The Graduate's Survival Guide (Book & DVD)

I purchased a used copy to review, before determining if I will buy a new copy for my younger brother who is graduating from high school. The book is a Q & A format and took an hour to read. The DVD is a half-hour. The book and DVD both have some good information. I thought the book would be something that I would have read at age 18, so I think the delivery is engaging enough for teens. The DVD has some general advice about college (roommates, major, etc.) as well as the typical financial advice that Ramsey delivers (such as avoiding debt). I personally thought the women on the video spoke too fast, and used too many hand motions (which were distracting). Overall, the book/DVD combo seems like a fairly decent introduction to valuable financially principles for teens (or a conversation starter between parents and teens). Total Money Makeover is a much more engaging, inspiring book for adults.

Love it! Wish I would have discovered this years ago!! I have now started giving this as a graduation gift! Some reviews say this is way to basic information but we have got to remember these are 17,18,19 year old kids....they know everything, have the world by the tail! I did at that age and would not have sat down with a book with a few hundred pages in it and try to figure out how to budget.....I think this is a perfect book/DVD to touch on things that might make a young person think twice before spending/making a poor decision about money! It is a great quick read for this age...even if they use it for reading material in the bathroom! ;-) I have a 19 year old who I first bought it for last year and he enjoyed it, I actually got him to ready it because it was a quick read!! He has also mentioned things to me from the book! My husband and I wish we would have known at least this much, back when we were that age!!

I really like but I wish it would have more information and more material for my kids. The information was too general and I Dave and his daughter would revisit the material and add more information about student government loans, FAFSA, how to pick the best school, etc.

This is the second time that I've purchased this book for a graduating high school student. Some of the information is basic, but it really covers a great amount of information, how to's and the reasons behind the suggestions. Most importantly, the information isn't coming from Mom, Dad, Aunt, etc so it gets a little better reception.

The DVD wasn't all that interesting but the book was excellent! We gave it as a gift to my brother-in-law as a high school graduation present. We drew up a quiz for him to take after he finished reading it, and gave him $10 for every essay-style question he was able to answer correctly for a total of $50. We're huge Dave Ramsey/Rachel Cruze fans here and have never been disappointed with their products!

The program is simply 3 people talking about the topics. It was informative, but I wish they had better productions. Maybe have scenarios, show something besides just the 3 people talking. If you've ever seen Rachel Cruze on Fox News, she says the same topics in a few minutes as what's in this program.

I was looking for a practical guide to help a group of high school seniors and college freshmen learn how to handle their money, decide under what circumstance college loans were worth the cost, and especially to understand what that cost was. This is nothing more than a series of Q&A pages that don't provide any practical answers on how to achieve what is suggested. Telling very low income college students that it is never acceptable to take out a college loan and only vaguely refer them to "thousands of scholarships that are never claimed" is not helpful! If they don't know how to find the scholarships, their only option is to drop out! It suggests working part-time, but 99% of them are already doing that and still can't pay tuition and living expenses. I think free finance tools online are going to work better. Don't waste your money!

I choose it for college grads, not realizing it was more intended for HS graduates - that was due to what I had heard advertised on Dave Ramsey's radio show. Product looked good and I didn't have time to review it completely.