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I also made significant sacrifices to graduate with no debt. So let's talk about them, and about how completely unrealistic they are for a lot of people.
I went to a HS with no college advising. My parents didnt go to college, but saved a bit of $ to help me go. My 1st year I realized even tho I was in the cheapest state school around, I couldn't afford it bc scholarships & financial aid didn't stack. No1 told me that was a thing!
I realized it after blowing thru most of what my parents gave me in savings, and only because my boyfriend at the time was going to a private school with a shitload of advisors and connected me with one who *even though I wasn't a student there* sat with me for an hr and helped.
So I transferred to that school. They gave me scholarships and financial aid that stacked. I paid $2,000 a year to go there — so cheap! But it didn't cover living expenses, so I needed $ for an apartment and food without taking out loans. I worked three part time jobs.
I never studied, but, I didn't really need to. My grades were fine. that's not true for a lot of people. I should have had a 2.0 GPA but just never really slept. I didn't have most of the experiences college students had. I just worked.
I didn't join many clubs (just the student newspaper, because it paid me), I didn't go abroad, I didn't go to parties. Are any of those things necessary? No. But let me tell you what guys, it sucked. It sucked not to feel like I was part of that campus.
I graduated with around $7K in debt, which I've paid off. But my GPA wasn't good enough get into grad school. So I took three years working a job I didn't really want so that the admissions office would ignore my GPA from undergrad.
I really *wanted* to go to law school - but who had time to study for the LSAT when you're working 3 jobs to pay for the school you're in right then? Who had money for an LSAT prep class? Not me. I never went to law school.
If I'd had good college or financial advising, maybe someone would have told me to take on $10K more in debt so that I could quit one of the jobs and do a bit better in school. $17K would have been sort of manageable. It would have been fine. But no one was there to tell me that!
So what's the solution for college debt? I have no idea. But, I can tell you that just telling people to "go to a college that's affordable" so you don't have to take on a bunch of debt isn't as straightforward as it sounds. It's not.
I had caring parents who saved money for me, but who ultimately couldn't help me navigate the process. I had no college advisors. How do you learn to work the system and make it affordable when there's no one to help you navigate this deeply counterintuitive process?
How would I have guessed that the $50K a year school would be cheaper than the $17K school? How was I supposed to know to ask which would let me graduate early? How was I supposed to know I should take on a lil more debt so I could study and go to the grad school I wanted?
College doesn't make any sense and it especially does not make sense when you don't have the language to know what questions to ask and you've never seen anyone do it before. Those among us that had these resources should stop talking down to those who do not.
I don't mean to say that I didn't do well. I did fine! But I worked so hard and had so many near breakdowns while i just barely scraped by. And I did that with supportive parents who did their best, a boyfriend (now husband!) who shamelessly did some homework for me...
...and any number of other advantages most first generation, low income college students don't have. So. All that to say. It really pisses me off when people simplify this extremely complicated thing by saying, "just go to a school you can afford." That is not real.
Anyway, that's all. But, if you are a college kid out there who - like i was - is just trying to work your ass off to get through it and feeling overwhelmed by how much you seem to be failing (while people tell you it's not that hard!) know that I see you. Lots of people do.
