From: blockedofcourse@foo.invalid   
      
   On 11/6/2025 10:57 AM, ehsjr wrote:   
   > On 11/6/2025 12:07 PM, Don Y wrote:   
   >> On 11/6/2025 7:23 AM, legg wrote:   
   >>> On Sun, 2 Nov 2025 12:47:59 -0700, Don Y    
   >>> wrote:   
   >>>   
   >>>>> "Pre-college preparation - most high school grads in US don't have   
   enough of   
   >>>>> basics to do well day 1. This is especially the case when you goto a   
   lower   
   >>>>> ranked school. Engineering is hard everywhere, you can literally not read   
   >>>>> your   
   >>>>> psychology textbook and get a B."   
   >>>>   
   >>>> 50% of "high school grads" are "below average".  So, going from that   
   >>>> to "most" isn't even a hop/skip/jump.   
   >>>>   
   >>>> And, if you're targeting a "lower ranked school", it's *almost*   
   >>>> an admission that you don't have what it takes to get into a better   
   >>>> school.   
   >>>   
   >>>    
   >>>   
   >>> . . . or that your parents didn't have the dough to live in   
   >>> the 'right' area.   
   >>   
   >> In the US, that isn't (wasn't) necessarily true.   
   >   
   > Your statement above is true, because of the word   
   > necessarily.  However it hides the fact that many   
   > times the cost is prohibitive and the deciding factor   
   > in which college one goes to - or even if one goes   
      
   I think there are ways to get the necessary funds, but   
   you may not have the "social" resources to make those   
   ways known or available to you.   
      
   E.g., my counselors advised me of merit scholarships   
   else I would not have known of their existence.   
      
   The school's FinAid department "allowed" me to work   
   (part time) while in school to meet some of them.  I   
   had summer jobs "back home" (no need to keep paying rent   
   to stay at school!) to bring in more money.  And, I   
   had loans to make up for the rest.   
      
   But, I controlled my "nonessential" expenses as that   
   was money I didn't have (no summer vacations on the Miami   
   coast; no drunken parties on weekends).   
      
   > to college.  This is not to say there aren't many   
   > other factors.  But the fact remains that there are   
   > many qualified who can't afford the $$$ or are   
   > forced to drop out after a year or two.   
      
   I had to go to school part time (in order to work FULL time)   
   to meet the financial demands.  I would drive to school in   
   the morning, spend 4-5 hours there then drive ~20 miles   
   to work, then drive back home at 11P.  Squeeze in homework   
   and lab work while at school (between classes) or on the   
   weekends.   
      
   I was grateful that my employer was accommodating (OTOH,   
   it allowed him two "shifts" on our project as the   
   equipment was the bottleneck; being able to get an extra   
   5 or 6 hours of work done in a calendar day got us to   
   "done" a lot quicker!).   
      
   It wasn't "fun" but it was what I had to do to afford my   
   education.  I'm sure other people could similarly have put   
   in 16 hour days if they so choose...   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)