generation limbo: 20-somethings today, debt, unemployment, the questionable value of a college education

I'm curious if my high school just had zero college counseling (despite being loaded with AP classes and now a IB school - I graduated with 21 possible AP credits IIRC and was nowhere close to having the most) or if I just missed out on it via fucking off a lot.
kinda lucked out - I got into a private liberal arts college planning to get a poli sci degree, but had zero idea how to navigate financial aid so I probably saved myself $100k in debt for what would have turned into a history degree

It sort of seems like there is this hole that middle-class families can fall into in the financial aid landscape where if you are from a family that has a high-ish annual income but your parents haven't been saving for your education or aren't interested in paying for it, the EFC can way overshoot what your family is actually able and willing to pay.

a lot of families in the 95 zone could ~game the system~ by getting divorced, no joke xp

EFC also pounds working students in the ass, if you can't jump through the hoops to prove absolute independence 50% of your income is expected to go toward school IIRC (until you're 24-25)

http://media.mmgdailies.topscms.com/images/5b/3f/9999f14e43b58037de3c1fa6668d.jpg

The university belongs to us, those who teach, learn, research, council, clean, and create community. Together we can and do make the university work.

But today this university is in crisis. The neoliberal restructuring of post-secondary education seeks to further embed market logic and corporate-style management into the academy, killing consultation, autonomy and collective decision-making. The salaries of university presidents and the ranks of administrators swell, but the people the university is supposed to serve — students — are offered assembly-line education as class sizes grow, faculty is over-worked, and teaching positions become increasingly precarious. International students and scholars seeking post-secondary or graduate education are treated as cash cows rather than as people who might contribute to both research and society. Debt-burdened students are seen as captive markets by administrators, while faculty is encouraged to leverage public funds for private research on behalf of corporate sponsors.

http://torontoedufactory.wordpress.com/

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-04-19/bubble-u-dot-high-point-university

Jesus.

this is the most depressing thread on ilx

I was curious so I looked to see what Harvard's tuition is now, and HOLY FUCK

tuition costs alone are more than what the entirety of tuition, room, board and fees were when I was an undergrad

if I ever have kids, they will likely end up becoming carpenters

harvard's not even in the top 25 most expensive college either

colleges

more nyu:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/26/opinion/expand-minds-not-the-nyu-campus.html?hp

(shining iatee-bat symbol)

have u read this? http://www.salon.com/2012/04/26/will_that_starbucks_last/

I looked at that book, it didn't look particularly scholarly, there are some things he says that are not false tho

w/r/t generational tastes at least

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303978104577364120264435092.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories#

http://keepcaliforniaspromise.org/469/soon-every-faculty-member-will-have-a-personal-senior-manager

Ok I think this belongs here:

http://moneyland.time.com/2012/05/02/the-beginning-of-the-end-of-the-unpaid-internship-as-we-know-it/?iid=pf-main-lede?xid=rss-topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:%20time/topstories%20%28TIME:%20Top%20Stories%29

In August 2011, when Diana Wang began her seventh unpaid internship, this time at Harper’s Bazaar, the legendary high-end fashion magazine, she figured that her previous six internships – at a modeling agency, a PR firm, a jewelry designer, a magazine, an art gallery and a state governor’s office – had prepared her for the demands of New York’s fashion world.

“I was so determined to make this one really worth my while,” says the 28-year-old Wang, who moved from Columbus, Ohio, to New York, where she was living with her boyfriend (also working as an unpaid intern at one point) and living off of her savings. “I knew I couldn’t do anymore internships after this.”

As it turned out, Wang’s internship was just like many of the thousands of others: unrewarding in terms of both pay and marketable experience — not to mention the lack of a job offer. In fact, the only difference between her internship and most others was what happened about a month after it ended. Wang sued.

http://chronicle.com/article/From-Graduate-School-to/131795/

Top cities for new college grads 2012

happy with this, esp. #4

i love this writer and this is a thread relevant piece likely to make op crazy:
http://www.salon.com/2012/06/23/moving_home_the_new_key_to_success/

yeah I saw that. it's not really based on any real data. like yeah, 'it happens'. but the overwhelming number of white ppl who left nyc over the last decade were archie bunker outer borough types, as you can see by looking at it by neighborhood: http://www.urbanresearchmaps.org/plurality/

and looking at the national inflow/outflow, the outflow from manhattan is primarily a. florida b. northeast burbs: http://www.forbes.com/special-report/2011/migration.html

hip new yorkers moving to kansas city would make a good quiddities article, but there's not a lot of evidence that it happens enough to 'be a thing'. and the cleveland renaissance - it's downtown doubling in population over the last 20 years - well, that's 4500 people. which is great, and I'd imagine the number would be even higher if it weren't for the various constraints to downtown cleveland living - but 4500 people is a drop in the bucket even as far as the cleveland metro population goes.

'its downtown'

b. northeast burbs

my interest in the phenomenon, obv

that's been happening for 100 years tho

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kCDOfeHs7aA/T3dkGmik04I/AAAAAAAADgo/cV6rUQTpzRw/s640/03-02_full.jpg

http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2011/sep/30/even-artichokes-have-doubts/

basically just for this precious quote:

“I’m practical,” she says. “I’m not going to work at a non-profit for my entire life; I know that’s not possible. I’m realistic about the things that I need for a lifestyle that I’ve become accustomed to.” Though she admits she’s at least partially worried of ending up at the bank “longer than [she] sees [her]self there now,” at present she sees it as a “hugely stimulating and educational” way to spend the next few years.

fourth sentence in that article ends with an exclamation point; stopped reading.

I like exclamation points! College journalism I'm not quite so keen on..

google the author of that article

oy

I think she does capture something, though, about the extent to which a certain kind of ivy student is on a kind of conveyor belt in life. Lifelong non-autonomy combined with desperate need for affirmation combined with expectation of material comfort = path of least resistance. Someone e-mails you about a "prestigious" job in your second year of school, you say yes in spite of your vague notions of doing something more "meaningful." And you don't just do it, you rationalize it.

i have found that while it's important to feel occupationally fulfilled in some regard (i have continued to write despite having an unrelated day job), there are so many other areas of life that are important too. is it better to be happy at work and then go home and cry about bills piling up and debt and getting into fights with your significant other about money, and struggling to pay rent, or better to maybe feel unfulfilled at work and then have all that other stuff a little bit worked out? i mean, the choice is not an exact binary. even at uninspiring jobs you can find things to be proud about and ways to deploy your specific talents + skills in a satisfying way. and obv there are those that figure out how to live doing their dream jobs (even if that means cutting back in other areas). it's not just about luxury tho. maybe you want to start a family and now you need to move into a bigger place, buy diapers, pay for childcare, etc. it's not just the path of least resistance. sometimes you shuffle your priorities.

(nb i use the second person a lot here but i think it's obv that i'm talking a large bit about my own experiences...)

I think that's all reasonable. I'm someone who very much based my job decision on a balance of salary, time to see family and opportunity for advancement rather than what I would find most interesting or meaningful (although it's not completely bereft of interest). But I don't think that's how Yale grads are deciding their jobs. I think it's more "here's an easy way I can get a job without having to really go out and compete, and I will continue to be told I'm special and get paid handsomely"

christ. didn't know about the author. :-(

http://gawker.com/5924881/22+year+old-is-very-upset-that-she-didnt-get-to-be-poor-for-a-while

you can pretty easily get yourself into credit card debt and eat ramen every day even if you have money iirc

other than that I don't really have anything to say about this 22-year-old who has crazy-sounding ideas about what she thinks her life should be

http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/kfc-urges-loser-college-grads-stop-living-their-parents-141949

thoughtcatalog, i kno. http://thoughtcatalog.com/2012/get-a-job-the-craigslist-experiment/

smh at the coffee stain graph

gotta say tho if I ever have to sift through 626 resumes I am tossing every single one with a spelling error

because you gotta decide somehow

KATHRIN 3 days ago
This is interesting and well written. Find yourself a grad student in Math and you’ve got your job. I want more articles of a “pop math” variety exploring the numbers of everyday life. Not only are they interesting and engaging, these types of stories provide the groundwork for helping “us” (entrepreneurs) know what industries we should be attacking.

i should unbookmark this thread. every time it's updated, ten minutes later i'm depressed

MATH GRAD STUDENT INTERN NEEDED FOR ONLINE STARTUP

I think that's a spam bot

http://gawker.com/5933249/even-the-well+off-find-college-unaffordable-now