Q: What’s the latest buzz from the college tours?

A: (from SFD – Smart, funny dad, a reader on the road) “During a tour of a top Midwestern University we passed the undergrad business building. The guide remarked that a Personal Finance Class was very popular among Seniors – ‘because it helps you plan your retirement.”‘

The reader’s FB friends could not see what was so terrible about planning for retirement while still a teen. SFD’s response to his friends: “I see college as a time to forge identity, dream, try on values and attitudes and there seems to be so little of that now. It’s all bottom line and branding. I guess what I have more trouble with is that this was highlighted on the tour as a ploy to hook in parents….I guess I also think that there’s plenty of time to think about retirement once you’ve started to actually work full time.”

The pressure is on. Now it’s not enough to angst about that (prestigious) first job before even starting college, but also retirement. Yikes.

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Q: What is the hot school this year?

A: (according to a financial aid expert) U of Virginia. Their mission is to expand their out-of-state contingency, but that expansion has so far yielded mostly rejections.

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Q: Any memes you care to share? Maybe one that shows why growing up is not such a bad thing, why all this college insanity is still better than middle school:

A:

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Q: What’s the next must-have product for helicopter parents?

A: The teen version of this near-implant baby monitor:

Perfect for freshman spring break!