Alumnus Testifies to Southwestern’s Sketchy Statistics
I am also an alumni and from my experiences, I would say that your experiences are probably more typical than the stories recruiters tell you about those that make “thousands of dollars.” It is interesting how The Southwestern Company “rounds up” to make the numbers look better.
When the company tells you the average first year income is $2,630, what they are not including in that number is the number of students who go home in the middle of the summer. And conveniently, if you look at gross income as a profit measure of the summer you are not taking into account that your summer expenses are probably around $2,0000-3,000 for the summer. So any tax write off you earn for all your expenses becomes a moot point. If you are an average student you will make very little or, like the author of this blog and myself wind up calling your parents to pay for the books that you couldn’t buy with the income you made from the summer.
This also brings up another point. If you work your but off for the summer, and you don’t make enough to pay for your books. The company will still make money off of you even though you have a net loss because your status as an “independent” contractor means that they do not have to share in your losses. They will do whatever is required to collect on the debt you owe them.
Received: April 16, 2007
