In “the good old days” it was easy. A kid went to college, majored in anything that struck their fancy, graduated, and sifted through numerous job offers. If finances were tight, she worked a part time job on campus and a fulltime job during summers to make ends meet. These truly were “the good old days.”
Today a college diploma is no longer a “magic charm.” The four-year traditional college as a road to financial self-sufficiency is against the odds with only about one in four college enrollees graduating and getting a good job. It is a gamble. The players who are good at gambling weigh the odds carefully before laying their bet and work at bending the odds in their favor.
What are your academic credentials? What is your class standing? If you are not in the top twenty-five percent, that is a cause for concern. Is your IQ at least 110? Will you require any remedial classes in college? What about your standard test scores? Did you pass all four sections of the ACT? What was your SAT score? (The College Board has developed the SAT College and Career Readiness Benchmark. An SAT Benchmark score of 1550 is associated with a sixty-five percent probability of obtaining a first-year GPA of B- or higher. This doesn’t come with any guarantees. It doesn’t say anything about your major. But it is a useful benchmark.)
It is difficult to make a self-assessment of your own maturity, work ethic, and motivation. It is best to get some outside advice from your parents and your teachers. Eating pizza, playing video games, and drinking beer (not to mention sex, drugs, and rock and roll) is a lot more fun than studying and attending those annoying classes.
If you haven’t identified a marketable major, this is another point of concern. It is hard to make decisions about student loans when you have no target starting salary. Enrolling without knowing your major increases the risk of cost overrun. Only twenty-five percent of students complete their BA in four years. The culprit is usually MES. (Major Equivocation Syndrome).
Lastly, evaluate your financial plan. Does the plan encompass the number of school years necessary to earn the targeted degree? Many students have a plan for the freshman year only and find themselves without the resources to finish. Are the plan numbers reasonably sound? Are you going to have to work part time during the school year? If student loans are required, are they excessive? (Twenty thousand dollars in loans for four years of schooling is a big liability.) A student can graduate, get a great job, and be financially crippled for life if they have too much debt.
Determining whether or not you are college material is not a science. If your SAT score is 1549, you are not automatically disqualified. You need to weigh many factors. Recognize that there is a lot of emotion involved. You have peer pressure. “All” of your friends are going to college. Your parents may have strong feelings either pro or con. It is important to recognize that you are risking valuable time and money, and that a college degree is no longer a surefire path to prosperity.