Anyone else feel like tution prices are way disproportionate to the income you actually make? I've been looking at schools, their tution ranges from 30k to about 60k. Average starting salary for an International Relations major (what I plan to study) is about 40k. Minus income tax, rent, food etc. and there's nothing left for loans. It also seems like the cheaper schools ethier don't have the academic rigor I want or the reputation I need to get a job (with the global economy the way it is, I don't think a no-name school will beat out the competition). Any advice? I still have a little time before I have to narrow down a list of schools.
I'm thinking that with 4 years and 60k in debt, working for 30 years with a degree will net more income than you would have made without a degree.
I understand eventually I'll make more than 40k, but making 80k isn't going to cut it when I owe twice that to pay the loans I had to take out to pay off my debt.
To be serious: I think going in-state to a state university/college is a good choice, unless the in-state school you get in is hugely crappy, I guess. If we are talking Texas, obviously UT is an excellent academic institution. Even for states where the state U. is not as highly ranked by, say, U.S. News what not, if you graduate with a high GPA I don't think it looks bad for your future pursuits and also my understanding is generally they have "honors programs" and such things that make it looks better on your resume if that's what you are concerned about. Anyhow, this worked out well enough for me when applying to law schools (I also had a good LSAT score).
Thanks, I'm looking for some good state schools, my trouble is that I don't want to go to college in my state, so I won't be getting in-state tuition.
Mind if I ask what state it is? Mine was Nevada and the in-state tuition was something like $1200-1500 per semester (depending on the # of credit hours you take) so it was pretty hard to turn down economically. Of course it's a personal choice and you might have good reason to hate your state a lot more than I hated mine (wouldn't have minded living in another place, actually, but I only moved there during HS so I wasn't really eager to leave right away...).
I live in NJ... We have Princeton(not smart enough) TCNJ(not my major) Seton Hall (****ty area) Rutgers (party school) and a ton of community colleges. Also, I want to be in or near a big city. Most of NJ is suburbs, beaches or smaller, poor cities.
As mentioned, stay in-state & apply for scholarship money. I go to the Univ. of Texas, and it's VERY cheap, relatively speaking. Tuition and fees only run me close to $6,000/semester.
Rutgers is respectable enough as far as I know. I don't think any employer will automatically dismiss you as some "party school kid" if you perform well and get good grades there. And if there's something like an "honors program" it could put you in classes with more serious-minded students (for the typical "core" required courses... the Jr. and Sr. year course in your major are typically already populated with more serious students since the Snookies presumably drop out before that). Also, it's like an 90-120 min from NYC by the NJ transit so it's not exactly located in Wasilla, Alaska or something. Anyway, it's your choice. Undergrad student loan burden (when you may have further loan burdens if you seek further degree(s)) vs. other factors.
Starting salary will be low out of undergrad for anything other than accounting, engineering, computer science, pharmacy or nursing. Do it and study your gosh darn mother flipping arse off so you can get a nice legislative, UN, World Bank or CSIS internship. Make sure it's a tip-top school or at least located in either Washington, New York, LA, or I guess Chicago? Remember, diplomats, attaches and CIA policy analysts come from somewhere, and it ain't North Dakota State.
Get lots of internships and yeah I believe that you better be in Washington DC if you're an international relations major.
What do want to do with a international relations degree? Diplomat? If that the case, its all about who you know, not what you know. You essentially have to have to get in good with someone in the federal government like a congressman. That's the only way you are going to get diplomat job. If you want to get into international business, that's a totally different story all together. People with international relations degrees seldom get those jobs. Those jobs are generally about specific skills that aren't relatively available in the local areas. So you normally have to be the boss/project manager or you have to have a skill(usually technical or process oriented) that can be found in other countries.
Go to a small public in-state university, at least for 2 years. The school my wife goes to is less than $1,000 per semester, but is a 2 year college. The school she is transferring to is barely over $1,000 per semester.
