To preface what I’m about to say. In high school I took regular classes, then honors and finally moved over to Advance Placement classes. I graduated from High School having passed a couple of AP tests with a 3 and a 4. Failed one test with a score of 2. Then I was accepted to a private University in California.

Original article at:http://hubpages.com/hub/Why-an-expensive-private-university-isnt-the-best-for-everyone

First advise. Take the AP class if your school has them and you like learning. Note that I didn’t say you had to be smart, just be able to understand the lessons, memorize what you learned, and be good at taking tests. However, being smart would be an added bonus.

Second advise. Don’t take the AP test! The fact that you took the AP classes already gives you a leg up with college recruiters. Taking the AP test and god forbid – passing the test won’t help you with your college transcript. Understand that you’re taking the test because you think you are knowledgeable about the subject. If you pass, you get a number from 1 to 5. That was the grading scale when I took it. Getting a 3 was passing.

Now the issue I have is that when I arrived at the University and saw my transcript, my AP test was there and I was credited for passing that class. That meant that I didn’t have to take that class, a subject that I was, well, an expert at!

So I saved money, but I lost that easy A  or hard B on my transcript. Instead, because I passed the AP test, I was given a “P” for pass, which I believe I lost the weight of getting an A and improving my grade point average.

Original article at:http://hubpages.com/hub/Why-an-expensive-private-university-isnt-the-best-for-everyone

So don’t take the AP test. Get that easy grade, either at the college you’ll be attending or go to summer classes at a cheaper community college and transfer the credits.

You will have a lot more hard classes than easy ones in college, so why penalize yourself by passing the AP test? You lose that letter grade and decrease your GPA!

Take a look at the bullet points I found at openeducation of some top ranking CEOs in the United States. What you have here is a list of billionaires who haven’t walked the halls of those Ivy League schools or even the top 20 hard to enter Universities in these United States.

• Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway - University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
• H. Lee Scott , Wal-Mart Stores CEO - Pittsburg State University in Kansas.
• Paul Otellini, Intel CEO - University of San Francisco.
• James Sinegal, Costco Wholesale CEO - San Diego City College.
• Bill Green, CEO of Accenture - Dean College and Babson.

Michael Critelli, CEO of Pitney Bowes, University of Wisconsin.

Ivy League schools are there for the privileged of society where their offspring basically ladder up to these universities without much chance of being rejected.

Their kids get a free entrance ticket to attend the same schools their parents graduated from. Ivy League is great for the connections and the prestige that comes with the institution, and many get top jobs from those connections.

Many of those graduates get higher degrees or go to Wall Street, because Wall Street is where all the smart people go right? Well, at least, they make more money in one day than I do in one year or even my lifetime, and that's in a bad day!

Yes, many are smart, but you know, that list up there just shows that being successful isn’t because you attended an elite private institution or having a great list connections, it’s about grit, smarts and how you capitalize on your own determination.

Original article at:http://hubpages.com/hub/Why-an-expensive-private-university-isnt-the-best-for-everyone

I dare say that luck also plays a good deal in one’s life.

If your not wealthy, don’t have a focus on what you want to do, don’t know what college would be best for you, then apply to your local community college for the first year and get a taste of higher education.

I know the pressure a lot of Honors and AP students get from parents and their classmates to get into a 4 year university, especially a recognized university they and their parents can impress their friends and family. Just tell them that you want to stay at home for the first year to find your focus and that doesn't need a 4 year college. The first year of school is basic subjects anyways so you won't miss much and you'll save more than a lot in lower tuition fees.

Original article at:http://hubpages.com/hub/Why-an-expensive-private-university-isnt-the-best-for-everyone

After a year or two, many community colleges will let you transfer to a state college. You know what? When you transfer to another college and finally graduate, that diploma will say that you graduated from that college.

The diploma will not say that you took 2 years of classes at the 4 year college, nor will it say that you went to community college for the first 2 years.

No! It will state that you graduated from UCLA, ASU or whatever else school you attended!

Best of all, you had time to understand yourself without the worry over expenses, and even better - saved money.

Personally if I had taken this advise, my university GPA would have been better, I would have saved thousands of dollars by going to a community college my first 2 years, in which case I would have had more money in the bank.

Well, I now figure I wasn’t that smart at all back then. I was just a stupid kid who was able to take some tests that don’t really matter in the real world, and go to an expensive university that didn’t really help at all – I do get a few fundraising letters every few years asking for donations to the alma mater.

Original article at:http://hubpages.com/hub/Why-an-expensive-private-university-isnt-the-best-for-everyone

Well, do I seem bitter? I wouldn’t say so; this is my truth as I’ve formed my thoughts from my own educational experience.

So what's your experience?