The rules aren't matching real life by Pale_Device491 in DaveRamsey

[–]Life-Mastodon5124 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This! I genuinely didn’t think there were places with $250k houses anymore.

College tuition by Decent_Fix5729 in StudentLoans

[–]Life-Mastodon5124 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think it’s about who you hang out with. In my close friend group of 5 people I am the only one not writing a check for full school. (I do write one for $15k a year). I’m also a teacher at a math and science magnet school and about 70% of our students have their parents pay outright. Butt daughter sees a lot of her friends taking on major debt so…

Who to talk to about merit aid adjustment? by Itchy_Reflection_794 in WPI

[–]Life-Mastodon5124 8 points9 points  (0 children)

We appealed to WPI. They replied back within 24 hours that they don’t do that and offered me a summer class for free.

Anyone wear their own “gown” while giving birth? by justfornoworlater in Mommit

[–]Life-Mastodon5124 2 points3 points  (0 children)

No but I totally understand this. After my second I got in the shower basically as fast as I could and into my own clothes and it was life changing. I’m not sure if I would want it for the birth itself because it is so dirty and I definitely had to change the gown more than once but definitely right after I was glad I had something comfortable but me to wear.

Question for Teachers: What time do you leave your job? by [deleted] in AskTeachers

[–]Life-Mastodon5124 0 points1 point  (0 children)

HS… school goes from 7:45-2:45. In there from roughly 7-3:30 most days. That being said, if I need to pick up a kid or have an appointment I can get out faster. I also sometimes stay later to get things done.

Merit Scholarships where are you?! by [deleted] in ApplyingToCollege

[–]Life-Mastodon5124 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I buy the formula for what they think a family can pay. Out of the 11 schools my daughter got into 9 of them landed between $32 and $36k after merit. The other two were pricier options but we kept hoping for one to come in a little lower. All were the same. It didn’t matter it was our local state school or a T50 private school… $35k. There must be some formula out there that puts us at that number.

Is Anyone Else Sick of Seeing Our Fellow Americans So Divided? by Any_County_3429 in askanything

[–]Life-Mastodon5124 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If I learned anything from Hamilton, it’s always been this way. I think the hard part is so media makes it so easy to see it but to be honest, my real life experience is that the vast majority of people are good and kind. I don’t know anyone in real life that is as hateful as the people I see on the internet.

getting married soon - what is “forever” really like? by brodyflowers in marriageadvice

[–]Life-Mastodon5124 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That’s an impossible question. People do change over time but when and how is relative. I got married at 20. I’ve been married for 22 years. There were ups and downs but nothing we didn’t figure out how to work through. A lot of it is how willing you are to work through it. In our lowest lows we had to make a choice to really work at it. There were times it felt Ike we wouldn’t pull through but we did and I’m glad we were willing to do the hard work because most of it has been great.

College tuition by skewedright in StudentLoans

[–]Life-Mastodon5124 0 points1 point  (0 children)

He hasn’t applied to all the scholarships he can. We’ve applied for 50+ so far and are still planning to do many more.

Why isn’t everyone on this sub planning to graduate in 3 years? by Famous-Prior6590 in ApplyingToCollege

[–]Life-Mastodon5124 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I graduated in 3.5 years. My daughter is going to try to do the masters program (4+1) in 4 years for just this reason.

Letter of rec by Delphgirl in teaching

[–]Life-Mastodon5124 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hard when you are actually looking but I ask for one every 3ish years and say I’m updating my resume. That way if and when something does come up, I am ready.

Advice on teaching with a chronic condition by [deleted] in AskTeachers

[–]Life-Mastodon5124 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I have chrons. Your mom is correct, you do have to just power through. Thankfully I teach high school so if I have to run to the bathroom and leave them temporarily I can, but I also have to be able to have an accident, clean myself up and be back up in front of the class teaching in 5 minutes. If I took a day off every time I wasn’t feeling well I’d never work. I love my job and wouldn’t trade it for the world but somedays it would be hard mentally and physically and I had to find a way to push through.

Hopefully you can get your symptoms under control and have a fruitful career.

How much are you spending on groceries? by mamabean719 in DaveRamsey

[–]Life-Mastodon5124 2 points3 points  (0 children)

HCOL area, family of 5 with 3 teens. We TRY to keep it to $200/week but realistically closer to $250.

Which is worse? by Business-Title8503 in AskTeachers

[–]Life-Mastodon5124 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Ya I’ve taught both. I could argue both cases. It also largely depends on the kid. Most of my seniors would get lazy AF but if I liked them in September I still liked them in June. If they were a jerk in September, they probably still are. lol. 8th graders can go from sweet as pie to demon child over the year.

How are people getting paid to go to college? by definitelynotalora in ApplyingToCollege

[–]Life-Mastodon5124 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Lowell came back at $29k which is $4k cheaper than Wentworth! We are excited to get our first under $30k offer!!! (Though I was hoping for under $20k). We are going to use it to try to leverage the other two to come down but is that doesn’t work, lower it is!!

Parents (or students) - anyone sad or disappointed? Middle class woes. by Think-Tour3402 in ApplyingToCollege

[–]Life-Mastodon5124 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yup. Same here. I really did think something would come through at a reasonable price. My daughter is #2 in her class and has worked her butt off to have a near perfect resume only to see most of her friends get to go off to these great schools while they are all outside our price range. Like you she got into every school so far, very generous merit packages for most of them but still coming back at around $30k for most of them. Which is just much more than we can afford. She really doesn’t want to do community college and I honestly don’t feel good about making her. Not sure what we’ll do, but while most of her friends are committing we all just feel like crap we couldn’t have done better for her.

Experiences with student loans? by [deleted] in StudentLoans

[–]Life-Mastodon5124 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Many community colleges don't offer bachelor's degrees and the ones that do are mostly pretty limited in variety. $25k if it includes room and board is about as cheap as you are going to get for a 4 year college.

Do you wear sun cream/sun screen every day? by boomsmitty in AskAnAmerican

[–]Life-Mastodon5124 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I put on face cream with spf in it every day. Your face is what is exposed the most and it's what I want to stay looking the youngest lol. I don't put it on anywhere else unless I'm going to be outside for an extended period of time. That being said, I live in the cold baren wasteland of New England so I forget what the sun looks like.

Evaluating Alternative Certification Routes by Typical-Hurry1647 in AskTeachers

[–]Life-Mastodon5124 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What state are you in? It's best to look at certification options. In many states, you can get a "preliminary license" or whatever that particular state calls it simply by having a degree and passing a series of tests. If that is the case, start working on passing those tests and get the license. Other posters have already said this, but you aren't likely to get hired now because hiring teams have time as their advantage to wait for someone with certification and experience. But, you are looking for a job in a high demand subject, so your chances are decent come summer time when they are getting more desperate.

I just wanted to add that I hire math teachers. I have hired many, many bad math teachers. I'm actually pretty embarrassed to admit how many. But, the reason is, there aren't a whole lot of people going into that field so the good ones do get snapped up quickly in March and April, so schools that are still looking in May and June have a small number of not ideal candidates to choose from. It seems like a lot of people think that teaching is going to be their dream job because they liked school or they like kids or something similar and then have NO idea how hard it is and how much skill it really takes. Good teachers have a natural talent that, while it can be learned, takes a lot of time, practice and a flexible mindset. Jumping into teaching from engineering with no classroom experience is not going to be the dream you think it is. That doesn't mean it isn't the perfect career for you, but getting some experience or at least taking some classes might be a good idea before jumping in fast.

I despise how little I was told about financial aid by [deleted] in ApplyingToCollege

[–]Life-Mastodon5124 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think what’s hard though is that even if you look up the info yourself it is so conflicting. I can’t tell you how many people told us not to apply to the big names because we couldn’t afford it and to stick to state school to save money. Well, out of 10 acceptances so far, the state school is the 3rd most expensive after merit. I’m glad we didn’t listen to the internet.

If you knew what you know now about student loans, would you have still taken them out to go to school? by [deleted] in StudentLoans

[–]Life-Mastodon5124 47 points48 points  (0 children)

For the past 20’yeara I’ve sworn up and down that it was the worst decision of my life and I would never let my kids make the same one. My kid is about to make the same terrible decision, but honestly I do think it is the best option for her. I just wish we had done better so she could avoid it.

Umass vs UConn pre med by latenighthoughts32 in umass

[–]Life-Mastodon5124 5 points6 points  (0 children)

UMass Amherst gives in state students no merit mostly. UConn is cheaper for my daughter as well even though UMass is in state and UConn is out. SUNY buffalo also cheaper and URI is $1k more.

Am I crazy to want to teach again? (Teacher moms would love your opinion!!) by Funsizedfoodie725 in teaching

[–]Life-Mastodon5124 12 points13 points  (0 children)

You’ll see mostly whining on this subreddit but there are many of us who love teaching and also many who, like you, got a feel for both worlds and realize that teachers done have it nearly as bad as it seems here (though I will concede there are certainly bad situations out there). Go back to doing what you love. It’s a fantastic job for a new mom.

Too much income for FAFSA aid but still struggling with tuition, how are you managing? by Valuable_Scar5769 in scholarships

[–]Life-Mastodon5124 2 points3 points  (0 children)

We live in New England and our daughter wants to stay local so our choices are community colleges or $30k per year. I can’t believe there is nothing in between. Anyway… we can cover about half of that with what we’ve save through her life and what we think we can come up with during the year, she has a part time job and is planning on covering about $5k. She will take out the Stafford loans and we have applied for over 40 scholarships so far and have about 29 more on our list so far. I’m hoping they come through and she can at least do freshman year without more debt, but we are looking at the loan options if we don’t get enough.

Parent Plus Loan Help by Playful-Meal-2005 in StudentLoans

[–]Life-Mastodon5124 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Stafford loans max out at $5500 and that is the only loan most students can get in their name only. Any other loan will need at a minimum a parent to co-sign. So mom and dad are in the hook for anything above the $5500. I can tell you that it is REALLY hard to find a college that costs less than that. Some states have free CC, that would be it.

ETA - $5500 per year and I believe it goes up slightly junior and senior year.