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Good money and career decisions can make or break your college experience.
If you’re a college student, a future student or a parent of a college students, you are going to hear a lot of tips and ideas for succeeding. You can probably use a good list of college hacks.
But, there are some important things to know, besides how to take notes and how to ace all your classes. Good money and career decisions can make your college experience a lot better.
Guest blogger, Allenia Renee Writes, offers us some helpful money and career tips for college students. Allenia runs a blog about tips for college students and parents. The opinions expressed in this post are the author’s own and do not represent savvymoneymaking.com endorsement.
Take it away Allenia,
Dear College Student, are you a freshman, do you have a graduate or an associate’s degree, or are you someone who may have not finished their degree at all?
No matter, what you identify yourself as… there are some truths you need to know while in college or after your college experience.
Just know that your life will be filled with tones of different adventures, but navigating your journey by doing what’s best for you will make a huge difference.
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Here are 10 Money and Career Tips All College Students Need to Know
The undergraduate college student
1.Every single dollar that you take out in student loan money hurts when you have to pay it back. So, only take out the bare minimum. You should be working when you can between and during the school year. And, you should make cost a huge part of choosing the college that you attend. Most importantly, never take out student loans to live off or party on.
2. Colleges want your money and they don’t care about your future financial situation or professional prospects. They will happily let you spend $200,000 on a Literature Degree and encourage you by saying this is the best decision you will ever make.
So, take what college admissions counselors say with a grain of salt. You want a degree that has a return on investment. Ask yourself will you be able to pay these loans back with the degree you have chosen?
3. Take your internships, on-campus jobs, and work study positions extremely seriously. Never slack off on them because you feel like it’s not part of your career path. When you’re looking to land your first job right out of college a lot of these people will be the only reference you may have so, they are worth impressing.
4. Don’t feel obligated to take unpaid internships. Ask yourself this question will this internship tangibly help your career? If the answer is “No”- do not take it. This is not the foot in the door that you think it might be. These internships can set you up to be promised more and never getting anything in return for your time.
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5. You must set up good credit habits now. College is a time for adventure, you want to try everything to have that big college experience. If you set up good credit habits now you will be able to do so much more later. Graduating college with no credit card debit and a great credit score is like hitting the lottery.
6. You do not need to study abroad if you are going to put yourself in further financial debit in order to do it. There are plenty of other ways to travel, see the world, and even live in other countries while not racking up debit. Look into working instead, so that you can actually earn money while having a new experience in another country.
After the college experience
7. Now is the time to put yourself first in your career, future, and life. If you want to move to a new city after college do it because it will hold great and exciting opportunities for you. Do not plan your future out of college around a relationship if the relationship is right it will truly fall in line with your future.
8. Finding the right career path can take years. So, don’t put a dead line on yourself as to when you need to find that perfect job. This just sets you up for frustration and disappointment. Truth be told…there is no such thing as a perfect job.
9. Avoid people who say, “These are the best years of your life!” You have your entire life to travel and try new things, to change paths, and to make mistakes. Do not get lured into excessive spending because you feel like this is your only time to rack up life experiences.
10. You are going to fail at one or several big things in the first couple years after graduation. It could be at an internship, job, relationship, a friendship, a move, or even staying financially afloat. Accept that transitioning into the real-world means learning by experiences. Remember you didn’t fail you just found out what doesn’t work.
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For new or current college students making good money and career decisions early on can make your life a lot better. Things like avoiding loans for all your needs and opting for a degree with a higher rate of return, can put you in the right path from the start.
Life will happen and you may end up making some mistakes. Take these as learning experiences and turn them around to your benefits. Remember that having a college degree does improve your odds of securing higher paying opportunities. More options and freedom will come with these opportunities.
This article was written by our guest blogger Allenia Renee Writes. She runs her own blog on college hacks and tips.
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