The epitome of getting your dreams crushed.

[december_solstice]

Well sort of.

Can you believe there was a time when you could actually WORK your way through college? Now, students are spending the cost of a house in less than 4 years.

College is an investment. One that isn't easy to make if you're poor.

The worst is that overwhelming excitement you feel after finding out you got in -- then realizing you can't even afford the tuition deposit, or any other fee thrown at you that is required to even register for your classes.

My spirit? Crushed. My dreams? In ruins.

Yeah, I'll get over it, sure, eventually I will move along and carve a new path for myself.

But there is something else I've realized. It's all nonsensical. Higher education is a profitable business -- it does NOT have the student's best interest in mind.

Here is my story:

I recently completed my Bachelor's and graduated with a 3.5 GPA. This Spring, I applied for an MFA program, with the same university, and got in! This summer, I took my final 2 credits I needed to graduate and start my MFA program in the Fall.

By the time I was nearly done with my short 7 week summer course, I discovered that I would not qualify for any financial aid. For me to qualify, I would need to take 6 credits or more. Why would I take 6 credits, when I only need 2 to graduate? Why would I waste upwards 10,000 in federal grants, scholarships and student loans, that I simply do not need to spend? Why on earth would I do that? That funding could be applied to another deserving student.

This problem has only presented itself because I wanted to graduate this summer, instead of in the Fall. It was the most logical solution to complete my final credit in the summer, therefore being able to attend graduate school in the Fall. Logical. Common sense, even.

In order to start the MFA program, I needed to first fork out nearly $1500 in a matter of days. They did not offer me a payment plan even when I tried to explain to them-- Hey man, there isn't $1500 lying around under my mattress. Hey man, I'm living in it (rent). Which I can barely pay. I'm just trying to get ahead here. I am a working young person with little to no credit. I can't get a private student loan when I have no cosigner. Nor could I get a personal loan.

When I finally exhausted all of my options, I surrendered to the fate...that I kind of already saw coming.

That wasn't even the nail in the coffin, though.

Can I take a semester off to pay this off?

Admissions requires $500 for a 12 month deferment. BY MONDAY. Let me just go pick money from my money tree out back. Not only do I have to wait an entire school year, but I need to pay a tuition deposit for the f'ing tuition I am not even f'ing paying.

So tell me, does colleges have the student's best interest in mind? Because, excuse my french but, all I smell coming out of this university is bullshit.

Comments

finally done >.>

[ringlat.livejournal.com]

But if you say "I don't eat sugar/white flour" people go "oh you're allergic?", you explain the problem, then they think you're crazy, or they refuse to watch the research video for no reason, etc. Despite that everyone knows that "eating chocolate makes you happy" "poor people tend to be really sick" "candy causes cavities", "alcohol/drugs dull your brain", despite that we all know that things like asbestos used to be commonplace, they don't realize that we're all still dumb enough to have the same problems but just with different subjects today... "Milk is healthy!" but 100 years ago, milk was fresh from the cow and now it's not.

Food companies aren't out there for your health. At this point, doctors and researchers aren't necessarily out there for your health either, because they've either been "bought" by companies or the research they read has been. It's the same as the education system, they're not there to educate you. And the education system makes the same excuses.

"Kids in foreign countries do better in school because they're in school for longer hours" (= Not true, Finland's the best in Europe and they're in school for many less hours). "We'd do better if we had more money" (= My wife's elementary school literally used one of those metal triangles to call in kids from recess). "Other countries can do it that way because they're smaller" (America would be smaller too if every state acted like a separate country).

What miffs me is that my parents and grandparents apparently aren't out there to help me either. They taught me nothing. Clearly they know more than me about some things, so why isn't the information being passed down?

RE: finally done >.>

[outerspace-bae.livejournal.com]

The refusal to look at research is a huge problem here. People want to stay ignorant. It feels better. Who wants to hear this? You know what I mean? It's hard to swallow and ignorance is easier.

I'd like to think I discuss a lot of thought-provoking topics on my social media platforms. And, I'd say less than 2% of those on my friends list engage. On the other hand, my BS posts, I get a lot of engagement.

[ringlat.livejournal.com]

Yeah, even people who claim to be health-conscious or whatever tend to not want to read about health. I'll read stuff if someone links me but I don't exactly always go look up info on my own... Sometimes when I bring up serious topics (just random stuff I read) people are like "You're talking about such weird things, I don't know how to reply".