A Look Back at the College Experience
©2009 Reduce My College Costs, LLC
Ah, college…it’s a time for gaining independence, learning new things, meeting new people, expanding horizons, picking a career and taking the first steps toward launching into the real world. Sounds great, right? There’s just one little problem: this rosy view of the college experience isn’t the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. In fact, it’s far more Hollywood than real world.
So, where should a parent of a college-bound student turn to find out the truth about the college years and those all-important high school years leading up to them? Real people, of course! But before you start surveying strangers at the supermarket, randomly calling numbers in your town’s phone book or harassing all the parents of college students that live on your street, try reading these survey results. That’s right; someone has already done the dirty work for you.
A colleague of mine recently surveyed parents and students about their experiences with the college planning process. He wanted honesty and, boy, did he get it! What follows is a sampling of some of his respondents’ unedited, no-holds-barred thoughts on the expense versus the benefits of college, the college planning timeline, the advice they received and what they would do differently if they could do it all again.
There’s an old Chinese proverb that says, “To know the road ahead, ask those coming back.” We hope that these survey responses from real people who have traveled down the old college road will help you in your planning process.
Be sure and read this 2009 survey, “A Look Back at the College Planning Experience.”
