Parental Financial Help in College Lowers GPA

[araine]

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/s...e-gpa-18219523

A recent study that will be published in the American Sociology Review shows that parents who help pay for college will lower their children's GPA.

Would you still financially help your kids (or future kids) through college knowing this?

Proves what have been common sense knowledge for decades that spoiled rich kids fail at a higher rate than poor people, with serious motivation for studies. Now the problem is to make sure we have an education system that allows the seriously motivated to get affordable access while we still are able to keep the play around and screw around group of rich spoiled frat babies, that is only in college due to dad forcing them to be there and that he is paying the bills for the namebrand private college costing like 30k a year.

[FathomFear]

That's entirely untrue for almost every engineering major and almost all CS fields. A BS is exactly "job training" for those fields, with the exception of a few schools designed to have a BS -> MS track.

Computer Science (and to a lesser degree Engineering) are pretty much the only exceptions to that rule, though. In part because those fields are often tailored to be job training. It's one of the reasons why CS was originally (and still is, in some places) a controversial addition to the roster of many universities, as it was seen as a glorified training course vs. a pure academic pursuit. The same could even be said for most "Commerce" degrees. And this is why they tend to be treated with disdain and/or skepticism in academia.

My point was that if you get a major in just about anything and stop at the BA or BSc level, it really doesn't matter what you major in. Just about any advanced career in the Sciences or the Arts are going to require more than a Bachelor's degree. If you believe you're going to stop your academic career at the BA or BSc level, your best bet is going to be to focus on a subject you enjoy. This will increase the likelihood that you'll be engaged with the material and see your degree to completion. However, if your intent is to enter a more advanced field and progress beyond a BA/BSc, you should be very selective of what your end goals are and ensure that your choice of major lines up with those goals.

---------- Post added 2013-01-21 at 04:08 PM ----------

Not really. You aren't going to get hired as an Electrical Engineer with a Philosophy major, or a Geophysicist with an Art History major. There are types of jobs where your major isn't that important, but there are a lot of jobs where it is.

I did not end up doing a job that was related to my major, personally, but I also wasn't applying to be a Chemist or something like that. I also had a very hard time getting a good job at first, until I got lucky and had an extended family member find an opening for me in his company.

My point was that someone who gets a BSc in Physics (and nothing more) isn't going to be qualified to be a Geophysicist either. Just as a Chemistry major is not going to suddenly have a bunch of job opportunities in the field of Chemistry. The job opportunities for those people who stop after a BA/BSc are pretty much the same, with very few exceptions. The situation really only changes for those who pursue very "applied" courses in CS/Engineering or Business/Commerce. And they're exceptions because these degrees are often highly tailored to be job training.

[Diurdi]

My point was that someone who gets a BSc in Physics (and nothing more) isn't going to be qualified to be a Geophysicist either. Just as a Chemistry major is not going to suddenly have a bunch of job opportunities in the field of Chemistry. The job opportunities for those people who stop after a BA/BSc are pretty much the same, with very few exceptions. The situation really only changes for those who pursue very "applied" courses in CS/Engineering or Business/Commerce. And they're exceptions because these degrees are often highly tailored to be job training.

Soon only PhD's will get employed :/

[Pendulous]

How the hell else is an 18-year-old going to get thousands of dollars to pay for college?

[poser765]

There are plenty of jobs out there that are technical and require either a specific degree or job experience. the other side is there are plenty of jobs that just require the box for degree to be checked.

it's kind of pedantic to list those that do require a degree.

[Reeve]

Computer Science (and to a lesser degree Engineering) are pretty much the only exceptions to that rule, though. In part because those fields are often tailored to be job training. It's one of the reasons why CS was originally (and still is, in some places) a controversial addition to the roster of many universities, as it was seen as a glorified training course vs. a pure academic pursuit. The same could even be said for most "Commerce" degrees. And this is why they tend to be treated with disdain and/or skepticism in academia.

My point was that if you get a major in just about anything and stop at the BA or BSc level, it really doesn't matter what you major in. Just about any advanced career in the Sciences or the Arts are going to require more than a Bachelor's degree. If you believe you're going to stop your academic career at the BA or BSc level, your best bet is going to be to focus on a subject you enjoy. This will increase the likelihood that you'll be engaged with the material and see your degree to completion. However, if your intent is to enter a more advanced field and progress beyond a BA/BSc, you should be very selective of what your end goals are and ensure that your choice of major lines up with those goals.

---------- Post added 2013-01-21 at 04:08 PM ----------



My point was that someone who gets a BSc in Physics (and nothing more) isn't going to be qualified to be a Geophysicist either. Just as a Chemistry major is not going to suddenly have a bunch of job opportunities in the field of Chemistry. The job opportunities for those people who stop after a BA/BSc are pretty much the same, with very few exceptions. The situation really only changes for those who pursue very "applied" courses in CS/Engineering or Business/Commerce. And they're exceptions because these degrees are often highly tailored to be job training.

We hire people with BSc's in physics as Geophysicists all the time. There's a whole floor full of them 1 floor below me.

[semaphore]

How the hell else is an 18-year-old going to get thousands of dollars to pay for college?

I took out a $70,000 loan.

Parents paying for more than the bus fare would've been nice, but it's not like it's impossible.

---------- Post added 2013-01-22 at 12:22 AM ----------

Choice of major only starts becoming relevant at the Master's level and beyond. And it's only releveant with respect to your track within academia. eg, if you want to become a nuclear scientist, you need an appropriate major that leads into that. But if your intent is simply to stop your education after the BA/BSc level, it's pretty close to irrelevant what you major in.

Well yeah if you're going to talk about BA. More technical subjects tends towards being more technical (though for instance there's engineers in finance, but that's not because their degree was irrelevant; it's because their degree made them sought after for finance).

[Cattaclysmic]

I really wish I lived in the Scandinavians right now for free education.

Well - maybe i can become an exchange student to the US. Someone from america will take my place here. Soo....

---------- Post added 2013-01-22 at 01:57 AM ----------

How the hell else is an 18-year-old going to get thousands of dollars to pay for college?

Blue meth...?

[Pendulous]

I took out a $70,000 loan.

Welcome to adulthood. You're now $70k in debt.

K.....

[Cattaclysmic]

Welcome to adulthood. You're now $70k in debt.

K.....

Thats a buckload of moolah...

[theredviola]

think of it like this

with out parental help

most would not be in college

ding ding ding.

You are correct sir. But the important emphasis here is "most." I did my undergrad with a few people who paid for their own education. To be fair though, they were older undergrads... 28, 30ish... they had been around the block and worked in the world for a few years so they understood the gravity of paying thousands of dollars on an education and not just pissing it away.

[semaphore]

Welcome to adulthood. You're now $70k in debt.

K.....

You asked how else one could pay for college. That's one answer for you. Not liking it doesn't make it non-existent.

[yurano]

My point was that if you get a major in just about anything and stop at the BA or BSc level, it really doesn't matter what you major in. Just about any advanced career in the Sciences or the Arts are going to require more than a Bachelor's degree. If you believe you're going to stop your academic career at the BA or BSc level, your best bet is going to be to focus on a subject you enjoy.

BS Majors have value for all STEM majors. I would go further to say that some accounting/economics majors are focused enough to be relevant.

Your assertion that major is unimportant only applies HSS majors, but thats because HSS BS isn't exactly the most valuable degree.

My point was that someone who gets a BSc in Physics (and nothing more) isn't going to be qualified to be a Geophysicist either. Just as a Chemistry major is not going to suddenly have a bunch of job opportunities in the field of Chemistry. The job opportunities for those people who stop after a BA/BSc are pretty much the same, with very few exceptions. The situation really only changes for those who pursue very "applied" courses in CS/Engineering or Business/Commerce. And they're exceptions because these degrees are often highly tailored to be job training.

Actually, science majors do have career opportunities in 'restrictive' fields. You need a Biology or related degree to become the lowest ranked research scientist just out of college at a biotech firm. I'm sure the same logic applies to Physics and Chemistry.

[Grizzly Willy]

You asked how else one could pay for college. That's one answer for you. Not liking it doesn't make it non-existent.

Shouldn't have gone to school then, obviously.

[poser765]

Thats a buckload of moolah...

It all relative though. If she can get a well paying job in her field after school it's kind of moot. Look at Doctors. TONS of debt, but when they are done with school they can reasonably expect to pay it back easily. Aviation degrees on the other hand can cost up to 150k for a four year program with a chance to get a shitty 19k a year job after graduation.

[notorious98]

Who cares? GPA rarely comes into the conversation when it comes to finding a job. You got the Bachelor's? Good enough.

[Cattaclysmic]

It all relative though. If she can get a well paying job in her field after school it's kind of moot. Look at Doctors. TONS of debt, but when they are done with school they can reasonably expect to pay it back easily. Aviation degrees on the other hand can cost up to 150k for a four year program with a chance to get a shitty 19k a year job after graduation.

Hmm, I am in Med school. Nothing prevents me from going to the US to make the big bucks when im finished. With much less debt. And even if i just stayed at home my salary would be substantial and the debt still small.

[poser765]

Hmm, I am in Med school. Nothing prevents me from going to the US to make the big bucks when im finished. With much less debt. And even if i just stayed at home my salary would be substantial and the debt still small.

Different countries. Baby doctors around here come out of school massively in debt. But they also make a salary commiserate to their debt. So in that case, their debt is not really all that big... comparatively speaking.

My degree is junk, cost a lot of money, and prepares you for an occupation with shitty entry and mid level pay. Thus my debt would be a LOT worse.

Yeah fuck you, high school guidance councilor.

[muto]

Who cares? GPA rarely comes into the conversation when it comes to finding a job. You got the Bachelor's? Good enough.

A high GPA gets you scholarships if you want to further your education.

[Itisamuh]

My parents helping out with my college funding actually inspires me to try harder because I don't want their money to go to waste. I think these kinds of studies are a bit silly. Not everybody is the same. I don't plan on having children, but if I did, I'd feel responsible for helping them get off on the right foot in the world.

This. Believe it or not, some people actually care about their parents, and value their help rather than take it for granted.