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Tips for financing college

Since college is expensive and I am going to become very familiar with college debt come this fall, do you have any tips on how to handle financing my loans and payment plans?

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Daniel’s Answer

Go to a state school and work during the summer to help pay for this. TA opportunities and internships can make a sizeable dent and avoid piling on debt.
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Ken’s Answer

The key to getting a good education is to treat it like any other investment. Try to figure out how to do it in the most economical manner possible, as you want to make the least reasonable investment to realize the greatest possible return on your dollar. Too many people spend way too much on an education and end up in huge debt unnecessarily. Below are some steps, which I have developed from my years in Human Resources and College Recruiting. Here are some sites that will help with locating internship and scholarships, but it is very important to follow the steps below which guide you in a meaningful way. ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/the-ultimate-timeline-for-landing-the-summer-internship-of-your-dreams ##

http://www.fastweb.com/ ## ##

https://www.themuse.com/advice/now-and-later-everything-you-need-to-know-about-internships ##

Ken recommends the following next steps:

Take an interest and aptitude test administered and interpreted by a counselor to determine which career areas you are best suited for based on you personality. You can do this while you are in high school, and you might want to do this again when you as enrolling in a college, as the interpretations might differ. It is important to do it as soon as possible to make your planning for college as meaningful as possible. When I was doing college recruiting, I ran into too many graduates who skipped this step and ended up in jobs/careers after graduations for which they were ill suited. Too many times they had to take additional courses to enter a career for which they were better suited. Prevent this from happening.
It really does not matter where you go to school. I, like many other professionals, started at a local community college. The tuition is more reasonable, the classes are smaller than most colleges, and they have coop and intern opportunities which will allow you to earn as your learn and develop very important networking connections, which will benefit you throughout your education/career journey. Here are some sites which will provide helpful information: ## http://www.ted.com/talks/julie_lythcott_haims_how_to_raise_successful_kids_without_over_parenting?utm_campaign=social&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_content=talk&utm_term=education ## ## http://www.educationplanner.org/students/paying-for-school/ways-to-pay/reduce-college-costs.shtml ##
Talk to the person who tracks and works with graduates of your high school and of the college which you are considering and arrange to meet and talk to and visit and possibly shadow graduates who are working in the career for which you are best suited based on your testing. Here are some tips on getting helpful information. ## http://www.wikihow.com/Network ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/nonawkward-ways-to-start-and-end-networking-conversations ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/4-questions-to-ask-your-network-besides-can-you-get-me-a-job?ref=carousel-slide-1 ##
Locate and attend meetings of professional associations to which people working in your career area of interest belong, so that you can meet people and learn from them and get some helpful information. These associations are very open to students and many times have or know of scholarship, internship, and coop opportunities. Here are some helpful tips: ## https://www.careeronestop.org/BusinessCenter/Toolkit/find-professional-associations.aspx?&frd=true ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/9-tips-for-navigating-your-first-networking-event ##
It is a good idea to work while in college, you can talk to your academic adviser and the dean of you major about locating and getting on campus jobs relating to your major area of interest. This will help with paying for school and will also allow you to learn more about your career area. Also, you could talk to the person who works with and tracks graduates to see about locating a job in an appropriate career area on or close to campus. Here are some tips that will help. ## https://www.unigo.com/in-college/college-experience/creating-a-workschool-balance-a-college-student-perspective ## ## http://www.mycollegesuccessstory.com/academic-success-tools/college-life-balance.html ## ## http://www.collegeconfidential.com/dean/000241/ ##
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