lol...I'm applying to UT Austin, with an enrollment of 55,000 students, they don't require essays!
Great post valhalla, I agree with you 100%. I don't care what anyone says, someone who has worked hard for what they have knows the value of their money more than someone who's parents give them everything. If my parents had given me everything, I probably wouldn't have gotten into a good college and be able to put myself through it without the help of my parents. Why wouldn't you want to be as independent as possible? It can only make you a better person.
StageLeft
No Lifer
- Sep 29, 2000
- 70,150
- 5
- 0
When my kids are old enough to drive (not that i have any yet), I'm going to get them a massive car, break most of the engine so that it is incapable of going fast, and give them a video camera which is filming at all times and i'll randomly watch tapes.
Heh, the one thing I've learned about college so far is not to rely on name recognition alone. I went to a top 20 school based almost entirely on its reputation, and that wasn't exactly the smartest thing to do. Luckily I left after a year (too damned expensive for me), and have wisened up a bit since then. And for the big schools...sadly, the numbers are usually all they go by. They generally plug your data into a little formula they have, and let that decide if you make the first "cut." Afterwards, they actually go in and review the remaining students' applications by hand. Not very personable, but understandable.
Wow, I'll say it again.. you guys are all crazy. Elemental, who's weekly workload still blows my mind, is now an "egotiscal little prick"?? I think some people are forgetting the way high school and being a teenager is supposed to work. The whole reason we still live with our parents is that we are NOT supposed to be experiencing the real world yet.. we're supposed to be studying and preparing ourselves for it, not living it yet. IMHO, if a kid expects a car he should be a job.. regardless of whether or not his parents actually make him pay for it. If not, a job should be optional at this age.. Jesus, I bet that makes me the uber-slacker prick compared to what some of you guys do day in day out. At age 16-18, we're still supposed to be learning.. the real world can have a go at us AFTER we're out of school.
Here's my opinion:
If a kid's parents want to buy him/her a car, that is their right... and most kids would not be so pious as to reject the gift. Many of you contend that a kid who receives a car from his parents expenses-free will become a leech-for-life who does no work, lives with his parents until he's 35, and will never become self-sufficient. This seems to be a very harsh view to take, and to be honest, it's probably not the truth. Many successful people had parents who cared and provided for them beyond their obligations, and have fine, well-adjusted, and eventually self-supporting kids as a result.
You could certainly make an argument that buying your own car would make you a more independent and self-supporting person, and that what you learn will help you later in life. In fact, most people would not dispute this. However, there are many roads to a satisfying, independent life, and *I do not believe it is fair to begrudge other people their path in life*.
That being said, if what you are referring to are the 16 year olds who obviously get everything from their parents, drive expensive new sports cars, wear designer clothes, get poor grades, join no activities, have no job, and get in trouble with drugs/alcohol, then I agree, it is unlikely they will get anywhere and their parents are doing them a disservice. However, there are many kids who work hard in school, get good marks, join activities, and are all-around good kids--I do not believe having their parents buy them a car on their own will makes these "bad kids" that are total leeches. Yes, I realize you can do all those things and still pay for your own car, but every family is different, and I don't think it is proper to be so critical of those people.
And for full disclosure, so the flaming minions can tell me that the only reason I'm saying this is to justify my parent-supported lifestyle: Unlike most of the people here, I did not work to get my own car. I simply have no car. Despite the fact that I live in the suburbs, I take public transit which is highly unreliable and currently on strike (wonderful). I do not feel I need a car, however, if I really [edit] needed [/edit] one, I'm pretty sure my parents would find a way to get me one (a used car) and they would probably pay for most of it. But they don't, because I've never said that I needed a car.
I'm wondering if there are other people like this... it seems like this thread is full of people who either pay for the car themselves or have their parents pay for theirs... does anyone simply just not have a car?
If a kid's parents want to buy him/her a car, that is their right... and most kids would not be so pious as to reject the gift. Many of you contend that a kid who receives a car from his parents expenses-free will become a leech-for-life who does no work, lives with his parents until he's 35, and will never become self-sufficient. This seems to be a very harsh view to take, and to be honest, it's probably not the truth. Many successful people had parents who cared and provided for them beyond their obligations, and have fine, well-adjusted, and eventually self-supporting kids as a result.
You could certainly make an argument that buying your own car would make you a more independent and self-supporting person, and that what you learn will help you later in life. In fact, most people would not dispute this. However, there are many roads to a satisfying, independent life, and *I do not believe it is fair to begrudge other people their path in life*.
That being said, if what you are referring to are the 16 year olds who obviously get everything from their parents, drive expensive new sports cars, wear designer clothes, get poor grades, join no activities, have no job, and get in trouble with drugs/alcohol, then I agree, it is unlikely they will get anywhere and their parents are doing them a disservice. However, there are many kids who work hard in school, get good marks, join activities, and are all-around good kids--I do not believe having their parents buy them a car on their own will makes these "bad kids" that are total leeches. Yes, I realize you can do all those things and still pay for your own car, but every family is different, and I don't think it is proper to be so critical of those people.
And for full disclosure, so the flaming minions can tell me that the only reason I'm saying this is to justify my parent-supported lifestyle: Unlike most of the people here, I did not work to get my own car. I simply have no car. Despite the fact that I live in the suburbs, I take public transit which is highly unreliable and currently on strike (wonderful). I do not feel I need a car, however, if I really [edit] needed [/edit] one, I'm pretty sure my parents would find a way to get me one (a used car) and they would probably pay for most of it. But they don't, because I've never said that I needed a car.
I'm wondering if there are other people like this... it seems like this thread is full of people who either pay for the car themselves or have their parents pay for theirs... does anyone simply just not have a car?
elememtal,
>>> And you are now resorting to character assassination <<<
statement is BS & you know it. You started the crap when I gave a simple opinion, by remarking on intellect, etc
you are an egotistical little prick as evidenced by your need to show your 'superior' status. Your view that you are some how owed a car, is the point. It runs thru all of your posts in this thread. You give the opinion that working now is beneath you, because in a few years you will make more per hr & it will take less hrs.
It is the attitude that makes pricks & you show that very well. You are intolerant of any different opinion, prickdom personified.
You advance a position that is of poor merit & want to discuss it.
No. I reject it out of hand for what it is. A sad attempt to justify leeching.
>>> And you are now resorting to character assassination <<<
statement is BS & you know it. You started the crap when I gave a simple opinion, by remarking on intellect, etc
you are an egotistical little prick as evidenced by your need to show your 'superior' status. Your view that you are some how owed a car, is the point. It runs thru all of your posts in this thread. You give the opinion that working now is beneath you, because in a few years you will make more per hr & it will take less hrs.
It is the attitude that makes pricks & you show that very well. You are intolerant of any different opinion, prickdom personified.
You advance a position that is of poor merit & want to discuss it.
No. I reject it out of hand for what it is. A sad attempt to justify leeching.
<< You started the crap when I gave a simple opinion, by remarking on intellect, etc >>
Allow me to repost your first message in this thread:
<< >>>> Unfortuanately that lost time now could hurt your GPA and acceptance into a college, and the difference ten years down the line will be considerably more than the 30 hours a week worked at $7 an hour. <<<<
cry me a freakin river !!!! & while you are at it have em wash behind your ears & wipe your tail for you.... >>
And just what in that was productive towards this thread? I didn't ask for opinions in this thread. I bascially wrote an essay and was open to arguementative critisism. Yours was not. I jjust think it's funny that you blame me. This thread was NOT a thread of opinions.
Oh, and...
<< You give the opinion that working now is beneath you, because in a few years you will make more per hr & it will take less hrs. >>
Would you assume this because I worked every day on my spring break and I have worked more or less every day the past two summers? How do you get to this conclusion?
And yes, ideally I would like to make more for each minute I work. THat tends to happen with work experience and age and education....what's your point?
No matter how swell a guy anyone is, if their parents bought them a car, or pay their insurance and gas, etc. I have far less respect for them than for someone who pays for everything theirself. EOF
Bignate603
Lifer
- Sep 5, 2000
- 13,897
- 1
- 0
my 'rents supplied me with a choice of two cars, however neither would fit your idea of a "safe" car. I can pick a 1985 crown vic or a 1980 caddilac fleetwood. My dad doesn't believe in new cars, probably cause he's paying tuition on two kids and I'll be the third soon.
This thread was just crying out for my attention 
The first car I got to drive is a 1987 Taraus L. It was a beauty of a car, it had a greaty moldy smell, could just barely keep a 55mph speed, adn the engine frequently quit....while stopped and in motion. About the only way to leave a stop sign was by neutral dropping it. Damn I felt so lucky when I got to take it out somewhere though.
Most people won't apprecaite what is just given to you. You don't have any idea how many doctors kids I know that are so spoiled. My favorite is this one girl who has totaled 3 lexus's, all while drunk. Daddy keeps buying her a new one. Not everyone is like this but a large percentage of the population is.
I think just giving a kid their first car is a bad idea. I think giving them a mid 90's model is a horrible idea. Until a few months ago we didn't even have a car that was newer than 1988. You can always buy better and safer. Why stop at the contour, if your parents loved you, you'd have a BMW something'er other with really high crash test ratings right? There has to be a place to stop. I'm moving out into my apartment next month and rent is $460 a month....I thought that was a trememdous amount of money! Its safer than the $250 a month slum I was looking at, but that $800 a month one is probably safer yet. There has to be a stoping point. There will always be better, but you have to draw a line. Personally I don't think air bags are necessary for safety.
Anyway if you're realyl wanting a car and ambitious to get into college you'll find a way to do it. You'll not work as much and learn to fix your own car, etc. If you want something badly enough you'll drive yourself hard enough to get it. Anything else is just an excuse. At least so I say
The first car I got to drive is a 1987 Taraus L. It was a beauty of a car, it had a greaty moldy smell, could just barely keep a 55mph speed, adn the engine frequently quit....while stopped and in motion. About the only way to leave a stop sign was by neutral dropping it. Damn I felt so lucky when I got to take it out somewhere though.
Most people won't apprecaite what is just given to you. You don't have any idea how many doctors kids I know that are so spoiled. My favorite is this one girl who has totaled 3 lexus's, all while drunk. Daddy keeps buying her a new one. Not everyone is like this but a large percentage of the population is.
I think just giving a kid their first car is a bad idea. I think giving them a mid 90's model is a horrible idea. Until a few months ago we didn't even have a car that was newer than 1988. You can always buy better and safer. Why stop at the contour, if your parents loved you, you'd have a BMW something'er other with really high crash test ratings right? There has to be a place to stop. I'm moving out into my apartment next month and rent is $460 a month....I thought that was a trememdous amount of money! Its safer than the $250 a month slum I was looking at, but that $800 a month one is probably safer yet. There has to be a stoping point. There will always be better, but you have to draw a line. Personally I don't think air bags are necessary for safety.
Anyway if you're realyl wanting a car and ambitious to get into college you'll find a way to do it. You'll not work as much and learn to fix your own car, etc. If you want something badly enough you'll drive yourself hard enough to get it. Anything else is just an excuse. At least so I say
Here's a rude awaking for some of you:
Employers don't give a sh|t about your GPA.
Just thought I'd throw that in there.. now back to the car discussion.
Employers don't give a sh|t about your GPA.
Just thought I'd throw that in there.. now back to the car discussion.
<< Personally I don't think air bags are necessary for safety. >>
Seatbelts stop being effective at about 55mph and airbags take over at that point. If you can avoid highways and freeways, then yes they are unnecessary. I don't have one in my car, but I drive on the highway so I take a risk. The chance of an accident on a freeway in the US is about 1.9 accidents per 100,000,000 (one hundred million) miles driven, so the calculated risk is pretty low, but it's one I and many other Americans take.
dm
I personally am one of those kids that parents don't realize they are at an age where they can drive...I took drivers ed, but don't have my license yet. getting a license isn't a big thing for me because I am not going to get a car of my own, and insurance would just make my stepdad more pissed off at me...lol(that ass)
I am not really conserned about myself, it is when I look at other people when i get pissed. For example, it pisses me off when girls get a car for their 16th b-day. A really nice '99 or '00 4 door loaded w/ a nice stereo and wheels...and then they go and wreck it. Either run into a stop sign, or do something to their nice new car that should only happen to 10 year old beater cars. I hear about latest stupid accidents all the time in school. It enrages me how lucky these girls are, and they throw it away by doing makeup on the way to school. What is even worse, insurance goes up a tiny amount for them if they use it, compared to a guy...stupid jocks making the rest of us teenage guys look bad...Maybe I am just sexist, I doubt it.
-Dean
I am not really conserned about myself, it is when I look at other people when i get pissed. For example, it pisses me off when girls get a car for their 16th b-day. A really nice '99 or '00 4 door loaded w/ a nice stereo and wheels...and then they go and wreck it. Either run into a stop sign, or do something to their nice new car that should only happen to 10 year old beater cars. I hear about latest stupid accidents all the time in school. It enrages me how lucky these girls are, and they throw it away by doing makeup on the way to school. What is even worse, insurance goes up a tiny amount for them if they use it, compared to a guy...stupid jocks making the rest of us teenage guys look bad...Maybe I am just sexist, I doubt it.
-Dean
<< Seatbelts stop being effective at about 55mph and airbags take ove >>
What do you mean stop being effective? If I drive headfirst into a brick wall at 100mph I'll still probably be held in my seat. You need to take into account the angle of collision, the type of collision, the hit point, the speed and mass of the other vehicle, friction coefficients, construction and crumple areas of both vehicles, etc.
If I drive my unibody daytona into a tree hood first at 55mph, and then drive my body on frame jeep into the same tree, I'd probably be more injured in the jeep even though both dont have air bags. Air bags may prevent some head and chest blunt force trauma, but people have survived wrecks at speeds of 65 mph and greater with out airbags, and will continue to do so.
Studies of the effectiveness of airbags are not really as thorough as I'd like to see yet. The airbag may be more harmful l at slower speeds than not having one too. If my next car has an airbag, great, if it doesn't I won't be too concerned yet.
You can't afford to but a car, insurance, gas and maintenance? You don't deserve a car. You ain't god's gift to the highways if you can't pay your own way. Period.
why don't you have the kid earn the money in order to get the car? that makes them learn, i know
What I find funny is how young people still living at home talk about how they've been "supporting themselves" since the age of XX.... BULLSH!T. Yeah, yeah, you pay your own insurance, buy your own food (maybe a couple times a week at McD's), buy your own clothes (sometimes). I could have (and DID) said the SAME THING when I was your age..... But it's a little half-true. It's gonna BLOW YOUR MIND when you are R E A L L Y supporting yourself. When EVERY dime that goes toward ANYTHING is coming out of your pocket. Yeah, right now, you may be paying your own car note, buying a pair of jeans every now and then..... But you're talking about it sitting in daddy's house on a computer daddy probably bought, on a phone line daddy pays for (or even worse, CABLE line daddy pays for)..... There's a roof over your head, food in the kitchen and TONS of things. Yeah, yeah, I know... You're thinking about your situation right now saying "Dad doesn't really pay for that much stuff." Well, HE DOES. You just don't notice it. There's a LOT behind the scenes that makes your claim that you've been "supporting yourself since the age of 15" EXACTLY BULLSH!T. You don't understand now, and you'll just want to fight me over it, but someday you'll understand. Oh, and how do I know daddy's paying for stuff? You may have a good job now, but when you were 15 and "supporting yourself," you were making 180 a week BEFORE TAXES. NO WAY IN HELL you were supporting yourself on that. When you're supporting yourself, $180 is POCKET CHANGE...the kind of money you spend on crap like toilet paper and toothpaste....trash bags, light bulbs....just little crap that you NEVER THINK ABOUT because it's always there. Well, it's a constant cycle, and SOMEONE'S BUYING IT. Daddy. Yep.
So, be proud of your acheivements. But don't take credit for your parents' support. You're SUPPOSED to be parented for the first couple of decades of your life. When your parents had you, they knew this. If you still live with them, BELIEVE ME, you still are VERY VERY MUCH being supported by them. --And just to catch all, if you are off at college, but you still have a "home" back home....a bedroom and stuff, and your stuff is still there, you still are very much STILL under your parents' roof. Like I said, you may deny it now, but when you're OUT, you'll see what I mean.
Ricky
DesignDawg
So, be proud of your acheivements. But don't take credit for your parents' support. You're SUPPOSED to be parented for the first couple of decades of your life. When your parents had you, they knew this. If you still live with them, BELIEVE ME, you still are VERY VERY MUCH being supported by them. --And just to catch all, if you are off at college, but you still have a "home" back home....a bedroom and stuff, and your stuff is still there, you still are very much STILL under your parents' roof. Like I said, you may deny it now, but when you're OUT, you'll see what I mean.
Ricky
DesignDawg
I agree with you designdog. I know that stuff adds up, don't forget groceries. A family of 4 easily goes through $100/week if dinner is made five nights a week, and breakfast/lunch is mde from grocery food.
Damnit Ricky you're not helping me here. I'm moving out soon into my apartment and the $460 a month rent is bad enough, then add in the utilites. Don't remind me I "need" toilet paper.
Yep. Even when you only get the "occasional" boost from your parents (maybe toward the very end of college), you don't realize how much stuff adds up. The other day, when I told my dad I sold my old motorcycle, he said, "Cool. When can I expect my check?" Of course, he was kidding. But, when I responded "Yeah, like you put ANY money into that bike", I was thinking along the lines of: He didn'y pay for it or any part of it. He didn't pay for the licensing and registering, he hasn't paid for parts on it, he hasn't paid any insurance on it.... He would NEVER KNOW I had it unless I told him, because he hasn't been financially involved with it at all.... But then he reminded me (just so I wouldn't get a big head about it) "Yeah, but I'm sure I've put some gas it it a time or two...."
And it's true. At some point, when money got tight, I needed some money from my parents to help out (when I was still single, still in college). He would send money. WHat did I use that money on? Living expenses. Gas included. So, yeah, he HAS put some money into that bike. In a way, when you are getting ANYTHING from your parents, they own a little piece of everything you own. --Because even if you're not using the money they give you directly for buying it, it still means you're not using your own money to buy whatever THEY are paying for. Life is exPENsive. Big time. Give your parents some credit. You'll hope your kids do the same one day.
Ricky
DesignDawg
And it's true. At some point, when money got tight, I needed some money from my parents to help out (when I was still single, still in college). He would send money. WHat did I use that money on? Living expenses. Gas included. So, yeah, he HAS put some money into that bike. In a way, when you are getting ANYTHING from your parents, they own a little piece of everything you own. --Because even if you're not using the money they give you directly for buying it, it still means you're not using your own money to buy whatever THEY are paying for. Life is exPENsive. Big time. Give your parents some credit. You'll hope your kids do the same one day.
Ricky
DesignDawg
<< Employers don't give a sh|t about your GPA. >>
AMEN!!! I'm glad someone got that one out of the way, too. I've seen a lot of that drivel. They really don't. I know you're fooled into thinking that way when you're in gradeschool. Hell, I even had my principle tell me once that if i ever made a C, I wouldn't get into college. Oh, my GOD, how I laugh at that stuff now. They way you get anywhere in life, from college up, is by holding your own and becoming an ASSET. You want people who need someone for a task to be thinking of a solution and come up with your name. You have to be NOTICEABLY more valuable to an employer / potential customer / potential partner than anyone else. That kind of recognition is called "Making a name for yourself." Once you HAVE made a name for yourself, things get handed to you. --And I guarantee you, GRADES have absolutely JACK to do with it.
Ricky
DesignDawg
P.S.-- On a related note: Someone else touched on this too, but the NAME of your college isn't really all that important either. It can be a consideration, but for everyone thinking, "If I don't get a 4.2 in high school and get into Yale/Harvard/MIT/Stanford, I'm done for." GET OVER IT. A person who has made something of himself at a good state university is more valuable to an employer than someone who "got by" at an ivy-league or otherwise huge-name school.
To get into a college you need grades, GPA, class rank, and SAT scores. Especially if you are going to a larger university where there are no essays or letters of recommendation.
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