A buddy of mine just “launched” his first child into college where he will be studying computer science. A good degree these days it seems. I was shocked to learn that a grad can start out at $60k-$80k or higher. Which may take the sting out of the main thrust of this post. My friends son is going to an expensive private school, which was preceded by an expensive college prep high school so you would think that within a few weeks of the kids settling in, the kids would be on track to learning and focused on academics. Well come to find out, when the dean of students did an opening introduction for the freshman class and their parents, the words included things like, “don’t push yourselves.” “choose some light work in your first semester.” “You have to choose one physical activity, so we have golf, tennis, swimming etc”.. I could go on, but you get the idea. I was amazed. As someone will no doubt one day pay for child to go to college, I find this whole exercise somewhat disheartening. The way it was explained to me is that some kids just aren’t ready for college, so therefore the schools try to make the transition as painless as possible. Which I can accept, but no wonder a typical degree in the US takes four years. The first year seems to be spent repeating high school and having a good time. I am told by parents who are paying these fees for Summer Camp 365 days a year, that this is their child’s time to grow. But don’t kids grow up anyway? I mean they’re getting older after all. Don’t get me wrong. I understand that college is a time to explore what interests you, and to see where you might like to focus. But even so, four years for many of these kids seems too long, and can leave the parents and the kid further in debt. But at least I was told the school my friends son is going to does offer Country & Western Dance. Seems like money well spent to me.
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