My daughter is about to take out 100k+ in loans to go to college to be a chemical engineer. How can I discourage that? She's spent years putting in hard work to get accepted. Im afraid shes going to get indoctrinated, but what are her other options, honestly?
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STEM is worth it. Might be able to find better value elsewhere but they slobber all over women in STEM right now. She might even be able to get some additional scholarships and grants.
You just need to make sure you continue to be an influence in her life and challenge her if you think she’s going into the gutter.
Smart enough to be a chemical engineer. Dumb enough to take out the debt. Hmm. If she's actually analytically minded, have her do the cost/benefit analysis including loan maturity, job security, expected profit, etc. Dave Ramsey approach might be useful. Working through college (cash floating), scholarships, lowering the cost by going to state school (I'm guessing this is out of state), doing community college for 2 years and transferring (way cheaper). Living at home so rent/room/board is covered. Go work a regular job and save up, reapply. There are all kinds of ways to chip that down. If the goal is to become a chemical engineer, then an honest person will find a way to do it within constraints. If the goal is to get out of the house, with going to school as a side benefit to "find themselves," then money is no object and that person will sign their life away.
Oh yeah, military will also pay for degrees and provide job security.
Best advice
Just let her do what she wants, she will anyway and honestly chem engineer sounds dope af
I hope. She's just terribly naive. 18 and has never gone on a date in her life. Smart at math but stupid in life.
What about recommending the military for a few years?
Can you inoculate her against the brainwashing? A lot of it is psychology and indoctrination
dude... lady... whatever... anyone who has the mind to BE A CHEMICAL ENGINEER..... is not stupid.... LET HER GO... ENCOURAGE HER.... but remind her... THAT SCIENCE AND MATH.... IS CLEAN AND NICE..... but politics is dirty gutter games by people with special interests.... always... AND WHILE DEMS SAY THEY SERVE THE POOR.... they never do.... AND WHILE REPS SAY THEY SUPPORT FREEDOM... they never do that either....
the one person she should listen too... is me -- http://caliphofgod.org/RESTORE-THE-CONSTITUTION/ --
If that's what she wants, you can't stop her. You don't want to be blamed later on for a dream not pursued. I suggest you make sure you at least talk to her 2x a week while she attending university. See what she's getting into and what she's learning from school and from her circle of friends. Cultivate her critical thinking and tell her to question everything and not to get into group think.
Congratulations in bringing up a smart young lady.
Chemical Engineering programs are no joke and one of the tougher degrees to attain. There won't be much time for indoctrination. 100k+ in loans is well worth it if she sticks with it makes it a career. She'll pay it back in no time.
Find a school with fewer loans. No degree is worth it. No, not even STEM.
Ask her long term plans - what does she want to do with a chemical engineering degree? Pharma? Med School? Grad School? Then check out the job prospects 1, 3, 5 years post-BS, post-MS, post-PhD/MD. Smart girl needs to do the actual math. And get some grants, scholarships, and an internship asap.
STEM seems to be fine. My husband was a stem major and didn’t really have any indoctrination outside of some BS gen eds that he didn’t give a shit about anyway. He had a chem-heavy major and makes over 100k a yr now (he’s not even 30 yet). If she wants to go to a good, well-known, and well-respected school with a large alumni network she’ll probably be fine (I don’t mean an Ivy League school, but a large state school that ranks well for the program she wants).
Yeah, it's really dumb to take out that much in loans. I second the advice to get generals done at a local community college while living at home the first two years, possibly w a part time job. Most colleges will accept 60 transfer credits. Then she can finish off her degree. As a female myself who was in science (ended up with an MS in geology), if your daughter is more science-oriented, she would hate hate hate all the drama that she will inevitably be sucked into if she lives in the dorms. If I could do it again I would live at home the first two years. My little brother did. It was so smart of him!!
Hillsdale or Grove City. Choose a college without lefty loonies.
Chemical engineer should be a good thing to study, but loans over 100k is insane! Even with a good job after graduation, she'll need to live very frugally and it will take quite a while to pay back. Remind her that it won't just be 100k to pay back, it will be interest on that as well. If she'd like to stay home for a while with her children (which the majority of mothers want to do), she'll still have that loan over her head that will limit her options - and that concern will come up surprisingly fast, assuming 5 years to graduate for engineering.
Is this the cost for an in-state school? Maybe she can see about taking some of the gen-ed requirements at a community college (make sure the credits will transfer) to save a bit. You could also encourage her to pay as much as possible while going to school. I know another engineer who paid as he went, took him twice as long, but no loans over his head.
At the very least chemistry is a godly pursuit. Everything that atoms and molecules do is 100% truth.
You'd be a fool to stop your daughter from going to college to get a chemical engineering degree. If she gets into petroleum engineering or pharmaceuticals she'll most likely have a starting salary of around 100k.
You'd be a fool to pay 100k to go to college. I don't know where you live, but you should be able to find a good local state school for 3-10k per year. Realistically she should be able to get a BS for $25-30k.
Do NOT go to university online. It won't work well for engineering classes or material that is difficult.
Consider community college for the first 2 years to save additional money. She'll be doing her GEs and math mostly, which you can take anywhere. It's way cheaper and often better than state colleges for the first 2 years and you can find one with a "sister" university that she can transfer to for the last 2 years.
Tell her to keep her head down and shut up for the stupid GE classes. This is where the majority of the attempted indoctrination will take place. Do not argue with teacher. Jump through the hoops as quickly and quietly as possible. Consider these classes a master's education in dealing with bullshit bureaucracies.
Somewhat recent first hand experience.
Sis is a Lefty loon. Her son, my nephew, is totally based. When his college choice came up a 3 years ago, my based parents were worried about sending him to an indoctrination center. (our family shares decision making)
I told them not to worry. Nephew is based, he'll handle it.
Fast forward: Based Nephew texts Based Uncle for talking points so he can argue with his Keynesian Econ professor.
Give her the tools to think for herself.