[OwnershipSociety]

I suggest the student take a light load for the first semester or two at college unless your kid is some kind of genuis.

A parent speaking from experience.

[McLynnan]

I hear you. My senior daughter recently completed the early admissions process for next year. She has a generous scholarship, plus a financial aid package. I can't make heads or tails of the aid package. Part of it is university grants, part is endowment fund gifts/aid, and part is based on her estimated Pell Grant award. The school offers a special tax deductible "Path" loan (Federal Plus loan) to parents of academically qualified students and subsidizes the interest while the student is enrolled. Trying to decide if this would be better than a student loan.....totally confused too.

[dufekin]

As a recent college graduate, I disagree. You don't need (and don't want) to take a light load of coursework. You do need to identify the classes that you MUST take for your major and make absolutely sure that you take them as early as possible (within the oftentimes ill-enforced prerequisite structure and the 19-or-so per semester credit limit). And yes, if you want to stick to the four-or-fewer-year plan, you should select a major, or at least a group of closely-related majors with similar prerequisites, before attending.

I highly recommend Advanced Placement credits; they limit the general education obligations (which inevitably become courses like "The Uncultured American" with Prof. Hate America).

Irrelevant, your child should realize that (1) the academic workload is absolutely brutal by comparison with most high school courses, and studying material thoroughly and continuously is essential for success. High-school coursework often provides an inadequate academic foundation for college.

and (2) At least one-third of college students are entirely unserious, seeking only alcohol and promiscuity, not education. Most students will leave college altogether after failure or transfer to a major with coursework more amenable to this lifestyle. Only a quarter of freshmen and freshwomen will graduate in four or fewer years in a similar major to their entering curriculum. Although a very few of these students also rank among the hard-core party-goers and some do very little work outside class, most are determined to work hard on academic pursuits.

Oh, yeah, and (3) most professors are not the enemy. Although they are indeed extremely busy, they want to teach a captive audience. Although a few tend to keep 9-to-5 schedules, many can be found in the evenings and some eagerly talk to students in the wee morning hours. There are some notoriously unfriendly and confrontational professors; however, these are an exception, not the rule.

[Old Professer]

Every genuis I ever met came to a bad edn.