any field. Harvard, Stanford are examples.
Then, there are schools that may generally have good or even okay reputations in general, but are considered stellar within certain fields. Indiana for business, NYU for arts.
There are lots of "good" schools. High tuition costs may or may not be justified.
As a general rule (and there are MANY exceptions) for public schools, the hierarchy goes as follows:
1. flagship state system (University of ___), emphasis on flagship school. Examples: University of Texas (Austin), U. of California (Berkeley is the flagship school, UCLA is largely considered the next best, and the hierarchy continues down the line for almost all of the campuses)
2. secondary state systems (____ State University), there are exceptions (like Louisiana; also TAMU is much closer to UT - and in some disciplines better - than it is to TX State U), again, emphasis on flagship schools
3. smaller systems (E.g., University of Houston, Texas Southern), emphasis on flagship schools. Again, there are exceptions: The UH Hilton School is very well regarded, and UH (main campus) in general probably has a better reputation that Texas Tech (secondary state system).

Unless you just need any degree, just want to learn for the sake of learning or have no other choice at all, I would avoid most online programs. Phoenix is not well regarded at all. Some established national or regional schools do offer online degrees, but in almost all cases their reputations are not as strong as those of their traditional programs. Many of these universities offer their degrees through small, under-resourced departments that they name "School of Distance Learning" "School of Professional Studies" or "School of Continuous Education". That name will be on the diploma.

My sister took classes to do 'Chinese Medicine'
Something told me it was a scam but i could not pin it down...
I asked "are you sure there a jobs?" She asked the instructors and they replied yes there are jobs available.
Now since I now know the Chinese people... It was a scam for the only people that believe in that stuff are the old folks that hardly speak any English and my sister was illiterate in Chinese.

I spent 6 years [part time] getting a two year degree in Networking back in Minnesota
No real jobs are available using that degree only. But for me I am an electronic technician and that degree/knowledge meshed very well with what I knew already.

I got laid off after 25 years I got a job down here in Texas that lasted until I retired

You very much want to stay away from private for profit colleges. Any credits that you earn will NOT transfer to any other place. One time about 15 years ago I met someone that was taking a 'customized course' to be an IP address administrator[??!!]. Something did not sound right {in the days of the floppy] I asked him, take three floppy disks with very small files on two of them "Do you know how to move these small files to the third floppy disc? no he did not! and started to argue with me about the importance of file management.
This poor fellow got sucked into some government program where the government pays for classes but no chance of getting a job. The school just made up this course to get money from the government.
The government finally got wise to these BS courses and shut a number of 'schools' down

That sounds a lot like when you visit a doctor, and one of the first things they say is "Your insurance will pay for it."

The doctor pockets the money, other people pay for it, government pays for Medicare, and health care costs go up.

But Obama never figured that out.

How can anyone considering college or any post high school education figure out what school to attend ?. Originally Posted by VitaMan

The way my HS saw it, you pick where you feel best and can afford. You should pick safety schools and target schools also.

~I first started with how I wanted my school which was to be in Texas and small or medium sized. Other criterias came in over time such as does this school provide the career path I want, I won't say what it is but in the science field.
~Also looked into the diversity, and I wanted to know more of the Latino diversity but most schools didn't have that.
~I thought about natural disasters.
~keep in mind your GPA, rank, and SAT scores as those will help you determine which schools are safety schools and which are target.

I know I said in Texas, but you have to keep your mind open, because it can sometimes be cheaper to go out of state instead of in state. Never look at the "sticker" price because it can change. Just apply and then see the cost and aid you receive. If you are concerned with credibility, I guess just stick to the well established private/public schools. Also look at their tier in sports or academics if that helps.

I mean it is a lot to think about and not many people in schools are willing to put the time and effort to help students succeed. At least from what I have seen, although I know there are amazing teachers out there who I look up to and appreciate. I also don't know if it is different with schools in wealthy areas compared to low income which is where I came from. Supportive teachers, friends and family definitely help.

Use college board to search for schools and apply to scholarships as much as you can. Go for the small ones like 500$ or 1000$ maybe because most of the time people avoid them and apply to the big ones. Also look into local scholarships for less competition. One is Hong that most scholarships do ask for is the community service you have done.

@wildething, yes it is much easier if you know what you want to do. I eventually got there in 11th grade. At first I was just looking to look because my HS is dedicated to push students to attend a 4yr college/university.

Nikki, UofH is very affordable and every bit as good as the others on the list. UofH is where I am sending my nearly adult fertilized eggs ;-)

The most useful degrees are the STEM degrees, then I think business.

I agree, try to avoid student loans if you can.

Drive a truck make 50k++ a year..or develop a talent like I did n profit off it. Going to college is for dummies

On a side note go to YouTube and type in.. Maz Jobrani - A Scholar in the Crowd. Short funny comedy video about school

Alright mate. Have got child apply for student loans, this allows the child to focus and achieve an education. Once the child has graduated, pay off half of the loans as a gift.

UH is affordably priced and gives you a degree that can get you a good job. UT is better, but cost of living in Austin is significantly worse.

Honestly, your best bet is to get as many credits as your diploma school will allow from Community College or other low rent schools. Intro 101 classes teach the same things everywhere, and your GPA will look much better coming out of HCC than some A&M or Baylor weed out class.

Just make the grade (nothing less than a 3.0) and your $60-80k starting salary makes the debt manageable. It's the folks who drop out or graduate with 2.5s who really suffer.

Getting a job with a B-average from an OK school is way easier than a C-average from a top tier.

Honestly, your best bet is to get as many credits as your diploma school will allow from Community College or other low rent schools. Intro 101 classes teach the same things everywhere, and your GPA will look much better coming out of HCC than some A&M or Baylor weed out class. Originally Posted by HoustonHobbyist25

Keep in mind that not all credits transfer though. I have friends struggling getting the basics transfered over to UH. Eventually if they are not accepted, they will end up taking them again and spending more money. And worse that some of those classes are prerequisites.

Also some schools will require you to take the course again because of the level it is thought in community colleges may not be the same level in the college/university. Examples such as science courses like chemistry, physics, and biology. Just what I have overheard from others. Basic basic classes like theatre, psychology, English, history, political science, intro classes should be, but you can't ever be too careful.

Essentially, make sure they are transferrable to the university/college, if you know which you will go to already, before doing anything. It will save you time and stress.

Where it wouldn't matter is when you aren't paying. My AP exams were paid for, but I didn't have the knowledge I have now anyway about credits. Anyway, I did get credits because of those exams and they were accepted. However, if I remember correctly, not all schools accept those. Some may count as credits, but not attempted credits which is what I think counts in some schools in order to graduate.

Correct me if I am wrong.