Welcome back, everyone! I guess it’s more appropriate to say welcome back to myself, since I’m the one who took off for a week on a family vacation to Wisconsin Dells, WI. Five days in an outdoor water park left me rested and ready to attack the fresh pile of your questions that accumulated. It …
T’errah is like lots of us: She feels guilty about all the money her parents are taking out in loans to send her to school. T’errah feels especially guilty because her school is very expensive. But she’s loving it to death. I am a rising sophomore in college. I am in a huge dilemma right …
Parent PLUS Loans: Should You Pay Your Parents Back? Read More »
It’s a busy day around here, so I’m picking a short question today because it has a short answer. Nina wants to know what I think of paying off student loans with other student loans. Not a common question, but not unprecedented, either. I’m a senior in college and I have completely reached my limit …
If you’re reading this blog, there’s a damned fine chance you’re in the same spot as Amia: you’re ready to go to college, except you’re broke and so is your family, so paying for college is a giant question mark. And even if “broke” isn’t exactly the right word, you still don’t have anywhere near …
Paying For College: The Broke Family’s 2-Step Guide Read More »
Every time I get a note from someone like Frances, I’m assured that this site will be in business for a long time. Unfortunately for Frances and the millions like her out there, the process of getting financial aid dollars is difficult to navigate and it seems there’s no good one-stop source for answers to …
Ashley’s off to grad school and is afraid her parents’ high incomes will hurt her when it comes to financial aid. She’s even thinking maybe they should divorce to make them look poorer on paper. Hold your horses, Ashley! There’s an easier solution which allows for, among other things, Mom and Dad to stay hitched. …
Most of the time on this site, I devote a lot of my space to discouraging you guys from taking student loans — at least the ones you don’t really need. On rare occasion, though, I’ll run into a situation where I wholeheartedly advise someone to take out more loans than they’re even considering. For …
If you’re a college or even a high school student, you have to have been locked away in a cage somewhere if you’ve never been given the advice to “follow your dreams” and/or “do what you love” or “find what you’re passionate about.” But what if you have no dreams, you don’t really love any …
Hi Judge Josh, I love your website and read the articles almost every day. Not only are they fun to read, but they’re interesting and almost always relate directly to some part of my college questions. Thanks! If you have the time, I desperately need some advice (like everyone else): I’m graduating from USC in …
Hello, amigos. Today’s post comes to you from the cramped little airport cubicle pictured below at Chicago’s O’Hare airport, where I am currently laid up for a couple hours on my way to Orlando to sit in on the National Student Advertising Competition. I had to get up so damn early to fly that when …
If you’re a veteran visitor to this site, you know I get a lot of “Choice 1 vs. Choice 2” emails, where the writer asks me which of two options I think is smarter. This one has a twist, though — there are abusive parents in the mix. Because of that, even though he/she didn’t …
Free School Near Abusive Parents vs. Expensive School Far Away Read More »
Hi, everybody. As you probably know, this site started out as a site about scholarships and how to get them, but has slowly morphed into an advice site about all things related to college, money, jobs, and occasionally even bigger issues like what you should do with your life and how to be happy. I’m …
Can You Get More Financial Aid If You’re In Debt? Read More »
You know, I get lot of “follow-your-dreams” style questions around here. Should I or shouldn’t I? Usually there’s a money issue involved; otherwise, why wouldn’t you follow your dreams? Unfortunately, it seems few of us “dream” of jobs that pay a truckload of money, are easy to get and easy to do. I guess that’s …
Student loans are, and probably always will be, the most recurring topic on this site (yeah, I thought it was gonna be scholarships, too. Maybe I should change the name of the site. Any suggestions?). But that’s fine, because there are an endless number of students and parents out there with questions and dilemmas regarding …
How Not To Destroy Your Future With Student Loans Read More »
Sometimes I get emails that I just don’t have great, uplifting answers to give in reply, and I figure it’s only fair to include some of those in the usual rotation here, since not everyone has an easy path in front of them. Erika’s in a tough spot, and she’s just going to have to …
You know, after our Nancy Goes to Maryland and Elizabeth Goes to Harvard posts, I was thinking you guys might be tired of these dilemma, “What should she do?” types of posts. But the more mail and comments I get, I’m thinking you guys are pretty fond of ’em. Hey, I love them, so I’m …
Evening, fellas (that’s a gender-neutral term on this blog). I’m going to keep it short and sweet today, since a) I’m home alone this weekend minus kids or wife and am going to try to spend it some other way than glued to this computer like I do every other day, and b) it’s Friday, …
Scholarships vs. Student Loans: “Judge Josh” Barsch answers the question once and for all.
