Comments on: How to Get an Expensive College Education for 80% Less

By: Miranda

Miranda — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 12:30:27 +0000

It really is what you make of it. I got partial scholarships to schools that were quite expensive. In the end, I went to a small state school, excelled, and then got into a good grad program. In the end, whether you do well or not depends on you. And, as my lawyer uncle points out, “People would rather see that you were the top of your class at a small program, than that you were mediocre or bottom at a large and prestigious program.”

By: dp

dp — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 10:28:58 +0000

Great post and so true.
Way back in college, I met a cute boy in the science library and ended-up with a career in medicine thanks to his direction.
Surround yourself with success and you will be successful.

By: Financial Samurai

Financial Samurai — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 04:23:14 +0000

Ok Neal, the suspense is killing me, WHAT school is she attending and what expensive schools is she forgoing? BTW, I love UCLA, UC Berkeley, and a host of other high quality state schools! .-= Financial Samurai´s last blog ..Wealth Is An Illusion Of Happiness =-.

By: Matt Jabs

Matt Jabs — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 03:37:58 +0000

I mostly breezed through school without applying myself as much as I should have, but looking back… I was soooooo not ready. I would have been much better off working for awhile so I could get a dose of reality. Instead I partied and let a lot of great opportunities slip me by. A few years out of school is when I finally wanted to learn… and that is still where I am today. I love learning, I just wasn’t ready back then.
.-= Matt Jabs´s last blog ..Debt Reduction and Savings Statement – March 2010 =-.

By: Abigail

Abigail — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 21:46:24 +0000

I absolutely agree. I went to an honors program at the University of Washington, rather than graduate $100,000 in debt from Cornell. I got a stellar education.

What’s more, with all the graduate-level degrees running around out there, it makes sense to save your money for where it counts. Companies look at the last school you attended. (My aunt went to a few different colleges, but she went to graduate school at Harvard. That’s what got her interviews.)

And you don’t have to be in an Ivy League college to get into Ivy League grad school. In fact, it can help if you don’t, because you’re more likely to be a big fish in a small pond.

One friend stayed up at University of Alaska at Anchorage (the rest of us couldn’t get away fast enough) because she didn’t want to go into debt for her education. She became class president her sophomore year. She ended up going to Tufts for graduate school and currently works for the State Department.
.-= Abigail´s last blog ..A bankruptcy story… redux =-.