5 myths about getting in and paying for college

iStockphoto

(MoneyWatch) Tomorrow is national college decision day for high school seniors.

On May 1, students must put down a deposit to secure a spot at the college that they will be attending in the fall.

Some will be celebrating on Tuesday and others will be glum that their grand plans for college didn't pan out.

One way to make sure that this doesn't happen to your child when it's time to apply to colleges is to appreciate some of the myths surrounding the college courtship process. Here are five biggies:

1. You need to go to a name-brand school.

Not true. Most people in this country do not attend schools with any sort of cache. Only eight percent of college graduates, for instance, head off to state flagships, which are the premiere public universities in each state.

Where you go doesn't matter as much as what you do when you're there. Here is a post that I wrote about my daughter's experiences at a school that I suspect 99.9% of Americans have never heard of, much less know how to pronounce:

5 Secrets to Getting a Job After College

2. An Ivy League education is a must to have a great career.

A couple of famous studies suggest that this is nonsense. It's not the eight Ivy League institutions that make a difference, it's the intelligence and drive of the students who are attracted to them. Brilliant students can succeed wherever they end up attending college. In fact, students who share the same academic profile as the students who graduate from these eight schools are making the same salaries in their careers.

Here is a post that elaborates on this phenomenon:

Why Ivy League Rejects Earn More Money

3. You have to be a brainiac to get merit scholarships.

According to the latest figures from the National Association of College and University Business Officers, nearly 88% of freshman attending private institutions received grants/scholarships. The average award knocked about 49% off the tuition price tag.

4. If you're rich, you will have to pay full price.

College price tags are meaningless. Nearly everybody pays a lower price including wealthy families. Consequently when you are checking out schools, don't eliminate any at the outset because the price is high. The best way to get an estimate of what a school will cost your family is to use a net price calculator. I explain these calculators here:

College cost calculators: Getting Wildly Different Answers

5. Retirement savings will kill your chances for financial aid.

I got a note recently from a father who complained that he was considered affluent for financial aid purposes because of his retirement assets. It's extremely rare for a school to hold your retirement assets against you when determining financial aid. I elaborate with this post:

Will Saving for College Hurt Financial Aid Chances?

[tawster]

Good article. Having been involved in hiring many many people over the years for a fortunate 500 company, there are three primary things I look for, in this order:

1. Fit - would the team want to work with this person?
2. Work ethic
3. Knowledge needed for the position

That's as simple as it gets.

Where you went to school matters very little. *If* you went to school sometimes matters, but not always. Sometimes you have pinheads on the hiring team that seem to think other things truly matter, but that is an experience and training issue within the company.

The most talented two people I have worked with in the past never finished their degrees. I always try to remember that when interviewing folks.

[eduLaunchpad]

You can always find anecdotes of how some Ivy League grads got ahead, but when you actually study the successes of college grads over the long haul, it is the student who matters, not the school they came from.

Great article Lynn. I have been preaching against these myths for years. Contrarian thought is not often well received, but more often correct.

www.eduLaunchpad.com

[parisdakar]

#1 and 2 are bullcrap. They told me the same thing when I was looking for a college, so I went to a small school with a better academic reputation. Now, after 10+ years of employment, I can tell you that for people who went to one of the big football schools, the door is always open. Grades and intelligence hardly matter. And Ivy League? Heck, even Harvard dropouts don't have any trouble. Cynical? Yes, but it's the hard truth.

[tawster]

Nope. Wrong. Being involved with many many hirings over the years for a fortunate 500 company, an ivy-league education gets you a free look sometimes (sometimes), but I can't recall that it ever really counted when comparing two candidates. Their work history and side projects mattered more.

Note an exception: If you went to an unaccredited school (Bob Jones, for example) I generally consider the "graduate" as being degree-less.

Advice: If you are a new grad, and you did not work at all in school... I won't even consider you. I will pick a degree-less hard worker over a degreed non-worker any day of the week.

And if they have been out of school for some time (say 10 years) the degree rarely matters any more unless there is a degree/credentialed requirement for the position.

[sucori]

Well, ok, I don't necessarily disagree but I get this underlying envy of the Ivy league. How does one agree with "An Ivy League education is a must to have a great career."? Of course it's not. I would say this: your daughter and all daughters/sons are precious and they'll do fine without an Ivy League education. But there's no need to put it in the light of poo pooing an Ivy League education. It is in the nature of the human animal to aspire to the highest ideals possible and those who succeed deserve respect and admiration for that. Yes, "Brilliant students can succeed wherever they end up attending college" but the best and the brightest will in greater proportianate numbers excel in the most extraordinary ways, Princeton, Harvard and MIT aren't considered among the greatest universities for panache only. They truly attract the greatest minds in both the profs and the student body. Just like the kids that don't get there are special these children are special too and worked hard to get there. They aren't any different than other kids who strive and excel except, with all humility possible, they excelled to an extraordinary degree and they deserve credit for that.
Ultimately one can dismiss the Ivies all they want but your kid will aspire to them if he/she can compete at that level. This will never change. It's the human animal. And it serves mankind and our nation.

[jdbynum3]

There is also the choice for many fields. Go to work as a office boy or the lowest position in a firm of the trade you want to pursue and work your way up and apply the initiative and get the books related to your field and study and learn learn learn for the four years of a rip off college and you will have more experience and knowledge than any of the phoney "professors" that want to take your money.

[rwsmith29456]

If there is a choice between a college graduate and a non-graduate, the graduate will get the job. It's not impossible to rise to the top on your own merit, but many that do go back to school or take classes toward a degree. There are a great many jobs that a person can excel in without a required college degree, such as real estate for one, but mainly at least a two year and preferably four year degree is vital to beat the pack where promotions are desired.