Hey! I had a series called "College Confidential" illustrating the real truth about certain aspects of college from my old blog (now discontinued) and I thought I would repost them one just for laughs. This was a comedy outlet for me as I navigated freshmen year and I think it will help the incoming freshmen! So, sit back, relax and let me tell you how EXPENSIVE college really is (IMO).
DISCLAIMER: College is actually the best time of your life. While there are certain parts that suck, it makes the experience all the more better. This post series is mean to poke fun at certain parts of college and is meant to be taken light heartedly. This post was not meant to offend anyone and if I did, I am incredibly sorry.
College Confidential: The EXPENSES
College. That one thing that consumed your senior year of high school. The applications (STUPID COMMON APP), the waiting, the excitement. Now that you've gotten into your dream school (or what will be your dream school because lets face it HARVARD can't accept everyone), it's time to think about the costs. It honestly doesn't matter who you are, college is EXPENSIVE AS SH*T. All for a piece of paper at the end of 4 years. Honestly the tuition isn't the only thing that makes college expensive. Yes, it's expensive, and depending where you go, it can even cost upwards of 70K a semester. But there's a lot of things that make college expensive that no one tells you about.
1) CLUBS. OMG. honestly these things are expensive. And you have to be in one, especially if you want to go to medical or law school. But here's the thing.... almost all college clubs have SEMESTER dues. So when they say its only $40 it' actually $80 a year. and that's ONE club. add a couple of more club plus a sorority (if you want to be in Greek life) and you can be out around a thousand bucks a semester (well so greek life is expensive, take that out and you're still paying a couple 100 bucks a semester). The worst part. the MERCH. you get a free shirt for the club most of the time, but then they come out with winter wear or baseball caps or stickers. And they aren't free. So now you're stuck paying for a club you initially loved but are annoyed at because of their dues.
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2) TEXTBOOKS.
To this day I have never actually physically opened a dusty, musty, pre-historic textbook (well in my sophmore year, turns out my biochem book was actually helpful). I dropped serious dinero on my Calc textbook, which by the way WAS A STACK OF PRINTER PAPER. I paid $150 dollars for what? A PILE OF <INSERT BAD WORD> PRINTER PAPER. What made it worse? IT WASN'T EVEN BOUND. NO. I HAD TO PAY $10.50 FOR A STUPID BINDER TO SHOVE THE ANNOYING CALCULUS PAGES INTO MY BACKPACK THAT I HAD PAY MONEY FOR TOO. Also, my professor then tells me that the textbook isn't required and the CO-OP doesn't take returns.
Side note - freshmen, only buy books you REALLY need. Don't buy them until your professor explicitly says your grade depends on it. And when he/she does, go on facebook to see if anyone is selling that textbook for half the price. Don't buy a full price textbook unless you really have to (I have gotten by not having to buy a single textbook by borrowing them from friends or getting PDF versions of them from friends). Even more of a side note: my ochem lab professor made us buy a stupid book and I NEVER used it. It was only for the annoying online code that could have been sold separately and at a cheaper price.
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3) FOOD.
IT COST MONEY TO EAT. You purchased the meal plan, thinking "I will be SO healthy, the food is gonna be scrumptious AND nutritious". BUT NO. Unless you plan on eating some questionable "healthy" food, you're better off eating easy mac. Don't get us started on if you're a vegetarian. Apparently being a vegetarian at uni means TOFU on EVERYTHING. Oh, you don't like tofu? Well TOO BAD. One time, the canteen was having barbecue pork, and they're vegetarian/vegan option was a semi cooked block of tofu and a drizzle of barbecue sauce. Honestly WTF. This isn't Survivor, so why are you feeding me next to nothing since all I can truly eat is the side salad -_-. It's not that hard to make a vegetarian/vegan pasta. You don't have to just make the tofu version of your meat dish. And so, if you're plant based like I am, your best bet is easy mac and a freezer full of your mom's cooking. #ThanksDiningPlan
4) WIFI.
So yeah, that starter pack they gave you... IT'S MORE USELESS THAN YOUR TEXTBOOKS. You want to check your grades? Ha! Half your wifi is gone? Wanna check what's due for class? There goes the rest of it in one sitting. Want to catch up on Stranger Things? LOL That's not happening. You gotta drop $20 if you actually want to LIVE your LIFE and not be consumed with the stress of uni.
5) FUN gym classes
Ok so when you go to your school's orientation, they will brag about how they have a state of the art facility that is free for students to use. And they aren't wrong about those things. However, if you want to take a zumba class, go rock climbing, take a yoga class, etc. YOU GOTTA DROP 100 green dollar bills. LIKE IM SORRY WTF. DO I LOOK LIKE PARIS HILTON? NO. Why should I be paying for this ish??All I want is a volleyball and I have to pay $5 to rent it. So the gym's great if you want to sit or figure out how to work the weight machines, but be aware that there's a super buff guy lifting 100 lbs and JUDGING YOU. All the hot girls are doing YOGA stretches in the weight room, and all the HOT guys are sweaty and stinky. Basically I'm paying to ruin my self-esteem while trying to figure out 50 creative ways to break every machine in the gym. TYSM.
Honestly, at this point. Just drop out, save the money, and get your own T.V show.
J.K LOL. College is fun, and if you're majoring in something you love, you are actually going to have the best time of your life! Also you have friends who are going through the same stuff which is great.
Sending postive vibes,
Srini
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