Stretching beyond what is familiar can help you develop both growth mindset and grit. Here, you are
Question:
The Task
Numbers can and often are used for rhetorical purposes. People who sell cars, houses, investment vehicles, and other products rely on numbers to augment a persuasive strategy. In addition, people who purchase houses, cars, investment vehicles, and other productsthe audience membersalso interpret numbers in order to evaluate claims properly. Understanding how to use numbers to discover an answer and persuade someone to take a particular course of action is vital to long-term career and personal success.This assignment asks you to make an argument using numbers according to the following scenario.Your friend, who will be starting college in the fall, has no plan to fund his or her education. plan for her that minimizes her expenses in school, minimizes her debt after school, and minimizes her time to graduation.Remember, some degrees cost more than others even though tuition is the same. In nursing and engineering, your friend will have very expensive books. Some degrees might take longer, or the career might require a master's degree. In education, your friend likely will not be able to work during his or her final semester internship. They might even find that there are licensing costs. Thus it pays to plan ahead.
Consider these questions:
- What is the TOTAL cost of the education?
- How much are books for the program (total)?
- How much are room and board for the time your friend will be in school?
- collect a borrowing plan for your friend.
- How much will your friend have to pay back after graduation?
- Are there loan forgiveness programs available in your field?
- Are there any scholarships?
- Are there Foundation scholarships?
- Is targeted funding available? For example, if you want to study abroad for a summer, there might be a scholarship. (As Dr. Vilchiz advises, get a passport so you are ready for opportunity!)
Be sure to include a table of ALL college expenses until degree completion.
Term 1 | Term 2 | Term 3 | Term 4 | Term 5 | Term 6 | Term 7 | Term 8 | Total | |
Tuition | |||||||||
Fees | |||||||||
Room | |||||||||
Board | |||||||||
Books | |||||||||
Transportation | |||||||||
Daily Expenses | |||||||||
Totals |
Funding Source | Term 1 | Term 2 | Term 3 | Term 4 | Term 5 | Term 6 | Term 7 | Term 8 | Total |
Loans | |||||||||
Work | |||||||||
Scholarships | |||||||||
Other (specify) |
Regardless of the financial situation, assume your friend will need all of the aid she or he can get. Writing that your friend does not need any financial help will not address the assignment.
Bonus: find out how much a passport costs and add that to the expenses.
Be sure to write about how your friend is paying for education, how the graduation plan will affect the cost, and how your friend should plan to pay loans back. Be sure to mention a borrowed total and the monthly payment. You must include a chart like the one above in the file you submit for the assignment. If you like, you can also include other charts and graphs.
In order to prepare to write, take a look at the following links and documents.
Click here to find out about Gordon State College's Expenses.
https://www.gordonstate.edu/documents/departments/bursars-office/2022-2023-tuition-and-fee-rates.pdf
Click here to see how much your student loan payments might be.
https://smartasset.com/student-loans/student-loan-calculator
Click here for a link to the Gordon Foundation web site with scholarship information.
Helpful Tips
https://www.gordonstate.edu/alumni/give-to-gordon/gordon-college-foundation/fnd-scholarships/index.html
- Be sure your friend realizes that taking 15 or 16 hours per semester will cut one year off the time it takes her to graduate. Students who take 12 or 13 hours per semester take 10 semesters to complete a bachelor's degree, while those who take 15 or 16 hours, complete one in eight semesters.
- In addition to the direct expenses of being in college, there is also something called "opportunity cost" that could influence your persuasion plan. You can research this idea to find out how it might influence your friend.
- Gordon State College, like other colleges, has tuition, fees, housing, and meals costs posted on its web site. Be sure to look these up and add an estimate for the cost of books.
- Be sure to explore the Gordon State College Foundation web site or other sites for scholarship options.
Specifications
- Include at least two tables like the ones above laying out expenses and funding sources.
- In about 600 of your own words not counting the tables, the final argument should be organized into paragraphs and explain your rationale for making the recommendations you do.
Tables and/or graphs should be part of a unified document and present data clearly to your reader.Post the final essay as a single document.