Where should I go for college?

[daverf]

Here's my $.02... I grew up loving the ocean, living in CA and FL, and got a full scholarship to Eckerd College in St. Petersburg FL. I was planning to do Marine Biology. You could check the program there.

I declined and got a degree in business somewhere else. I don't look back and wonder if I made a mistake, but can say that my career has been good fit for me and my lifestyle. I did pay big student loans for 10 years and never stopped dreaming about the ocean, but have had a career that has funded my life and building a family. I'm not saying I don't have money problems (haha).

You need to make sure you are 100% committed to the lifestyle that your career pursuit will fund. Career unhappiness and regret is one of the biggest plagues of life...and when debt accompanies it now or down the road, it is a much bigger burden. I have a doctor friend who pulls in 400K a year that hates his job and says he thinks about quitting all the time. So money won't buy happiness, but it at least gives some cushion in life for you to change or get through hard times. You don't have to be a doctor to have that, but some career paths will leave you debt laden and/or trapped for life. So choose wisely, and it is very hard to undo your choice (and sometimes even harder to accept that it can't be undone). If there's any doubt, then be practical before you dream. Get a degree that will fund the lifestyle you think you can accept, then down the road (with patience) you can either fund a hobby or a career change to follow your dream.

That is why it is also good to start small/slow, such as at a community college, especially if you don't have good grades/test scores. Don't believe the hype about needing to find yourself, follow academic prestige and name-brand university recognition, etc. You are incredibly fortunate to have such a great mom who has planned this for you. Now surprise her by being practical with this incredible gift built on blood/sweat/tears that she has presented you.

Being practical is not how Americans are told to live, granted. We are told to be bold, dream and act and live big.Turn on the TV and watch American Idol where people's belief that they can attain stardom is confirmed...but as we know, for every one person that makes it in Hollywood there are millions (including many homeless) that will live and die with the hope that one day they will be a star and never will. Same applies to many fields, science...art...business... In other words, let this hobby show how destructive/disheartening/expensive the "be bold" approach can be on a micro level.

Sorry I'll shut up, that was a hell of a soapbox speech...

 

[bsharpe]

+1 I decided to go into real estate because that's what my dad did and I was 13 years old. The real reason was back then agents drove the coolest cars and that made my mind up . Fortunately I do love what I do, but I think there might have been other options. So follow your dream and start by volunteering at the Denver aquarium, some of the biologists I meet are not too thrilled about their choice.

 

[kyuubichan218]

You could always go the circuitous route and get a degree in something like environmental engineering. The job market for engineers is awesome and you still could end up working in a similar place, especially if you minored in biology. I'm obviously a biased sourse, though

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[Haulin Oates]

If I were you I'd be very careful about making a hobby a career. I enjoyed wrenching so I decided to drop out of college and join the work force as a tech. I make decent money, but I hate it!! I don't ever want to touch another wrench as long as I live!! And since I dropped out of college I've got nothing to go back on. I should have finished my bachelors degree so I at least could have gone back to something else!

 

[jahmic]

+1 to not slacking on scholarship applications. I ended up going to grad school after undergrad, and my payments easily stack up to over 1k a month. It's easy to get caught up in an ideal vision of your college career, and pick the best school for your current goals. Just keep in mind that once you get out of school, although where you went is going to be an important factor in finding it job, your bills will effect your quality of life immensely if you aren't careful. Also...goals often change. I switched majors 3x in my college career...you may be surprised about what subjects suddenly and unexpectedly catch your attention when you start taking classes. For that reason, I'd say it's best to attend a University with a well-rounded program, and save the specialized schools for a graduate program if you decide to go that route.

I do understand the draw of attending school in Hawaii...but don't discount the potential of attending a school that may not be ideal for what you wanna do if it still offers a quality education at a lower cost...ESPECIALLY if you are considering getting into environmental sciences. I opted for a top ranked school that cost me out the wazoo. Am I happy with my decision? Absolutely. Did I get a quality education? You bet. All that being said, every month when I go to pay my bills I wonder just how different my current career options and quality of life would be if I had decided to go to the University that offered me a FULL scholarship instead.

For what it's worth, I wouldn't change a thing, and feel that I did make the right decision in attending a top-10 academic school...I won't get into details but my success required that I go somewhere that really challenged me. BUT...you have to be comfortable with knowing that you're going to accumulate that debt in the process and the extra 2k - 5k that you may make annually by attending a good school and earning that credential will be outweighed by the extra cash you shell out to pay back those loans.

Whatever you do, just keep your options open and make sure you apply for even more scholarships than you do schools.