# College selection advice (for my daughter) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 10, 2020, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-selection-advice-for-my-daughter/925253 "2020-11-10T23:43:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2020, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-selection-advice-for-my-daughter/925253/81 "2020-11-14T20:19:19Z")
Last year, final commitments and enrollments literally strung out until the opening of school in August- I don’t remember now, but most schools final commitment to enroll was May 31st (iirc)… but then it kept being pushed off: [![Google Photos](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/CzlUvGknp8vZMj2VbN-vbpcbYQrhp8O4yk0NR0WkAGqxJwk2aCBqu-oz150DUlTzoXj0QzlTiftc58S2XuX2tGlnWQOUFHaNu6EkXcbLiMdycdODQtYTV_mUvmUAoExrkFwmtehGKw=w600-h315-p-k "New item by John Thornton") ](https://photos.app.goo.gl/g5TjxAH6L8eSKFBH9) First payment due date @ St John’s was pushed back 2 weeks as well, which kind of irritated me. Of course, there were extenuating circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2020, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-selection-advice-for-my-daughter/925253/82 "2020-11-14T21:49:59Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > Famously, the UCs have no need-based aid for out of state these day. None. So it’s going to be $70k. It just is. (There are like 5 merit scholarships) But every year, I have students who insist on applying, so that maybe a miracle will occur. None so far. Wow. I didn’t know this. I was at UCLA (I’m assuming by UCs, you mean University of California), and I remember it costing a lot more for out-of-state residents, but I didn’t know about the no-aid thing. Of course this was decades ago. I started during my senior year in high school where I paid half the fulltime student fee – $52. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2020, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-selection-advice-for-my-daughter/925253/83 "2020-11-14T22:02:33Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > Poor first generation kid, very young teen mom, still has great grades . . .that’s a good story. I thought Kron was saying her grandma was the very young teen mom (i.e. his mom). No? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2020, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-selection-advice-for-my-daughter/925253/84 "2020-11-14T22:07:38Z")
> [@Kron](#): > > Should I convince her to do general courses at a local school, then move on to a more specialized school? YES! By all means. Use the Community college to get rid of all the basic classes, and by the end, she will know more about what she wants to be, and if she even wants to continue college. Then get the best prestige school you can afford for her next two years. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2020, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-selection-advice-for-my-daughter/925253/85 "2020-11-14T22:10:11Z")
> [@Dark\_Sponge](#): > > Perhaps it is unusual but my CC had an agreement with our state’s universities that a 2 year AA/AS degree = 2 years of college credit. This is the route I took and it was honored by the state university. Same thing in all of CA, afaik. Perfectly valid. My two years- well three since I worked- cost me about $200. CC is more or less free in CA And yes, people do go to college- 2 year, 4 year, whatever, and sometimes find it is not for them. It happens. Might as well find out locally without breaking the bank. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2020, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-selection-advice-for-my-daughter/925253/86 "2020-11-14T22:13:48Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > Forensic anthropologist, medical illustrator, coroner, and ME’s assistant were all careers she looked into. Yes, ME’s assistant is a up and coming job, also. "Coroner’ is sometimes a medical position, really the ME, sometimes a elected one, sometimes just something the Funeral home director does, it varies a lot by state. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2020, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-selection-advice-for-my-daughter/925253/87 "2020-11-14T22:16:16Z")
That’s a very good point. I gather that depending on the state the coroner can be almost anything, from an elected official or appointee with no particular qualifications to a qualified medical doctor. So it’s not really a single profession one could aspire to without having specific and definite plans on where one expected to live. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2020, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-selection-advice-for-my-daughter/925253/88 "2020-11-14T22:39:30Z")
I thought Kron is a woman, who had her daughter at 14. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2020, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-selection-advice-for-my-daughter/925253/89 "2020-11-14T22:42:22Z")
Wow. I’m really off base!!! ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2020, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-selection-advice-for-my-daughter/925253/90 "2020-11-14T22:49:31Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > I thought Kron is a woman, who had her daughter at 14. I’m a 40-year-old man-child! Actually, my mom got pregnant with me at 14. She never finished school (shocking, I know!). I was always a gifted kid, but we were DIRT poor growing up, so I just never really had the background/support for getting into college “the right way”. As a result, I also don’t have that background to assist my kids in doing it, either. I never intended to be a parent, let alone a single dad (very long story, just a mom that doesn’t really want kids and left them with me, their step-dad), so I often just sort of feel like I’m flailing around trying to to the right thing (and failing!). > [@carrps](#): > > Wow. I’m really off base!!! ETA: Nope, you got it! ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2020, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-selection-advice-for-my-daughter/925253/91 "2020-11-14T22:54:30Z")
> [@Kron](#): > > I often just sort of feel like I’m flailing around trying to to the right thing Stop beating yourself up RIGHT NOW! You are doing a fine job. Anyone who reads your posts can tell you love those kids and they know you love them, so you’re on the Parenting Honor Roll. You have all the right instincts and you ask for help and then listen to what is offered. That’s 95%+ of the game. Don’t make us tell you again. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2020, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-selection-advice-for-my-daughter/925253/92 "2020-11-14T22:55:23Z")
> [@Kron](#): > > ETA: Nope, you got it! Phew! I was starting to doubt myself! And I think you sound like a great dad. 😁 ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2020, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-selection-advice-for-my-daughter/925253/93 "2020-11-15T07:37:05Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > YES! By all means. Use the Community college to get rid of all the basic classes, and by the end, she will know more about what she wants to be, and if she even wants to continue college. > > Then get the best prestige school you can afford for her next two years. There’s been a lot of contrary advice to your point about CC’s in this thread. But, I’ll address the point of knowing about what they want to do. You’re often not surrounded by people planning higher education in a CC. A classmate that’s getting an AA so they can get a higher pay rate as a retail manager probably isn’t someone you can bounce career ideas off. Other classmates are like to be aimless recent high school grads. The socialisation at 4 year schools is important, obviously living in a zoom era sucks. But, I’ve got to think we’re out of it by fall of 2021. If not, there will likely be avenues to defer admission for a year. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2020, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-selection-advice-for-my-daughter/925253/94 "2020-11-15T19:39:14Z")
Look, only about 1/3 of those who start college finish with a degree. Why waste $50000 for two years of college then drop out? And there is plenty of socialization at a two year. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2020, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-selection-advice-for-my-daughter/925253/95 "2020-11-15T20:03:45Z")
That’s why I stressed going to a 4 year that 1) doesn’t cost you $25k a year (reduced through scholarships and grants and 2) has a high graduation rates. Private schools and state flagships have very high 4 and 6 year graduation rates–The University of Texas has an 87% 6 year graduation rate: Oberlin College is 84%. Creighton College, mentioned earlier, has a 79% graduation rate. Going to a school where graduation is _normal_ and _expected_ is one of the most important things you can do. ETA: and the graduation rate among students who had straight As in high school is much, much higher. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2020, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-selection-advice-for-my-daughter/925253/96 "2020-11-15T20:19:09Z")
> [@gkster](#): > > Is location an issue and are you going to try for schools within driving distance? I know that many families and students are fine with being a plane ride away, but that’s not everyone. Actually, my daughter really wants to get out of the middle of the country. She would really like to go to the northwest, especially western Oregon, but is open to going elsewhere that just isn’t a “regressive stronghold” like Wyoming is. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2020, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-selection-advice-for-my-daughter/925253/97 "2020-11-16T02:22:13Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > Creighton College Nitpick: Creighton **University**. Excellent school and located in a diverse Midwestern city, sports, recreation abound. You can almost walk to the airport to fly home. Several hundred Trump rally attendees recently had to walk back to town after all. Medical school, dental school, law school also. Oops. Didn’t see the post above but then Omaha isn’t like Idaho or Wyoming. We actually elected a Democratic elector for Biden in one of our districts. Cost of living is good here compared to the coasts and there is more to do to chose from than you could ever have time to do. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2020, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-selection-advice-for-my-daughter/925253/98 "2020-11-16T08:34:54Z")
> [@Kron](#): > > Actually, my daughter really wants to get out of the middle of the country. She would really like to go to the northwest, especially western Oregon, but is open to going elsewhere that just isn’t a “regressive stronghold” like Wyoming is. My wife, both my daughters and I went to college beyond easy driving distance from home. It worked out great in all cases. Dorms are a good half step to independence, and being in a dorm builds friendships far faster than living at home. When my wife and I went communication with our parents was one phone call a week. When my daughters went, they’d call while walking to classes. So I think your daughter is smart, even if she loved Wyoming. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2021, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-selection-advice-for-my-daughter/925253/99 "2021-01-23T02:18:20Z")
Today, my daughter got an acceptance letter from one of her top three school choices, the University of Oregon! She was so happy she burst into tears! ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2021, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-selection-advice-for-my-daughter/925253/100 "2021-01-23T02:23:53Z")
Awww, happy for her! I remember that letter well~53+ years ago. Congrats to her and her parental units. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-selection-advice-for-my-daughter/925253.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-selection-advice-for-my-daughter/925253.md?page=6)