Kids

[LimeyGator]

It'll cost me a fortune to send my kids to any of those schools: Transatlantic airfares for a daily commute will be a sucker punch that puts any of your financial decision-making into perspective

By the way, I wasn't being serious so apologies if offended. It was the "you can still go there..." with my partisan hat on. I completely see your viewpoint

[tilly]

Originally Posted by FriendlyGator

I may be forking about $40k per year (that is $160k IF they finish in 4 years, and many kids won't as they try to find their major after getting to college. Just wait until it is time to start forking out the money it will really hit you. Think about that--$160k. Real money. Not fake money. The hard earned cash you have so desperately accumulated for hopeful retirement).

Paying for your kids education isn't a law. They can work hard and pay off loans like millions of others.

[abc1234]

Originally Posted by tilly

Paying for your kids education isn't a law. They can work hard and pay off loans like millions of others.

Getting harder and harder to do, thanks to a lack of jobs and steadily rising interest rates on loans (and hugely inflated tuition prices). Not saying I don't see where you're coming from, but the next generation is the first to finally be worse off than their parents. We owe it to them to help as much as possible.

[grant1]

My kids (9 and 7) are brainwashed already, also. There identify long-haired guys as seiminole (aka girly boys). Actually, that stemmed from an old Tshirt where the Gator is carting off the dead nole, aubie tiger, and dog to the cemetary. My daughter asked why the nole has long hair and I told her they are girly-boys.

Last school year, I had a talk with our daughter about why she was so obient at school, but didn't listen well at home. Her respones: "so I can get good grades to get into the Gator college".

[FriendlyGator]

Originally Posted by tilly

Paying for your kids education isn't a law. They can work hard and pay off loans like millions of others.

Well I had the good fortune of parents who paid for the vast majority of my education, allowing me to get a great start on adult life once I graduated without being saddled with debt. Paying $750 or $1000 a month or more toward student loans is a huge burden. I've seen it eat away at people.

My kids will not pay a penny for their undergrad so long as they complete their degree within a reasonable time frame, hopefully 4 years. I will also pay toward graduate programs. They are my kids. I want them to be happy and live a great life.

To each his own, but I could never let my kids borrow money to pay for college and be saddled with debt if I've got the money to help them out.

[zhillsgator86]

I have a daughter who i raised a gator, that was salutatorian of her high school. She was fortunate enough to get into UF three years ago, but we were sweating it. I graduated from UF but would never have been accepted today as well as about 90% of my UF classmates.

Middle 50% of the 2011 Freshman Class
High school GPA of 4.1-4.4
SAT scores of 1830-2090
ACT scores of 28-32

UF did a shitty job when it comes to recruiting academic students (guess because they can) and i was embarrassed as an alum. When accepted to UF SHE RECEIVED AN EMAIL stating she was accepted and offered no scholarship money. My daughter also applied to FSU. FSU sent a very nice letter followed up by a phone call and was offering around $10,000 in academic scholarship money.

Encourage your children to attend the best school they can gain admission to for their intended major.

[tilly]

Originally Posted by FriendlyGator

Well I had the good fortune of parents who paid for the vast majority of my education, allowing me to get a great start on adult life once I graduated without being saddled with debt. Paying $750 or $1000 a month or more toward student loans is a huge burden. I've seen it eat away at people.

My kids will not pay a penny for their undergrad so long as they complete their degree within a reasonable time frame, hopefully 4 years. I will also pay toward graduate programs. They are my kids. I want them to be happy and live a great life.

To each his own, but I could never let my kids borrow money to pay for college and be saddled with debt if I've got the money to help them out.

Of course I agree. My point was, its not the end all if you cant. Many parents cant. If your kid can get into UF, but you cant help pay, they still have the option of getting a UF degree and paying it off.

[FriendlyGator]

Originally Posted by zhillsgator86

I have a daughter who i raised a gator, that was salutatorian of her high school. She was fortunate enough to get into UF three years ago, but we were sweating it.

Encourage your children to attend the best school they can gain admission to for their intended major.

This is what people don't understand and fail to really appreciate until their own kids are actually considering colleges and where they can go to school. If you are a salutatorian of your high school class you would think you've done well enough to feel comfortable about getting into a large public university such as UF. But that is no longer the case. We had a local valedictorian get turned down a few years ago.

I'm as big a Gator fan as any. But remember we are talking about a sport. When it comes to your kids' education and their being able to have a great college experience, it seems rather silly to me to intentionally brainwash your kids that another school is our mortal enemy so that they should never even consider going there.

[grant1]

My next door neighbors', both parents UF grads, oldest son with good grades and an Eagle Scout was denied admissions by Uf and went to USF. We're in Pinellas County and, apparantly, UF allocates only so many spots from each region of the state. You need great grades and resume to gain entrance from major urban areas. Had he been from Citrus or Highlands County, he would have been accepted.

That was 5-6 years ago and the neighbors are still pissed at UF. I thought is that the kid should have done better in HS or tried to transfer.

[fox]

Originally Posted by FriendlyGator

Yeah let's see how you feel when it is time to pay for college and help make decisions that are for the best of one of your kids.

Would your kids be better off at FSU than at UCF or USF?

Look in to UWF.

[vaxcardinal]

Originally Posted by FriendlyGator

Well, that sounds great now, but as a dad with a 17 year old and 15 year old at home I can tell you that you should think twice about that. I have unfortunately, and unintentionally, ended up with one of my kids hating FSU and refusing to go to school there. She is a straight A student, with more than a 4.0 GPA due to honors classes, but that doesn't go very far in getting you into UF. Very few kids will get in there. And if you pressure your kids to have the grades and test scores and activities to get into UF then you might well create miserable adults--something you don't want.

So now my older daughter, despite my urging, steadfastly refuses to even consider FSU as a possible college choice. Won't even consider it. So now her fall back options are one of the other state schools, probably USF and a slight chance of UCF. Those don't provide the same big football school college town environment as FSU. Or, instead of the pre-paid college fund picking up all the tuition, I may be forking about $40k per year (that is $160k IF they finish in 4 years, and many kids won't as they try to find their major after getting to college. Just wait until it is time to start forking out the money it will really hit you. Think about that--$160k. Real money. Not fake money. The hard earned cash you have so desperately accumulated for hopeful retirement).

I'm sure wishing FSU was an option at this point. You can go there and still be a Gator fan. The academics at FSU are not what they are at UF, but they are equivalent to or better than USF and UCF (depending on your area of focus).

So take it from experience from someone who, 15 years ago, would have said the same think you are saying. This is an area where life experience brings some wisdom.

P.S. I've got two degrees from UF, a B.A. and a J.D., and am as die hard a Gator fan as you will find. I've also got many, many friends who could not get into UF, went to FSU, and they turned out quite alright in life. There are worse things than going to FSU for an education.

I missed something here...why wouldnt you be able to use any of the pre-paid college fund? Can those funds only be used for public state schools? That doesnt sound right.

[vaxcardinal]

Originally Posted by grant1

My next door neighbors', both parents UF grads, oldest son with good grades and an Eagle Scout was denied admissions by Uf and went to USF. We're in Pinellas County and, apparantly, UF allocates only so many spots from each region of the state. You need great grades and resume to gain entrance from major urban areas. Had he been from Citrus or Highlands County, he would have been accepted.

That was 5-6 years ago and the neighbors are still pissed at UF. I thought is that the kid should have done better in HS or tried to transfer.

my daughter is hopeful she'll get in. I had hope being an out of state student would be a benefit since they get a lot more money from tuition but apparently thats not the case. I'm ok with that since an in-state school here is academically just as good as UF.

[FriendlyGator]

Originally Posted by vaxcardinal

I missed something here...why wouldnt you be able to use any of the pre-paid college fund? Can those funds only be used for public state schools? That doesnt sound right.

If they go to a state school it pays their full tuition, I will only pay for books and their other living expenses. If they go to out of state schools or a private college, the pre-paid plan will only pay the Florida in-state tuition (the average of all state universities I believe) to the out of state school or private college. The key here is that in-state cost of an education is about $20k per year. Out-of-state is about $40k per year at least, up to $60k for many private colleges. So if your kids have the pre-paid, and cannot find an in-state choice they like, you get hit with the much higher cost of out-of-state tuition or get hit for private school tuition.

FSU is probably the 2nd best university in Florida. I say probably because, while it is clear UF is #1, it is a closer call with some of the other schools. Depending on your major, those other schools may in fact be better than FSU. So I think it is a shame for kids to refuse to consider FSU due to football loyalties.

[FriendlyGator]

Originally Posted by fox

Look in to UWF.

I am definitely in favor of her seriously considering UWF. I took a business trip to Pensacola and tried to get her to go with me so we could tour the campus. Pensacola is quite appealing as a place to live. Just researching the school online I loved the fact the campus is a stand alone campus located in some type of nature preserve. They appear to have a good thing going there.

My older daughter is a junior in high school. This summer I'm making her go on a tour with me of the major Florida universities. I've also told her to look up some out-of-state universities in the southeast and pick some she wants to go see. I've suggested South Carolina, Bama, Clemson, Auburn, and LSU. She could easily get into any of those schools even as an out-of-state applicant. They are not on par with UF in terms of education, but not too are anyway. Florida State is similar to the out-of-state schools I just mentioned above.

[wiene2003]

Well this thread went from hilarious to serious, but it was great while it lasted.

I personally went to a community college because I refused to go to FSU and quite frankly, I never had a chance at UF because of my lost freshman and sophmore years in HS. Maybe I was being young and dumb, but in hindsight, I have never regretted my decision. I have a small fraction of the student loan debt of my friends who went to FSU and I feel I got the same education. I have a better job and have done better financially (the student loan part probably helps) than most of them. Like others have said, it probably depends on what degree you are looking to pursue. The college you attend is probably more important if you wish to be a doctor or lawyer or engineer, but if you are just going to be one of those business guys like me, there are things that are a lot more important than the college you attended.

I live in South Carolina and I have an 8 month old son. While he will grow up a Gator, I realize the chances of him going there are slim. I am sure I will be much more concerned about his future than what football team plays at his college (if he decides to go that route). But I am almost positive I won't have to worry about him going to FSU either! lol It will probably be USC.

[vaxcardinal]

Originally Posted by FriendlyGator

If they go to a state school it pays their full tuition, I will only pay for books and their other living expenses. If they go to out of state schools or a private college, the pre-paid plan will only pay the Florida in-state tuition (the average of all state universities I believe) to the out of state school or private college. The key here is that in-state cost of an education is about $20k per year. Out-of-state is about $40k per year at least, up to $60k for many private colleges. So if your kids have the pre-paid, and cannot find an in-state choice they like, you get hit with the much higher cost of out-of-state tuition or get hit for private school tuition.

FSU is probably the 2nd best university in Florida. I say probably because, while it is clear UF is #1, it is a closer call with some of the other schools. Depending on your major, those other schools may in fact be better than FSU. So I think it is a shame for kids to refuse to consider FSU due to football loyalties.

got it, you basically have to pay the difference between in-state and out-of-state. I went with a 529 plan since maryland didnt have a pre-paid at the time.

[Go2gtr]

My 2 y/o grandson has already learned to say "stupid Seminoles".

[GatorStang]

Originally Posted by BengermanV

My dad used to tell me that if I went to FSU for school, he'd make me sleep outside when I came home. He was joking, of course, but the thought kind of resonated with me and I've always hated the school since. So when it came time to decide where I was going to go for my undergraduate studies, FSU was the "best" school in Florida I got into. Plus, all of my best friends went there. But when it came time for me to make it official, I simply could not get myself to sign up for schooling there. Instead, I ended up at UNF (a school I had never visited before) and thankfully, loved it. I have a few friends who attend FSU and absolutely loath Tallahassee.

That's funny, because I also have several friends who are FSU alum who say they are so glad to be away from Tallahassee now.

I don't have any kids yet, but I do have a nephew who just turned 1 and I'm doing everything in my power to make sure this kid grows up right.

This is us on Christmas with our new Gators chairs...



And he has plenty of Gators onesies and footballs I hope it works.

[grant1]

Both of my kids have their college pre-paid done. While I have not done any research into the Plan B, I've heard that UCF is generally regarded as the better choice than f$u or usf. I know nothing of UWF, but it's far away to consider.

[deathroll]

If we're outdoors, my beagle pup will urinate on command: seminole.