I need some advice
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Ok my daughter is about to graduate, and she is off the charts with language arts skills. (she didn’t get it from me) (lol) Somehow my love for the Jayhawks has rubbed off on her. ') She wants to attend KU. Everything is great.
This is my problem. She is going to be valedictorian. With this honor She receives a paid two year scholarship for her first two years. However she has to attend the local college to receive the benefit.
She is torn she wants to attend KU but wants to save old dad some money. Her plan is to take the scholarship then attend KU for her last two years.
Don’t get me wrong I’m all for saving money but I want my baby girl to fulfill her dreams.
Any advice?
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@DoubleDD unless you are in a situation where money doesn’t matter, do the 2 year scholarship then transfer. Sure saves a lot of money!! My boys did that.
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Make sure KU accepts the classes!
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@DoubleDD what is the local college?
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@DoubleDD said:
She wants to attend KU
If she WANTS to attend KU, and they offer the classes that are going to benefit her then she NEEDS to go to KU. College is too important a decision to look back later and say " Hmmm - wish I would have gone to KU ".
Sounds like she’s very intelligent, there must be scholarships and/or grants available at KU too.
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Make sure she checks on all possible KU scholarship funding. There is a very clear chart of what is available based on her test scores. Beyond that there may be other scholarships that are geography based. A couple things to note:
*KU offers a lot of 4 year scholarships.
*Availability of scholarships as a transfer is probably limited. It is something to consider, as you may be free for 2 years but then have to pay full cost of 2 years at KU so the overall cost difference is not as great.
*Sounds like she is smart and a hard worker so this may not be a factor, but in general the statistics are not great for percentage of students that enter Jr. College and then complete a 4-year degree.
*Freshman/Sophomore years at KU living on campus are a great experience. Jr. Colledge not even close.
*Scholarship Halls are another way to save money. Worth looking at.
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I’m all for saving money. But I’d happily go deep into debt to give my kids the best college experience possible. It’s too important to make money the primary consideration. It really depends on the local college, how good it is (both generally and in her subject area), and what kind of experience she would get there compared to at KU.
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A big lesson for kids is financial responsibility. I’d set her up local first and receive the benefit. She can still get her diploma from KU.
There is a better chance she will really appreciate her opportunity at KU if she has to struggle to get there.
I wasn’t able to afford all 4 years at Kansas back in my day. So I had my KU experience and got a job and went elsewhere. I never took out a loan, never borrowed from my parents. It all just made me appreciate KU that much more!
@reader22 has a smart post. There are so many scholarships available. She can qualify for several. They can overlap and be exclusive of each other. I had two academic scholarships that helped me and had a very minimum requirement.
Every year there are many scholarships that go unclaimed because students and parents don’t research what is available!
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Junior College followed by a transfer to a bigger schools is an excellent option. Most JuCos in Kansas will tailor the program to her major and the school to which she wants to transfer so she doesn’t lose credits in the process. She would get an Associate’s degree after her fist two years but her primary degree (Bachelor) would come from KU; most schools require at least 60 credits (2 years) in residence to obtain a degree. She seem to be a superior student and as such, she would likely be eligible for a number of academic scholarships and also there is financial aid available depending on income.
She should visit KU and meet with Admissions to determine if a comparable package can be made available at KU. Also, HS have counselors that have a up to date information on what is available at the next level and should be able to provide at least preliminary information.
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@DoubleDD I was in the same position. My son got a 10,000 dollar engineering scholarship and to be honest, KSU was the best option for him to go. But there isn’t a better feeling then seeing your boy on T.V. during a KSU game and him wearing a “Decade of Dominance” shirt. Proverbs 22:6 “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.”
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@JhawkAlum It’s early in the morning and I’m not quite done with my first cup of coffee - but - your son is at K-State (which is perfectly fine!) wearing a "Decade of Dominance) shirt???
I can only assume you’re talking football ?
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@nuleafjhawk Or he’s a KU basketball fan in Manhattan.
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@dylans Good point. I don’t think well at 5:30 am. Or any other time, according to my wife.
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@nuleafjhawk she’s right!
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@nuleafjhawk My son was wearing a KU shirt at their games. BTW, he is not used “KU basketball fan”, we have been to many KU spring football games and track meets!
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I would definitely go the juco route first.
Make sure that whoever is your daughter’s academic advisor for the first two years knows that she intends to transfer to KU and what her major is when she transfers. That will help assure that all of her classes transfer appropriately.
Going into a huge amount of debt for college is just not practical with the way starting salaries have dropped over the last several years. Your daughter (and you) will be exceptionally more satisfied ten years from now if you are not paying several hundred dollars a month in student loans.
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@DoubleDD Whichever steps you take, look into your state’s 429 program if you haven’t already. I know here in Louisiana money put into it is pre-tax and it earns tax-free interest as well. Our son living in Australia is able to use money for his education there. She could use the 2 year scholarship giving you the opportunity to build on the 429 to use at KU.
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@JhawkAlum Any time someone quotes the Good Book here fine with me!
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@DoubleDD And if I may, let me tell you what my wife did. Prior to meeting her she was a divorced mother of twin boys with a hs education. She wanted to be a nurse but money was tight. She joined the Louisiana Air Nat Guard and used their education benefits. We met, married and eventually ended up in Topeka after I retired from the AF. She transferred to the KS ANG at Forbes and completed her BSN in 2 years at Washburn and no college loan debt. When we met she was an admin clerk with 2 stripes on her sleeve and couldn’t type a lick. She enjoyed the ANG and will have 30 yrs in August. She has gone from that 2 stripe admin clerk to a LtCol and chief nurse in her medical group here in Louisiana. Just thought I’d throw another possibility out there. A weekend a month, that you get paid for, to help pay tuition is a pretty good deal. Deployments? The only deployments my wife has had she volunteered for. That’s why I mentioned Air Nat Guard. And she could possibly be assigned a career field that utilized her language arts skills. My apologies for being so long winded. My best wishes for your daughter whichever path she chooses.
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I know you weren’t fishing for compliments, @DoubleDD, but congratulations on the valedictorian thing!
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@DoubleDD You’re getting great advice from brother & sister rats here, but if she does attend another school prior to KU, as @Crimsonorblue22 & @justanotherfan have said, I implore you to get in direct contact with them on the issue of transferring credits. KU has the final say in the matter & not the school attended previously. My oldest son lost almost 2 semesters transferring from JCCC when their advisors assured us that the credits would transfer. KU emphatically said no. Paying for classes only once would be the most cost effective advice I would suggest. Only thing better than that would be “It just doesn’t get any cheaper than free.” I believe it’s a shame that kids have to begin their careers with tens if not hundreds of thousands in educational debt. Also, we as parents should not be expected to 100% foot the bill. The last check I wrote for tuition at KU was for a full schedule at about $1200 so you know that was decades ago. Good luck.
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Thanks everybody for all the great advice and info. My eyes have been opened to some things I wasn’t aware of. My daughter and I are going to sit down and do some serious homework.
Geez I haven’t done homework in decades. There was this one time I seen my daughter sitting at the table doing homework. So I sat down and asked if she needed any help. She looked up at me with a twinkle in her eye and said with a smile from ear to ear, “Nay I got it Dad”
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@globaljaybird
This seem unusual. The counselors at JUCO have lists of the different courses approved/accepted by the different programs at all the state and many out of state schools. My daughter knew where she was going (out of state) after JCCC and she worked with the school and did not lose a single credit. Now, if you tell them that you will be studying English Lit, at KU and the ended up enrolling in Engineering, there is a chance that many courses will not transfer and the ones that do will be counted as part of the electives.
As I indicated, if you tell the counselor exactly to which school and program you will transfer, chances are you will be OK. You can always verify with the school where you will be transferring which course will transfer and which will not. Many JuCos require that you take classes such a PE in order to qualify for the Associate Degree but you really do not have to take them unless you really want that Associate degree…
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@JayHawkFanToo Our situation was in the late 80’s & early 90’s when JCCC was in rapid growth mode & they were trying hard to keep students at home. Don’t have a clue if that affected their advisors recommendations but as you said, several hours were counted as electives. The classes he tested out of he even had to test out of again at KU. Much has changed in 25 years. One thing for sure is one helluvalot more expensive. Back then you paid one fee for a full load, including a parking pass & activity pass to a few FB & BB games. Ah, the good old days !!
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@globaljaybird
Oh yes, things have changed big time since then and JCCC works closely with KU as it probably is the top feeder school. It has now an enrollment of 20,000+, of course many part time, so the equivalent full time enrollment is close to 11,000.
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KU’s website had a list for each school listing the classes that were accepted. I’m sure they still do.
