When applying
for college I sort of felt like I was applying for two separate people. One
person wanted to go to a huge university so that she could join a sorority and
go to football games and participate in “the ultimate college experience.” The
other person wanted to fulfill her childhood dream of going to New York City
and living that shiny plastic life she had seen in magazines. When it all came
down to it, the decision was incredibly clear. Now I’d like to tell you all
that it was divine inspiration that sent me to New York, and that I was so sure that this was the place I was
supposed to be. It was nothing like that, I faced the reality that all kids
face when going to college, money.
Obviously, the
living costs were much higher in Manhattan. But, because I was paying my school
for housing and I received a half tuition scholarship based on my SAT scores,
that $40,000 a year tuition quickly turned in $20,000. Because I am a genius
and always think things through, going to New York ended up being significantly
cheaper than all the private and out of state universities I had chosen because
of the scholarship money even with the astronomical price of living. My
apartment alone without the schools help would have been $3,300 a month so the
way I saw it, I was essentially going to school for free! I’m not sure that’s
exactly how my parents saw it though. They saw $20,000 a year spent funding my
9 month vacation to New York because the typical college student today spends
less than 30 hours a week on academics. (“Economic Collapse”) LOLOLOL IF THAT!
So this is why
I chose The King’s College. Not because of its outstanding academic
credentials, or impressive list of academia, or because it was located in the
greatest city in the world. But because it was cheap… and not even that cheap. Sure, New York has amazing
internship opportunities, I interned at a PR firm for 6 months (but we’ll get
to that). My school also had a fantastic media program and John Stossel even
came in all the time to do guest lectures, but that wasn’t exactly my primary
reason for going. Statistics show that 2/3 of all students graduate with
student loans (“Economic Collapse”) and I was going to try my hardest to be in
that 33.3% without student loans. So you see, I wasn’t this small town girl who
left everything she knew to make it in the big city. I was just a broke college
kid.
"Student Loan Debt Hell: 21 Statistics That Will Make You Think Twice About Going To College." The Economic Collapse. WordPress, 28 04 2011. Web. Web. 12 Sep. 2012. <http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/student-loan-debt-hell-21-statistics-that-will-make-you-think-twice-about-going-to-college>.
Amanda,
ReplyDeleteThis blog of yours brightened my night completely! It was very funny, and just a joy to read honestly! I had never viewed the whole "college experience" in that point of view. I loved how you mentioned the economic relapsed, because school does involve alot of money to get a decent education and it is crazy how people waste and through their money away! Great post have a great evening!
I agree with JMedina--this was entertaining. But I am a bit confused, too, so bear with me as I try to parse this out. If your bill went from $40,000 to $20,000, and you had $3,300 in monthly rent, how was that in any way going for free? Was it that you applied your rent to the savings with the scholarship? But still, that was $20,000 plus $3,300 (for 9 months, less room-mate's shares). So this makes me wonder. What did it really cost? What about food, electricity, all those other living costs? And did you take out loans for your first year?
ReplyDeleteI think you're right in talking about economics for college students. Most of our parents (I know mine didn't!) don't prepare us for living on our own, and costs (esp. in New York) can be astronomical. How do your finances compare to being back in VA?