Need advice

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Balrog99

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Apr 13, 2013
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Possibly not the best spot for this, but I need college advice. I want to be an Environmental Scientist, and the only college I’m considering that has it happens to be in town. With that, my parents have offered to pay my tuition if I stay here. They would pay for my room and board if I were to stay at the dorms as well, but I would still need to max my loans and save a lot of money that I could later. I don’t have a bad homelife or anything, but I am definitely ready to get out. My question is, if in my situation, would you stay at home for either free and have no debt upon graduation, or go and get the experience but have a lot of debt along with no extra money because it all went to college? Any advice is helpful.
 
Stay at home, and let your parents pay the tuition so you stay debt free and maintain your freedom as financial freedom is HUGE, especially while considering that I was actually reading an article today about statistics of college grads throughout the USA post-graduation... It was saying that on average about 50% of grads end up working in a career that they didn't study for or towards in college and that most only last 2-3 years in their first job. --- another statistic that was touched upon is that on average a person will switch careers 5-7 times throughout their lifetimes. The truth is, teens in highschools aren't exposed to enough of the world yet to truly know what they want to do in life. Which has led to MANY "quarter-life crisis" in recent years, at the mid to late 20's... Because they realized what direction they went in life wasn't what they truly wanted but felt as though it was too late to make a change, because they'd be taking a pay cut or were afraid of the unknown and couldn't "risk" leaving the money they were making because they had debt to pay off (like school loans or mortgages), or simply that they wern't qualified to do anything else, and going back to school wasn't really an option.

Speaking from experience (I had dreamed while growing up of becoming a certain thing... I am today working in what HAD been my "dream job", however after roughly 2 years now I am just about done with this path, for SO many reasons... --- you don't really know if you are going to "love" the work you will be doing upon graduation. It is indeed possible but there is also a possibility that you will not. I had something else in mind when I thought about doing what I do now, but after nearly 2 years I see how different it is and how unfulfilled and stressed I am, and am realistically looking to distance myself from this work place sometime this year.

The nice thing is I was debt free from college and have been good at saving, so my backs not up against a wall financially... But if I had student loans I'd pretty much be stuck in this work because if I quit I wouldn't be able to keep up with the payments for long among everything else. So in this sense I am very lucky, and a HUGE advocate for coming out of college debt-free!!!! It preserves YOUR freedom to MAKE CHOICES and dosn't put you at a disadvantage in life, sure the 4 years of a college experience in a dorm is cool and fun, but realistically is it worth 60k-120k of debt? ---- Just stay at home, and hang around the campus pre-class and post-class and make friends, talk to people and go to parties you can have best of both worlds.

Sorry if this was too long, but I felt as though this was VERY important to try and get across to you. Also if you have any questions or want to know more of what I was talking about in my circumstance feel free to PM me.

Goodluck buddy, and enjoy =-D
 
Thank you to all who have replied. Not sure what my final decision will be, but I’m leaning towards at least starting by staying at my house and possibly moving to the school after a while
 
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Not a bad approach to start with. The kind of debt you accumulate these days in college is a noose around your neck when you graduate. It keeps you from buying houses and cars. I would try to be as debt free as possible.

That said, the college experience is about being on your own for the first time (so to speak). I lived in dorms my first two years and apartment my last two years. I was essentially debt free within 6 months after graduating. I felt rich since I never really made any money of any consequence before graduating.
 
Stay at home and use your saved money for your future. Download and listen to the free audiobook “Rich Dad Poor Dad”... one of these apps has it. Who am I kidding though... I didn’t go to college :confused:

I might take some classes in the near future, but I assure you, I’ll be staying home.

I’m 27 by the way, own house, career, fiancé, 2 kids. I wouldn’t trade it for the world, and I don’t feel like I missed out on a thing.

Choose one and don’t look back, there are benefits to both.
 
I stayed at home, 24 miles from the Auburn University campus, because I had to work my way through and every cost saving helped immensely.
It was the only possible way for me. I did graduate with an EE degree and owing nothing, though. I have always felt that I missed a lot of the non-academic college experience. Commuting did eliminate a lot of possible distraction for me, and I probably did much better academically than if I had lived on or near campus.

There are pros and cons to both choices. However, having no college debt would be the deciding factor for me. Being single, free of debt and having
significant money for the first time in my life was exhilarating.
 
It depends what you are going to school for if it is worth it to go or not. Why not trying to apply for a few jobs in the field you want to work in first and see if not having a college degree holds you back at all.

I think for people going to medical or law or engineering school a degree is all important. However I am no expert on the field you specified so I am not sure how vital a degree is to that field.
 
When I was 18 it would have been the dorms. Now at 51 (and just finished paying my student loans in December) it would be debt free because I know how hard it is to pay off those loans.

Live at home. Get involved in clubs at school, hang out with some friends who live in the dorms. Maybe join a frat so you've got a place to hang out on campus. Best of both worlds.
 
My sister's son lived at college while attending and accumulated significant debt. He got the college experience... He got his degree (double major; math & computer something) and got a job within about an hour's drive. He commuted that distance for a couple years (with a high mpg car) while living at home until he paid off his college debt. Now he's free to do as he pleases without any major debt to hold him back. Thought I would mention as it poses another possible option if you live in an area that needs folks with your major.
 
If your parents are paying for your tuition + room/board, why are you maxing out your student loans? Am I missing something here? A part time job will solve the "walking around/gas in the car" situation.
 
I didn't have the options you have, however, given my current experiences, I would do ANYTHING to graduate with zero debt.

Unless you plan on staying home when after you graduate, or have a place to stay for free, please consider what I say. The loan repayments by themselves can be crippling. Coupled with rent, and, well, yeah....don't pick debt.

I'm so jealous of my friends whose parents were able (and willing) to pay for their schooling. They're talking about how much money they can invest in a 401k and play with stocks, and I'm thinking about getting a second job to break even.
 
gazz98 said:
If your parents are paying for your tuition + room/board, why are you maxing out your student loans? Am I missing something here? A part time job will solve the "walking around/gas in the car" situation.
Click to expand...

The way I interpeted what he said (or what he meant to say) is his parents will pay for tuition if he stays at home, or room and board if he chooses to stay in a dorm (leaving him to pay tuition, which I guess is less?).
 
Some degrees ARE worth getting into debt for. I graduated with a degree in electrical engineering in 2015. I was about 30k in debt. My starting salary, along with intelligent budgeting, allowed me to pay it all off in less than a year. I got most of the interest paid back in tax returns. So it was certainly worth it for me.

You need to decide if your degree is worth the debt or not. It's not a trivial question for a forum to answer.
 
bmilla35 said:
The way I interpeted what he said (or what he meant to say) is his parents will pay for tuition if he stays at home, or room and board if he chooses to stay in a dorm (leaving him to pay tuition, which I guess is less?).
Click to expand...

"They would pay for my room and board if I were to stay at the dorms as well"

I read that as including the tuition.

Nevertheless..... I would take your parents up on their offer. As others have said, debt free is a wonderful thing and worth the *ahem* inconvenience of staying at home.

After you graduate, chances are you will relocate, maybe need a more reliable car, a place to stay, furnishings, etc. You will appreciate no debt from college at that time.
 
gazz98 said:
"They would pay for my room and board if I were to stay at the dorms as well"

I read that as including the tuition.

Nevertheless..... I would take your parents up on their offer. As others have said, debt free is a wonderful thing and worth the *ahem* inconvenience of staying at home.

After you graduate, chances are you will relocate, maybe need a more reliable car, a place to stay, furnishings, etc. You will appreciate no debt from college at that time.
Click to expand...

Yeah I know lol...I just tried to fix it into whatever made the most sense for this to actually be a question I guess?
 
Stay at home, get a job while you study, save up your take home pay. When you're ready to fly the coop, you'll have a nice sum you can use towards an apartment/rental near the school or elsewhere.

Trust me, you do NOT want that debt. You're young, you don't truly understand how nice it is to not have giant debt, nor do you realize just how amazingly awesome your parents are for offering to keep you debt free, but older you will be oh so greatly appreciative that you don't
 
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