Advice for a 13-Year-Old Working Toward a Finance Degree

[rowan555]

There's also View High School, an unaccredited high school sponsored by study.com. It is only $166 per year and includes taking Ace credit courses in place of regular high school courses. You have to interact with instructors and other students as a part of the program.

My younger son is doing this - if you are interested, sign up soon, because they plan to increase the price to around $2500 a year after this year.

[bjcheung77]

My younger son is doing this - if you are interested, sign up soon, because they plan to increase the price to around $2500 a year after this year.

Thanks for this info and letting us know, wow, that's over a 10 X increase from $166 to $2500 a year...
BTW, what's the full name of "View High School?" or a website link if anyone has access? I can't find it!

[bellbaby]

I am also interested in a link; "view high school" is bringing up too many results

[zapproximator]

Yep, me too! I'll post a link if I find it

[zapproximator]

Is this what you are talking about? High School Courses - Online Classes with Videos | Study.com

[rowan555]

Is this what you are talking about? High School Courses - Online Classes with Videos | Study.com

You can email for details at viewhs@email.study.com.

Their website is View High School

[zapproximator]

Oh, thanks!

[clep3705]

Suppose you discover that you finish everything my 17 or even 16? What then?

Is there anything you're avoiding? That's an important consideration. You mentioned that you're not really interested in healthcare. Okay, fine, not trying to force you into that.

Some people know what they want to do at an early age, stick with it, and are happy. Great for them! Many people don't. Look at how many college students changes majors at least once. I'm skeptical of how a 13 year old has enough experience to know what he wants to do. Taking courses you don't want to take limits your exposure. You've told us what you want to study. We think of degree programs as including certain courses. They also exclude courses. What courses will you not be taking as a finance major? Will you be going light on STEM? Or art? Everything you do takes time, money, and effort. Every choice you make on something to do means you don't have time, money, or effort for something else.

Does your current plan to study finance include a trip to a third world country so you can see first hand how microloans transform the lives of people? Or will you just learn the Keynesian view that savings equals investment and some Nobel prize winner named Modigliani made a compelling argument for portfolio diversification? You might even read about microlending.

If you stick to it, you'll probably finish sooner than you think. How are you going to fill your time until you turn 18? I'd like to see you include some practical and field experience in your education. You have the time. There are valuable educational experiences you can't get from CLEP testing or being an online student. Internships, field trips, professional organizations, and awesome laboratories are part of a brick and mortar education. You're going to take an art course to get a bachelor's degree. You could test out of that by taking the DSST art of the western world exam. Or you could do a summer abroad where you live in hostels and cheap hotels as you travel throughout Europe visiting museums.

I wonder if we'll get this thread up to 10 pages before the weekend is over.

[rowan555]

I learned a lot in college and grad school. Spent 6.5 years of my life studying, earned a 4.0 GPA, and for the most part, loved it. Had I been one of the majority of students who ended up with decades of student debt, I doubt my memories would be so fond. Approximately zero percent of my education helped me with my career in a practical, skills-related way - it merely got my foot in the door. And if anything, those 6.5 years prevented me from getting real-world experience in my field of interest, because I was too busy studying and working part time at the university library to do that.

I honestly don't see how it's remotely limiting for a teenager to earn a college degree at 18. It doesn't prevent them from further formal education, or learning areas of interest on their own, or interning somewhere, or traveling, or doing any of the other things people often do at 22, upon graduation, saddled with tons of debt. And if they get a general degree, they can specialize with a masters, or earn a second degree, after they get the first one. You mention many kids not knowing what they want to do at age 13 or 14 - many college graduates still haven't quite figured it out either. And those 4 years in class and working to pay for it prevents many of them from engaging in activities to help them discover what they want to do.

[zapproximator]

Thanks for your advice! My plan (now) is to get a degree, then become a financial planner, get the CFP... who knows how that plan will change (;
Thank you everyone for your comments.
I never expected so many responses!