carat size questions

[Mara]

If you don't intend to pay for your kids college tuition, just make sure they know that up front. That way they are expecting it. My parents didn't tell me til the summer before I left for college that they were only helping a bit, so I was freaking about covering my expenses..I guess they somehow thought we'd had that convo already? Plus, I was still being claimed on their taxes so I couldn't qualify on my own as independent for school aid because they made too much money! If we had known this beforehand, I would have gone independent on taxes at age 16 so that by age 17 (when I started school) I'd have been a year independent which is what the school required for me to get aid.

It was a huge pain, and 20/20 hindsight. So now I have loans because I couldn't qualify for aid. They helped me with some of costs, but I had to work 2 jobs all through school and I'm still paying loans.

Communication is key!

 

[fire&ice]

..and your success in college is not an indication of success in the real world.

...but then what do I know...I went to a small school where one could skip as many classes as you want, was a history/english major, & my parents paid for my education....ummmmm. I must be a basketcase.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

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On 7/21/2004 8:09:20 AM Daniela wrote:

Michelle,

It sounds like you might have your wires crossed a little bit from a negative experience with your own mom, which is fair enough. But here's what I understood from your statement: It wasn't the fact that she paid for your education that was the problem, it was that she lorded it over you and didn't let you make your own choices.

Student loan debt is crippling. Don't make this mistake. You want to help your kids as much as you can, and that should extend to their eduction. If they are irresponsible or something, then pull the plug on the cash flow, but give them a chance. ----------------

No, I don't think I'll give my kids a chance, but instead will buy a bigger diamond and obsess over cleaning it daily!

lol Lighten up! Sheesh, now my entire relationship with my mom is being psycho analyzed here on a DIAMOND BOARD over very few comments I made while drunk! hahaha God, I cannot believe people ACTUALLY have to ponder priorities like whether to buy a diamond or pay for college for their kids! Honestly, how the h*ll will I know whether or not I plan to pay for ANYTHING for my kids in those many years as I'll be a lot older/richer/wiser and my plans will be based on a much different perpective than now.

Right now, they get PT preschool paid for, so at least they're getting SOME paid education

Michelle

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Mara,

Honestly, I care quite a bit about my kids and want what's best for them. This is a silly conversation and not to be taken SERIOUSLY because FIRST OFF, I can't prophesize my fiancial situation 16+ years from now and predict whether or not my husband and I can or cannot afford to help our two boys and what we'll do, and SECOND OFF, I'm debating with those who choose to spend tons more money on a diamond than I ever would and most of these people make investments (my first choice) a secondary one, sooooo, why make college a sudden debatable priority? I could argue just as much that it's bad for everyone to choose crappy public edcuation for their kids rather than better PRIVATE elementary school where the kids won't be stuck in a class of 35 ignored kids just to afford the bigger rock while the kids are young?

You know what I'm saying? lol

But this aside, my husband too was under the impression that his dad would pay for college, but then was left high and dry so we'd never do this to our kids! We do think of them and we'll keep them fed, at least

 

[fire&ice]

Too much expresso Michell?

 

[Mara]

Michelle...no worries gal..I am not judging you for saying you won't pay for school whether you were serious or not. I think along the same lines as my parents..e.g. wanting a child to build their own idea of survival. Our kids will probably pay for their educations with jobs, but if they needed us to step in and assist and they were serious about school..we would of course pitch in. But if they fooled around on the 10 year plan, sorry!

Bailing your kids out of messes the first time is dutiful IMO but anytime after that is too dependent! I have a few friends whose parents still pay off their credit card balances at age 27 and 30 because they never learned the value of a dollar.

 

[ringbling17]

Hi guys!

I saw this thread and just wanted to let you guys know what I did when my daughter was about two months.
I opened up an account for her and every month I put $100 into it. Every single penny that she has every received as a gift, for her birthday or for Christmas, etc. I have put into that account.
I opened up the account with money I received when people came to visit her when I first gave birth. We have a tradition in my family, when you visit a baby for the first time, you have to put a little money underneath the place where the baby sleeps.
She got $220, so that's what I opened the account with!!!
Even when I spend a lot for stuff for her birthday parties, I never use the money that she receives to offset what I had to pay for. I figure if she didn't get any money, I would still have to pay for the stuff anyway. Besides, it's her money, not mine to spend.
She now has over $7000 in this account and she is 3 and a half. I figure I could contribute more, but if I have another child, which I am planning this year, I would do the same thing, so I don't really want to strain my budget.
I plan to give this money to her when she is ready for college, but I will let her decide if she wants to go or not. OF course, I want her to go to college, but if she wants to travel the world, that will be her decision too.

And if she does decide to travel around the world, she can only spend a small amount of this money!!!!

 

[MichelleCarmen]

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On 7/21/2004 3:29:33 PM fire&ice wrote:

Too much expresso Michell?

----------------

You NEVER can have too much espresso!

 

[Icicles]

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On 7/21/2004 12:02:15 PM nicknomo wrote:

----------------
On 7/21/2004 8:04:16 AM Daniela wrote:



In other words, the psychology/history course load will be a much smaller part of their program than engineering, most sciences, and mathematics. What this translates into is more classes along the lines of pottery, yoga and horseback riding to fill in the blanks. This is compared to an engineering program where your elective is thermodynamics or physics.

Now I think you've misunderstood me... I did not say that the profession is a joke. What I was saying that the course load in these liberal arts programs are usually much easier to handle than others. Of course, this is once again a generalizations. Exceptions can often be found in schools where the primary focus/premiere program is psychology, history (pre-law), etc.

In most cases, I believe this is accurate. Of course, I'm just going by personal observations. ----------------

Wow, that is certainly not accurate as far as I can observe, but then again, I only went to UC San Diego. I personally didn't study History or Psychology, but my friends who majored in Psychology had to take 4 years of intense Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Cognitive Neuropsychology, Computer Science & Programming, Calculus and other random classes. Not exactly a light load. My CS brain cannot even begin to comprehend how they managed to absorb all that...

here's a link to some of their courseworks if anyone's interested:

http://psy.ucsd.edu/pages/programs/undergrad/undergradbs.html

 

[nicknomo]

Wow, that is certainly not accurate as far as I can observe, but then again, I only went to UC San Diego. I personally didn't study History or Psychology, but my friends who majored in Psychology had to take 4 years of intense Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Cognitive Neuropsychology, Computer Science & Programming, Calculus and other random classes. Not exactly a light load. My CS brain cannot even begin to comprehend how they managed to absorb all that...

here's a link to some of their courseworks if anyone's interested:

http://psy.ucsd.edu/pages/programs/undergrad/undergradbs.html



----------------

Well, I see that school seems to have a deeper Psych program than most... However that actually looks pretty light to me. There must be 60+ credits there of General requirement and elective classes. Then the natural science classes there didn't have to be a sequence, so it could be 3 intro classes in different subjects. And only 8 psychology related courses? That's only like 1/5 -1/6 the entire course load.

Maybe I was just in an anal retentive program, but me and my engineering buddies had much less freedom. Instead of 4 classes a semester, I had to take 5, for 4 1/2 years (138 credits total avg course = 3 credits, 4 with lab). 1-2 major requirements per semester, 3 levels of Calc, 2 statistics, linear algebra, logic I&II, discrete mathematics I&II, 2 science sequences (2-3 courses each) +1 science elective. I too had General requirement classes, but far fewer. However, I know some of those requirements are state mandated, so that may be beyond control of some schools.

In my school though, those pursuing an engineering degree have some of these requirements waived due to the course load. This meant none of the three bull sequences/combos in P.E, foreign language and cultural studies. That's about 25-30 credits of show up and pass classes right there (no one fails yoga, french or study in popular culture). I guess this is the source of my prejudice.

For me, it was all business... none of that filler junk. But once again this is just my observation, and I only have a limited sample size to make these observations from.

 

[Daniela]

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On 7/22/2004 1:51:11 AM nicknomo wrote:

----------------

Well, I see that school seems to have a deeper Psych program than most... However that actually looks pretty light to me. There must be 60+ credits there of General requirement and elective classes. Then the natural science classes there didn't have to be a sequence, so it could be 3 intro classes in different subjects. And only 8 psychology related courses? That's only like 1/5 -1/6 the entire course load.


Maybe I was just in an anal retentive program, but me and my engineering buddies had much less freedom. Instead of 4 classes a semester, I had to take 5, for 4 1/2 years (138 credits total avg course = 3 credits, 4 with lab). 1-2 major requirements per semester, 3 levels of Calc, 2 statistics, linear algebra, logic I&II, discrete mathematics I&II, 2 science sequences (2-3 courses each) +1 science elective. I too had General requirement classes, but far fewer. However, I know some of those requirements are state mandated, so that may be beyond control of some schools.


In my school though, those pursuing an engineering degree have some of these requirements waived due to the course load. This meant none of the three bull sequences/combos in P.E, foreign language and cultural studies. That's about 25-30 credits of show up and pass classes right there (no one fails yoga, french or study in popular culture). I guess this is the source of my prejudice.


For me, it was all business... none of that filler junk. But once again this is just my observation, and I only have a limited sample size to make these observations from.

----------------

God, I shouldn't even touch this, but I can't help it...

Okay, in your other post you said you were mostly joking. But obviously you're being a genuine snob. It's not classy to look down on people, especially when your impression of superiority is ill-founded. On behalf of all people who work their butts off in the humanities and contribute positively to their fields, I would like to say that you're out and out wrong. Do some people sail through university simply passing courses with a pretty low mark? Sure. But that doesn't mean that their effort is representative of other people's work in the their discipline. And they're not the majority around here.

 

[fire&ice]

I've always been leary of someone who talks about how much harder they work than another.

 

[Icicles]

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On 7/22/2004 1:51:11 AM nicknomo wrote:

----------------

In my school though, those pursuing an engineering degree have some of these requirements waived due to the course load. This meant none of the three bull sequences/combos in P.E, foreign language and cultural studies. That's about 25-30 credits of show up and pass classes right there (no one fails yoga, french or study in popular culture). I guess this is the source of my prejudice.

For me, it was all business... none of that filler junk. But once again this is just my observation, and I only have a limited sample size to make these observations from.

----------------

I dont know of anyone who had to take PE, or Foreign Language, but Diversity & Culture is a large part of our school philosophy, so everyone was required to take a minimum of 3 specialized courses, regardless of major.

Most of the Psychology majors at my school were also Biology/pre-Med majors (you do need an M.D. to perscribe drugs as a psychiatrist), so perhaps that's why they had to take more classes. I had a friend who double-majored in Psych and ECE(electrical computer engineering), and he said that although ECE had more "substance", Psych was tougher to understand. To each his own. Like I said, I was a CS major, and there's no way in h*ll my mind can handle dealing with people and their problems. Give me Calculus anyday!

 

[nicknomo]

God, I shouldn't even touch this, but I can't help it...

Okay, in your other post you said you were mostly joking. But obviously you're being a genuine snob. It's not classy to look down on people, especially when your impression of superiority is ill-founded. On behalf of all people who work their butts off in the humanities and contribute positively to their fields, I would like to say that you're out and out wrong. Do some people sail through university simply passing courses with a pretty low mark? Sure. But that doesn't mean that their effort is representative of other people's work in the their discipline. And they're not the majority around here.




----------------

Sounds like you are taking it personally.. relax. You keep on insisting I'm talking about the field, but I'm not. Also keep in ming we are not talking about graduate work here.

Liberal arts majors are widely accepted as being less difficult. However, I think you miss my point entirely. It isn't because the field of psychology is easy, or the psychology classes are easy... but it's that you tend to take more of the general requirement stuff. This means more sruvey courses, more "Intro to XXXX" courses, PE, foreign language, etc. The main difference is that when you are in a good program (whether it be psychology, physics or engineering) they make courses pertinent to your major very difficult. They make it so that not just anyone can get the degree. Many of us know this as "weeding out". Now my point is pretty obvious when you compare how many of these intense major courses you need to take. Obviously if you have to take less of your difficult major courses, and more of other general junk with 90% passing rates, it's going to be easier.

Like I said it was part jest, part observation. I don't actually feel that its BS, completing any college is difficult enough. This of course, doesn't change my opinion on the fact that liberal arts degrees are less difficult to obtain. On a professional level, I think you would find much agreement to this. For a lot of liberal arts majors a masters degree or better is more of a necessity due to the fact that many people think as I do.

Now I'm not doing this to toot my own horn, even though it may look like that to you. Besides, even if my program was harder then so what? If my interest was psychology I would have pursued that just the same. It doesn't make me any smarter, or any better, nor are my accomplishments any greater. Things just are how they are. If you are actually reading my posts thoroughly, I'm sure you notice that there is some reasoning behind it (whether you agree with it or not). My observations could be wrong, but I'm just calling it how I see it.

I just made a little crack about it in one of my posts... everyone else has posted in response, and all I have done is elaborate my feelings on the subject. You are welcome to disagree. If what I'm saying is making people angry, then I think they should stop digging into it further.

I don't think my comments are baseless and/or derrogatory, and considering that it shouldn't make anyone angry. Anger should never stem from disagreement.

 

[nicknomo]

I dont know of anyone who had to take PE, or Foreign Language, but Diversity & Culture is a large part of our school philosophy, so everyone was required to take a minimum of 3 specialized courses, regardless of major.

Most of the Psychology majors at my school were also Biology/pre-Med majors (you do need an M.D. to perscribe drugs as a psychiatrist), so perhaps that's why they had to take more classes. I had a friend who double-majored in Psych and ECE(electrical computer engineering), and he said that although ECE had more 'substance', Psych was tougher to understand. To each his own. Like I said, I was a CS major, and there's no way in h*ll my mind can handle dealing with people and their problems. Give me Calculus anyday!
----------------

Well my hats off to anyone pursuing psychiatry. That indeed has deep medical studies involved and is by no means easy. Once again though, I'm not commenting directly about the difficulty of psych courses. I've elaborated in the post above about that.

As far as the ECE/Psych double major... that's an interesting combo. I would think it would be difficult to balance the two considering the two different mind sets required.

To wrap this up though, I'm sure there are exceptions to the points I am making. I'm sure the schools have a lot to do with it too. Most CS majors I knew had a very intensive and technical courseload... There was one, however, that got away with only being required to take 5 or 6 programming/CS related classes at his school. So the school definitely has a lot to do with how much filler is involved in your program...