[HELP] Discovering College for a Senior

[ty_]

wow!
these are all really helpful.

unfortunately, the military is not on my horizon, I don't have much of an interest in fighting for my country.

My current interest is University of Delaware and I want to major in Renewable Energy Technology.

That entire field interests me immensely and not many colleges advertise a major like that yet, what kind of major would be the same but maybe with a different title?

 

[Abe21599]

wow!
these are all really helpful.

unfortunately, the military is not on my horizon, I don't have much of an interest in fighting for my country.

My current interest is University of Delaware and I want to major in Renewable Energy Technology.

That entire field interests me immensely and not many colleges advertise a major like that yet, what kind of major would be the same but maybe with a different title?

enviromental engineering possibly

 

[quaffapint]

wow!
these are all really helpful.

unfortunately, the military is not on my horizon, I don't have much of an interest in fighting for my country.

My current interest is University of Delaware and I want to major in Renewable Energy Technology.

That entire field interests me immensely and not many colleges advertise a major like that yet, what kind of major would be the same but maybe with a different title?

I did my masters at UD. The campus wasn't that great, but it was a good school and even cheaper than Penn State, and that's at out of state prices.

 

[number6]

I work at the University of Pennsylvania in Philly, but of course that's one of the big, private, expensive schools it sounds like you're trying to avoid (although I believe we recently dropped student loans and financial aid is now only via grants, which you wouldn't have to pay back!).

But right next door to Penn is Drexel University. It's smaller and known for being a great school for technical areas like engineering and IT. You might want to give it a look.

 

[pilot25]

If you aren't going to a Class A school like Yale, Harvard, Princeton etc. then economize. Ex. Duke is $50k per year. Good school but not worth 50k. You can take that 200k and invest it at a 4% return compounded over 30 years. Then find get a job that you enjoy. Most college grads aren't going to make more than a non-college grad for at least the first 10 years. If you average say 70k while the college grad averages 100k you still are ahead because of the money you banked and earnings for the 4 years you didn't enter into college. Ivy grads, for the most part, are going to earn well above the average which skewes the math and makes college worth while. Additionally, if you are below a certain income level, 130k /year, Harvard pro rates their tuition. side note: Harvard's endowment is so large they could pay the salary of every teacher, tuition of every student, and still have hundreds of millions left over each year. just food for thought on the schools that bleed students dry.

Do the math and you will see college doesn't pay anymore. The astronomical increases in tuition in the last 15 years is abhorrent and the schools should be ashamed of themselves for charging so much.

 

[pilot25]

Here is a nice blueprint quote from a senior writer at CNBC. You can see the math breakdown a lot better.

Is college a good investment?


Calculate how much discretionary income a student would have after graduation, assuming he or she took out loans to fund an education at University of Massachusetts at Amherst, a public school, or private New York University. The calculation assumed the student earned a business degree, got a job making $65,900 (the median industry salary, according to the BLS) and paid 8 percent interest on the loans.
After factoring in everything from taxes to 401(k) contributions, Kotlikoff calculated the graduate paying off the debt from UMass would have $36,515 for discretionary spending. That would remain stable even after his debt was paid off.
The NYU graduate would never catch up. He or she would have $22,128 for discretionary spending at age 22, rising to $35,311 at age 42, when the debt is paid off.
Of course, there are factors that could make the higher debt more worthwhile. Perhaps the NYU graduate would find that degree translated into a higher salary over time, making the extra tuition pay off. But even at the most elite private universities, there are no such guarantees.

 

[dkst0426]

If you're looking for something in the south outside of the city, you could look at Virginia Tech or Clemson. Both have solid engineering schools, and should have what you're looking for.

If you're thinking of city schools, Georgia Tech and NC State pretty much were dropped right in the middle of Atlanta and Raleigh respectively.

 

[SwiftLegend]

The people that joined the Military, could you give me some advice? I'm 15 and have always been interested in the different military branches, not to mention a lot of federal agencies like the FBI, CIA, NCIS, etc.
In May, my class went to a field trip down on Wall Street. It was the Friday before Memorial Day, and the Marines were coming into town in all their dual blade heli's....I started talking to a few, I think they were Petty officers, but I'm probably wrong. I really inspired, and have been thinking about joining the military. I've always thought about joining the Air Force and Marine, but mostly the Marines...

My question is, how is the school part of it? I've talked to my parents about it, and I want to go to college. Is it better to go after high school or should I go to college first, then join the Marines? I'm hoping in the 4-5yrs before I can join, the war in Iraq and the Middle East is over, even though I'd want to either be a computer engineer or even on the field..
I also have a friend that joined the Army, just go be able to go to college.( he came from a very poor family) Is it worth it or should I join only if I like the cause and want to really join the military for different reasons other than school?

I know is topic really comes down to personal opinion, but I l always like to hear other people's thoughts...

 

[SwiftLegend]

@OP, You should read this article. I always believed this, as I don't think anyone else can know what should is the best except you, yourself. People forget that everyone is DIFFERENT, and some critics opinion isn't the best.

Don't Trust College Rankings When Choosing a School

It's true. My sister applied to a college named Sacred Heart Uni in Fairfield. It was ranked like 16, I don't remember as it was 3 years ago. When we all went to the open house, the school looked like an ex-asylum. The campus was huge and build all around a hill - pretty much every important thing was a 2 mile walk up a hill (their shuttle service had an average wait of 45 minutes). The academics part didn't look that great, it seemed very similar to BMCC (well known community college in Manhattan). My dad didn't like it either, and he went to pretty good schools. Overall, I think college rankings are pretty shallow. They only reflect on what one person things - the critic, who probably didn't go there - not the actual applicants/students..