Who ever thought that high education should become such a stress filled game, needs to go to hell. Now with the panic of acceptance letters over, I am faced with an even more challenging dilemma. How the hell am I going to pay for this? Four years of college, then another 4, at least, for my Ph.D. How am I ever going to pay for that? I’ll have loans until I’m 60. My family will live in shambles because everything we make will have to go to paying off the loans. Okay, so maybe I’m being a little overly dramatic. But I can’t be the only one.
After deciding where to go and talking it over with your parents about how much they can actually afford to spend on you. It’s hard to believe that after 18 years they have done so little preparing and that basically you are going to have to pay for everything and then some just to get through the first year. I could buy a brand new car every year for the next four years at the price I have to pay. Especially since I'm about to give my parents a big fuck you!!!
So what to do, what to do? My guess would be, get a good job if you don’t have one and eat real food while your mom is still buying it for you. Because once that first tuition payment comes due this fall there won’t be anything left to splurge on the good stuff.
Hello, damaged cans of spaghettio’s and mac and cheese because that’s all I’m going to be eating next year.
who needs this?
By paige_4769 - Posted on March 6th, 2008
If you get into a good Ph.D program they'll comp your tuition and give you a 20-25k/year stipend. You won't live like a queen, but you probably won't starve. Loans are a bigger issue, but provided you plan things properly you'll only be in debt until your 30's. Less if you get scholarships or qualify for federal financial aid -- which you can if you're no longer a dependent on your parents tax returns. Then, provided your GPA is good enough (which it will be), and you need money, there are Stafford loans which usually have better interest rates then other ones.
And of course there are scholarships.
So really, you could end up fine provided you plan it out.
My Blog
"We cannot redeem evil, we must combat it." -- Jean Paul Sartre
Yet again you prove to be helpful. How do you do it?
You'd be surprised about how much you can pick up through osmosis. And I noticed that another poster mentioned Ramen noodles. They're a good low-budget source of calories, but for your own sake I suggest learning how to shove nutrients into them when you cook them. And the taste tends to get old after a few thousand packets.
Try boiling chopped up celery and carrots in the water for 15-20 minutes before putting the noodles in. That way, you'll be getting some veggies too.
If you haven't already gotten one, I suggest getting a job now and saving money. That way, when you get to college, you'll have a bit saved up for the expenses that tend to crop up.
Also, avoid buying your books at your University book store unless it is absolutely unavoidable. There are all sorts of websites devoted to selling used college books for much less then the book store would cost. Hell, even Amazon beats most University book stores. For instance, one of my Philosophy books last semester was 150 dollars (counting what I would have paid in sales tax) at my Uni's book store. I got it online for 35. Yes, you read that right, 35. Personally, I still think I overpaid since I already own complete versions of all the works covered in it (it was an anthology), including, unfortunately, Summa Theologica.
Actually that brings me to another point. For many of the older works (philosophy, poetry, literature), you can find free copies/translations on the internet. My one warning is that the translations are often inferior to the better printed ones (I first noticed it while going through multiple translations of Aristotle's Nicomacean Ethics in preparation for a reading group).
Ok, I've digressed a lot, but hopefully some of this has been helpful. Just make sure to pass the helpful parts on to the next person who needs them.
My Blog
"We cannot redeem evil, we must combat it." -- Jean Paul Sartre
Aside from the FAFSA you filled out, try some scholarships:
http://fastweb.com
Ask your high school and college of any scholarships that you might be able to apply for.
If you don't know how to handle a bank account and credit card (or credit in general), LEARN NOW.
If you think it's stressful now, start learning yoga, pilates, or other relaxation techniques.
-Sonja :)
You're paying money to make money, the man has you playing his game, every transaction for him not you. If you could be dead and still work, the Gov would rather it be that way. You'll spend 80 grand for a 80grand a year job, which overworks you til you die. Good luck enjoying that, maybe you can feeling accomplished and important, but the universal fact is that is just lying to yourself.
"The only path that should be followed is found in a blizzard."-me..
Everything, you have done, and will do, is chemically predisposed by matter, even the fact you are reading this message. You make no choices, only perceive a given reality.
That's what I always say...we're paying money to make money.
the same as the Metric song...
We go to work to buy a car, we buy a car to go to work.
go figure. the fact that i will be paying that much just to make that much has nothing to do with it. you may think it's bull shit but i would rather help someone and have nothing then have everything and help no one. apparently my chemical predispostion says that i'm a do gooder, even if that's not how i view it.
I am the same way. It just sucks that you have to pay that much yo do what you want to do.
Paiges are always goodies in my life it seems, I was just pointing out the fruitlessness of the struggle, and you making money for yourself helps you and the economy, if you help someone with your money then you're helping someone. But its still a self-defeating currancy system, 1 big game of world wide hungry hippos.
Everything, you have done, and will do, is chemically predisposed by matter, even the fact you are reading this message. You make no choices, only perceive a given reality.
atleast mac and cheese tastes good.
i'm really glad you posted this, because lately i've been seriously considering whether or not i'm going to be following through on my life-long plans (all 17 years of it, ha).
i've been planning on being a veterinarian since i could remember, so that means a bachelors in biological science and then about three years at a vet school to obtain my d.v.m.
thing is, i really don't want to spend two thirds of my life in debt.
i know it's not as much as getting your ph.d, but same concept.
so now i'm thinking veterinary technician. the pay is crap, generally, but it's less school and less money getting there.
hm, yeah. i think out loud.
Look into scholarships. Check animal rights groups to see if they offer any, and all the other scholarship sites. If you can't find anything, try to ask around vet clinics to see if any of them helps pay to send techs to vet school. It's worth a shot.
-Sonja :)
I would say don't give up yet. If it is something you really want to do then you should go for it. It does suck that we will spend a third of our lives tryinbto pay it off but ifbits something you really want to do then maybe paying all that money is worth it.