Adapted from I'm First Guide to College
You’ve probably heard, and might believe, some of these
common MYTHS about college. Read on for the REALITIES.
MYTH: Students can make a good living without a college
education.
REALITY: There is no doubt that some people have done well
without a college degree. However, a college graduate will earn on average
about a million dollars more than a high school graduate in his/her lifetime.
For more people, college pays.
MYTH: To make it in today’s world, you need a four-year
college degree.
REALITY: Someone with a four-year degree may have more
career options, but there are many satisfying and good-paying jobs that are
possible with certain technical or two-year degrees. Students should start with
the fields that are of interest and learn what kind of education is required
and what the job opportunities are in those areas. Students can then get the
degree they need for the type of career they want.
MYTH: Anyone can get into a public university, but it’s hard
to get into a private college.
REALITY: Some public universities are among the most
competitive to get into, while other public universities are required to take
nearly all applicants. It’s true that some private colleges are very selective,
but others take students who wouldn’t even be admitted to a home state public
university. Check with the colleges you are considering to learn more about the
average academic credentials of its students and its admission policies.
MYTH: Courses and grades in the spring of senior year aren’t
important because students already have been accepted by a college by the time
those courses are done.
REALITY: Most colleges make statements in their admissions
materials that they will look at a senior’s spring grades. If the student’s
academic performance has dropped off substantially, colleges have been known to
cancel an offer of admission.
MYTH: The college with the lowest sticker price (the tuition price listed on the website) will be the
most affordable.
REALITY: Not necessarily! Some of the colleges with a high
sticker price have raised significant amounts of money for scholarships from
their graduates and friends. As a result, they have more money to give to
students in the form of scholarships, which reduces the sticker price. After
taking financial aid into consideration, a seemingly more expensive college may
be more affordable than a college with a lower list price. Check out the net
price calculators for the schools you’re interested in to estimate how much you
might actually be paying at a school.
MYTH: My parents don’t have the money, and I can’t afford to
take out loans even if I wanted to go.
REALITY: Almost all students today can get low-rate
education loans to help them pay for college, and education loans typically
don’t have to be paid back until a student is out of school. The average loan
debt of undergraduate students today is roughly $20,000—that’s less than the
cost of most new card! A car lasts a few years. A college education lasts a
lifetime.
MYTH: Students today have so much loan debt that it doesn’t
make sense to pay a lot to go to college.
REALITY: Most students who have huge loan debt usually have
either done a poor job of finding a college where their family’s financial aid
works well, or they made a conscious decision to take on that kind of loan debt
so that they can attend a particular college. The goal for most families is to
find schools that will be financially reasonable for them in advance, usually
by using a published financial aid estimator to understand where they stand
under the federal formula for financial aid.
MYTH: There isn’t a lot of financial aid available, and what
is available only goes to a few of the very best students.
REALITY: During the 2002-03 academic year, over $105 billion
dollars in financial aid was awarded. The federal government through grant,
loan, and work-study programs, doled out the vast majority of this money, while
colleges’ own grants and scholarships accounted for almost 20% of all financial
aid. States helped too by contributing over $5.5 billion to the pot. That’s a
lot of money. In fact, over 70% of students nationally receive some king of
financial aid.
MYTH: You need to start planning for college during your
junior year of high school.
REALITY: While some students may wait this late to do
certain things like visiting potential colleges or taking the SATs, there are
other things that should never wait this long. For example, high school course
selections and grades represent the single most important consideration in most
colleges’ admissions decisions. High school course decisions are made sometimes
as early as the middle school years. Financial planning, saving for college,
and finding out which colleges will be affordable also should be done well
before the junior year.
MYTH: No one in my family has gone to college—why should I
be the first?
REALITY: After high school, student may have 40 or 50 years
of employment ahead. Many changes will occur in the job market during this
time. A college education will certainly give a student more options for the
long term. Many of today’s jobs that require only a high school diploma may no
longer exist a few years from now. A student’s education should prepare him or
her for the job market of the future, not the present.
MYTH: It doesn’t really matter if I wait a year or two to go
to college.
REALITY: Many students who don’t go to college right after
high school never get around to it. Others bring great experience to the
college when they enroll because of what they did with the time off from
school. It is wise for a student to apply to colleges of interest during senior
year just like any other student. He or she can then ask a college to defer
enrollment for a year or two, if the student needs the time away. Most colleges
will hold the offer of admission, especially if the student has plans that will
ultimately make the student even more interesting or valuable as a member of
the campus community.
Caution: If a
student works during this time away, the student’s income (if substantial) may
hinder his/her financial aid eligibility when he/she goes back to school.
Because the student will in many cases still qualify as a dependent student,
only a small amount of income will be protected under the federal formula.
Amounts beyond that can hurt financial aid eligibility.
