Fed up with college...on week four of freshman year

[Lorelei12]

Agreed; in fact, it’s TERRIBLE advice; take it from one who knows based on personal experience.

If the money were not an issue, I might say “go for it.”

Since it seems to be an issue, before you do anything like that, you’ve got to take a long hard look at the situation and wonder if you want to be eating ramen noodles for ten years or more while you’re paying your loans back.

Teenagers love to “advise” their peers on what colleges to attend, without any knowledge of their financial situation or other financial realities. The people giving you the advice aren’t going to be there when you’re trying to pay back those loans.

The rule is, if you ain’t payin’, you ain’t sayin.’ (Apologies for the slang.) This is a choice for you and maybe your family. If the person advising you to attend this college or that one has the checkbook out all set to pay for it for you, great; since they don’t, you’ve got to be critical of their advice.

It is good to be cautious and prudent with student loans. But taking out loans to attend a school you really want to be at isn’t always a bad idea, nor will it necessarily be detrimental to a marriage. This, of course, depends on a lot of different factors such as how much the loan is, future earning potential, and so forth. I also know this based on personal experience. My financial situation actually improved once I got married, since we now both earn an income and share living expenses. Almost all of my income goes toward my loans, which would be impossible if I were still living on my own. They’ll be paid off much sooner.

My point is that, the OP is concerned about taking out loans that will affect her future family, if she has one. She is smart to be concerned and her forethought is admirable. However, she chose a school based on the assumptions that a) she will certainly be a wife and mother and b) student loan debt will hurt a marriage. She’s not entirely happy at this school, and knows for sure which school she’d rather be at. It’s not a bad idea for her to see what scholarships or grants she might be able to get and figure out whether it might be worth it to transfer. It may not be the best option for her, but it isn’t necessarily “terrible advice”.

 

[Fusiontron]

Every university and college exposes people to a wide variety of perspectives, topics, philosophies and methodologies. God has you where he wants you so you must ask God to help you learn what he wants you to learn from this experience. The greatest Catholic apologists are those well versed in topics opposing Catholic thought. University is challenging because one learns to think and this requires we learn a wide variety of things , even if these are not consistent with Catholic teaching. When Paul preached the message of Christ in Greece, he was well versed in the Greek religious perspectives and philosophies and was able to use these to preach the message of Christ.

My advice is to quit complaining, get down to work, and see this opportunity as a blessing where you will become well versed in a variety of perspectives. It would be a very poor education if you were only exposed to one viewpoint. One perspective learning is for children and not adults. You live in a world with many different cultures, religions, and perspectives… trust God will use this knowledge to assist you in becoming a good Catholic leader.

The problem is the average university does not reflect a “variety” of viewpoints and same with public schools. The faculty is overwhelmingly liberal Democrats. But this shouldn’t be an issue if your professor follows professional ethics which this one appears not to. My advice would be to avoid the soft sciences as much as possible if this becomes a real issue.

 

[EnglishTeacher]

Sorry, but going into debt is bad advice. Just heard yesterday on Catholic radio that it is advisible to be no more than $10,000 in debt after college. You are very wise to avoid debt if you wish to marry after college. Does your college have a Newman Center or any way that you can build friendships with people who are at least trying to live as Catholics? During this freshman year do some research on other affordable colleges or state universities with Newman centers that may also be more conservative and less hostile to religion. Your anthropology professor is ridiculous in her arrogance and ignorance of the Catholic faith. My husband is a college professor in a business school and he would consider her behavior to be quite unprofessional but in the soft sciences that attitude is quite common. You are finding out that some professors live in their only little world and often it is not based on truth or reality. You may want to major in a business field because there is less of that nonsense going on.
But the truth is that these experiences are valuable because they will prepare you to get along with difficult people. Out in the working world there are many difficult people! Your negative experiences at your college will serve to help you navigate once you are out in the world. While a truly Catholic school like Benedictine may be your ideal take advantage of where you are now by learning to live outside the Catholic bubble.

Agree 100%. The OP is very smart for considering the issue of debt before college. I wish I had done so. College is only 4 years of your life; student loan debt can easily be decades, and being saddled with big debts limits all your future options.