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Let me start off by saying that my regret going to a four year Big 10 college is my own doing because I was a money moron.
Looking back to high school when I was coming up with a list of 4 year colleges, all I knew is I wanted to experience living on my own and to get a good undergraduate degree in Marketing.
Notice anything missing from my thought process?
I did not even consider how I would finance my education!
I simply figured student loans would take care of it…and it did, so I paid my way through college by taking out student loans for all 4 years.
My parents did not save for my college education and I had no concept of saving, financing, and investing. In fact, this lack of financial literacy lasted throughout my 20’s.
4 REASONS I REGRET GOING TO AN OUT OF STATE BIG 10 COLLEGE
- I had no savings. I am still paying down my student loan debt. My parents had no savings. I paid my way through 4 years through student loans. I did not even think about working while attending college.
- I did not take advantage of scholarships. I halfheartedly applied for 3 scholarships even knowing I would not have the finances to fund even a textbook out of pocket. I took high school senioritis very seriously. I did not even join the college fraternity, who offered to pay part of my tuition for 4 years, because I thought being part of a fraternity was too much of a commitment.
- I was immediately homesick. I literally counted down the days when I would go back home during school breaks. One of my reasons to attend an out of state college was to experience independence. I did not even consider that going to an in state 4 year college that was 45 min away would still allow me to experience independence.
- I did not think about regional job recruitment. I always thought I would be able to move closer to home, but based on my experience at the Big 10 school, many of the major recruiters were from companies that were headquartered in the midwest. Understandably so. As a result I ended up getting a job at a Fortune 50 company and lived in the midwest for 5+ years before relocating back closer to home.
