Aggravations and Annoyances 13: Exploiting College-Bound Students, And Their Families
0To specify in advance, I'm not talking about matters pertaining to students already in college, as there's so many issues within that realm. Instead, I'm discussing students that are still in high school, who are prospective college students. They have the best of intentions and hopes, along with their families, but simply don't know enough about what's coming up to know what is or isn't going to be helpful to them in college. There are good resources available to new college students, as they prepare for this new experience and what's likely their first time being out of the home. However, for every honest resource, there's going to be someone seeing a potential sucker. It's very easy to hide behind the guise of good intentions as well, as it'd be hard to prove that their unnecessary items couldn't be useful. It always annoys me when people don't sell their wares legitimately, and as I was a naive college hopeful at one time myself, I can relate to those who wind up with unhelpful junk that only drains their cash reserves.
I think my overall advice on the matter would be to only purchase study aids or other materials as the need arises. No reason to throw money down if the student does fine without it. Before buying anything, even if they do show a need for help, there's likely resources on campus that would be available to them. Speaking with their professor, other students, friends, student life, etc.