The second fact that Neill Seltzer mentioned in his article was that anyone who wants to go to college will go to college. That is reminiscent of, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” The misconception that a college education is out of reach for most students comes from society gauging their chances by standards at the Ivy colleges. If colleges were cars, the Ivies would be Bentleys, Maserati’s and Rolls Royce’s. Few people would turn one of those cars down if given to them but how many of us can go out and pay retail for one. There are literally thousands of colleges specializing in every imaginable major and 98% of them are within academic reach of most high school students. Don’t stand there at the Bentley dealership with your nose pressed against the glass. Go kick the tires and make a deal at the Ford, Dodge or Chevy dealership.
Not every college is a good place for every student. That’s why there are so many of them. If you want to hang out with people who share your religious faith, you probably don’t want to make the big state school your first choice. Shop the colleges just like you shop for cloths or shoes. If it doesn’t fit, why would you pay between 80 thousand and a quarter million dollars to go there? Also, when the fit is right, the colleges know it as well as you do. That is why they will likely offer financial incentive to encourage you to choose them. Not only do you get a college that fits, you get it at a discount price!
This all sounds so easy, doesn’t it? Well it’s not. It’s hard to make all A’s, knock the top out or entrance exams, be the captain of your team, the president of a club, work a part time job and help feed the homeless every weekend. The good thing is that if you are not chasing after a Maserati or a Rolls Royce, you don’t have to do all these things. Do the ones you are good at, pick a college that provides what you need (not necessarily want), avoid borrowing more money than required and you will be fine.