Being 19 year old immigrant who came to this country with my family with $50 in his pocket and suitcase of clothing, I had to forfeit study abroad programs and most of enjoyments in my early 20s and concentrate instead into getting into very top public school with major that I knew would pay good money from the start. I did and then worked extremely hard in school to stay at the top of the class, fill my summer with internships, etc–would have regrets now about not having some fun then–but don’t because I know why I did it–to get out of poverty that is illustrated in all 3 examples you recited. Goal accomplished: paid out school loans within a year after graduation while only spending $900 per month on everything else. Later, company that hired me after school agreed to pay for my graduate degree in the private school that is #2 in my field in US. And that meant I had to work full time job simultaneously with almost full time school for the next 2.5 years. As a result, did not take ANY vacations for my first 8 years in US and could not sleep in much on weekends either. Fast forward another 5 much more relaxing years and, let’s just say, last year I went to Europe several times with my (also self-made) wife while still maxing out all of our retirement accounts … that’s all the bragging I am going to do here because I add my story to your collection not our of vanity but to illustrate the fact that the choices we make about the school and lifestyle indeed determine the life we lead afterwards. Relatively few people have either extreme IQ or family money to be able to enjoy life at all times, you have to make sacrifice at one point or another to get ahead, and all you can do is to pick a point. It is no surprise that that point for many young people of college age is not their present. America truly is a land of opportunities but taking advantage of them requires making an effort or living with consequences of not doing so.

Enough said. Looking forward to review of other chapters.

However, I do think that you strongly underestimate the (and this may not matter to you) non-economic value of a liberal arts degree. Sure we could all be trained to do one thing proficiently in 6, 12, 18 months. But a large part of what college should (in my personal opinion) be about is learning how to think critically about a whole host of topics. Perhaps it could be more efficient if we all just took a test to see what tasks we’re most adept, and do that for the forty+ years of our working life. That image is just to borderline socialist/commnunist for my liking.

Anyway, now that my wife and I are both working, and sans student loan debt, we are saving for our first home. On that note, I get really excited when prices fall because it may be the only way we can get into the previously hyper-inflated market.

Same goes for the stock market. I am maxing out my 401K match contribution while things are low; I have a 30, maybe 40 year outlook.

But at the same time, I don’t want to dance too much because my in-laws are approaching retirement and my parents are stuck in a sprawling-suburban house that they desperately want to get rid of.

With that note, keep up the writing. I look forward to reading more about Strapped.

Sorry if I sounded like picking on Renee, Natalie and Shaney. That’s not what I meant. Nobody is perfect. I made more than my share of mistakes when I was in college too. The book’s author picked the stories which were supposed to show that the “system” failed them. I don’t agree. Renee didn’t follow the traditional track but now that she worked a few years and she knows better what she needs, she can get back to track and get the education she needs. She’s probably better off than high school graduates who dove into college in the blind. Natalie got into the field she wanted with a good salary. She wasted a little money with a private college but it’s OK. Her struggle with money for food has to come from somewhere else. Shaney is the worst-off of the three IMO. She got a four-year degree but she couldn’t find a job. That just shows that giving everybody grants and getting them degrees isn’t the solution. What failed Shaney was the erroneous belief that she’d be all set if only she gets a bachelor’s degree. There would be more cases like Shaney’s if we follow the author’s recommendation for more grants.