Stretching Student Discounts Even After Graduating
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Yes, I graduated. And yes, I receive student discounts despite no longer being a college student.
Many colleges and universities will normally take your student ID from you on the day of graduation – a subtle way of barring you from accessing any of there facilities after you’ve completed your time with them. (An alumni card does not qualify you as a student and therefore would not justify a ‘student’ discount.)
Back in school, those with a student ID were entitled discounts for haircuts, Chinese takeout, movie tickets, train tickets, Microsoft Office, and probably a whole bunch of other goodies that I’ve never taken advantage of purchasing at a good price. For some reason, my university didn’t require the surrender of student IDs (at least not for me).
At the time, I just thought, “Hey, it would be a good souvenir” but it turns out it has actually helped me saved some serious money. Even though I have moved back home to NYC, there are still a few instances when a student discount didn’t hurt.
- Museums
New York City is the home of many tourist hotspots such as the American Museum of Natural History, Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum, and the MoMA. A regular adult ticket could cost upwards of $16. With a student ID, the ticket price could be reduced by 25-40%. It added up to bunch of savings for me as I visited them. - The Apple Store!!
Actually, it was much to my surprise that Apple offered educational discounts. Frankly, I believe loyal customers would pay for their popular products even if they didn’t offer educational pricing. No complaints here as I was looking for new laptop. Showing them my old student ID got me $100 off on my MacBook Pro. Too bad there were no student discounts for my iPhone – and there are none for the iPad, yet.
Doesn’t Hurt to Try
Should I be ashamed that I am abusing this privilege despite the fact that I’m no longer a student? If you could flash a card and get a discount (no matter how small), wouldn’t you do it too? So, no, I do not feel bad for doing so.
As long as my face continues to resemble the photo on my student ID, I’d try to take advantage of any possibility of a student discount. For all they know, I could be 30 years old and be attending graduate school. I’ve got student loans to pay so these discounts would sure help with that.
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Kat said:
I think that’s wrong. I don’t know how old you are, but if you’re working a good job and you can afford to not use the student discount, you should put away your card. If you’re unemployed/barely keeping afloat, that’s another story, but shirking full price just for the sake of saving money is immoral. The museums need the money to be able ot host the artwork/displays you’re going to see in the first place. (However, feel free to screw over Apple, and I’m a little less worried if you’re getting movie discounts, as movie prices are ridiculous- just kidding. Honestly, not trying to be uptight, just want to point out that those sorts of fees are necessary for things to run.)
February 3rd, 2011 at 9:01 pm
