[mrdelayer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Azure /img/forum/go_quote.gif I turned down a full ride at UC San Diego for UC Berkeley, and the financial aspect is always lurking at the back of my mind as I'll be in debt about the same amount as you when I graduate

Man, I know what you mean. I was offered a full ride at Texas A&M ($20k/year) and I turned it down. Now I am kinda worried about paying for college. :<

 

[slwiser]

Quote:

Originally Posted by itsborken /img/forum/go_quote.gif [rant]I saw this article as well; sickening isn't it? I watch the IT industy job postings and it amazes me what technical skills are 'required' yet businesses won't train their existing workers for it here. Yet they will hire out for someone who's taken a five day course (essentially application 101), fumble around trying to learn the company's culture and the other 95% of the app to meet the biz requirements, and leave for a new job before the project is complete. But that somebody is so danged cheap the biz doesn't care, so the fewer remaining onshore app folks get stuck cleaning up the mess on 'incentive time'. But we have great productivity, don't we? [/rant] Yeah, getting heavily into debt for education is a bitter pill. Where else to get the experience though? Move offshore?

There is this utility (not mine) that was apparently attempting to train some non-native English speakers as operators and it was a big failure. Everyone involve was blamed except the company's attempt to hire people willing to take those jobs at the pay offered. The training material was faulted, even thought it was the same used across the our country where there were no failure of anywhere near the same magnitude. The trainers were faulted for not being adequate, even though the same trainers are being used across the country as well. But attempting to hire people who could not understand basic English was not a problem. Apparently the utility could not fine enough native English speaking people willing to take the jobs for the pay offered but that was not a problem to be noted.

Do we as a country really know or care who are we really hiring today? My organization at work was told a few years ago by a vice president that we all could be replaced by 5$/hr engineers from a certain south Asian country. So far this has yet to happened.

It is only going to get worst...

To answer your question the only industry that is really growing is Government. There seems to always be a position for a Bureaucrat with no accountability.

Anyone read "Atlas Shrugged".

 

[Jigglybootch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lazarus Short /img/forum/go_quote.gif I can only hope that the schooling lands you a job with which you can pay the loans back.

Well, I'm starting out at $56,600 per year (before taxes and such, naturally), but still. $997.49 each month in loan payments is not something I was looking forward to. Between just the loans and my rent, I'm looking at almost $1800 a month. There ain't gonna be no Christmas this year!

 

[Elec]

I hope it's worth it!

I'm often thankful I ended up going to a state University that was really affordable. I managed to pay as I went and came out of school only owing about 3 grand. It was a good experience, I had fun, I got a quality education, and I got my degree. And you know what? I graduated and got a good job where I have coworkers who went to Brown, Stanford, Princeton, Cornell, MIT, Carnegie Mellon. We've got the same basic job, and they spent way way more on their education.

It'd be hard for me to recommend that anyone try to go to an expensive big-name school unless either 1) Money was no object, 2) They had sufficient scholarships to go there without accumulating much debt, or 3) they were virtually assured a high paying job to where the debt wouldn't be a burden after graduation.

It matters that you get a good education and get a degree. If you can do that, it doesn't matter so much where it's from. Maybe the fancy schools will make it easier to get that first job, but after that, it's all about work experience or advanced education and a bachelor's degree is just a checkbox. It's just not worth it these days to sell your soul to debt for an education you could have gotten much cheaper elsewhere when it may not even land you a great job when you're done.

 

[Jigglybootch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elec /img/forum/go_quote.gif I hope it's worth it! I'm often thankful I ended up going to a state University that was really affordable. I managed to pay as I went and came out of school only owing about 3 grand. It was a good experience, I had fun, I got a quality education, and I got my degree. And you know what? I graduated and got a good job where I have coworkers who went to Brown, Stanford, Princeton, Cornell, MIT, Carnegie Mellon. We've got the same basic job, and they spent way way more on their education.

I went to Ohio State. It didn't save me any money.

 

[Klarus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jigglybootch /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, I'm starting out at $56,600 per year (before taxes and such, naturally), but still. $997.49 each month in loan payments is not something I was looking forward to. Between just the loans and my rent, I'm looking at almost $1800 a month. There ain't gonna be no Christmas this year!

If I knew I would be getting a job like that out of college (which is not guaranteed, but is actually less than I expect to be paid--I plan to become a translator), I would have gone to a better school--you're making almost twice as much as I am, your payments can't be that bad. At over 4k a month, 1k in payments isn't such a bad hit, is it? Granted, I'm going to a state university, working, and paying my own way, but I got a bit lucky with my job--basically getting 36k a year before taxes, which I can't say is bad at all for not having a degree (and being about a year away). Can't bash the merit of working while going to school (though it really can be a bitch).

 

[crazyfrenchman27]

My advice: don't attend a private college for your undergraduate career unless you receive compensatory funding to justify the decision.

It's a complete waste of money.

-Matt

 

[slwiser]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Klarus /img/forum/go_quote.gif If I knew I would be getting a job like that out of college (which is not guaranteed, but is actually less than I expect to be paid--I plan to become a translator), I would have gone to a better school--you're making almost twice as much as I am, your payments can't be that bad. At over 4k a month, 1k in payments isn't such a bad hit, is it? Granted, I'm going to a state university, working, and paying my own way, but I got a bit lucky with my job--basically getting 36k a year before taxes, which I can't say is bad at all for not having a degree (and being about a year away). Can't bash the merit of working while going to school (though it really can be a bitch).

Depends on your tax situation. If your single, 4k a month might put you into an overall bracket (fed+state+local+fica) that you net 2.4k before expenses. 1k out of 2.4k is a very different situation.

 

[uzziah]

Quote:

Originally Posted by YamiTenshi /img/forum/go_quote.gif The only thing I have to be proud of (financially) is that in all my >20 years of life the only debt I've incurred are student loans.

lol, what other debt did you have time to accumulate?

 

[uzziah]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Azure /img/forum/go_quote.gif Lobbing? Are these companies playing tennis with our Congressmen?

most likely my friend, most likely indeed; and drinking scotch, and thinking of how to better themselves

 

[sinny]

i feel your pain!

 

[uzziah]

i find it amazing the idea that an "education" is only found by taking classes and being taught be someone else; education is available everywhere, and more so everday as free information expands; and this coming from someone who wants to be a college professor; unfortunately, getting the job would be about the degree, not the education per se

 

[uzziah]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Klarus /img/forum/go_quote.gif If I knew I would be getting a job like that out of college (which is not guaranteed, but is actually less than I expect to be paid--I plan to become a translator), I would have gone to a better school--you're making almost twice as much as I am, your payments can't be that bad. At over 4k a month, 1k in payments isn't such a bad hit, is it? Granted, I'm going to a state university, working, and paying my own way, but I got a bit lucky with my job--basically getting 36k a year before taxes, which I can't say is bad at all for not having a degree (and being about a year away). Can't bash the merit of working while going to school (though it really can be a bitch).

you're working fulltime and putting yourself through school? my man, my hat is off to you, i find this very admirable, and i am positive that employers will feel the same; working your way through school like that is a real accomplishment and it shows that you're someone who can get the job done, not to mention the experience you've garnered

 

[uzziah]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jigglybootch /img/forum/go_quote.gif I went to Ohio State. It didn't save me any money.

oh, i see, your problem is that you weren't a wolverine! GO BLUE!








flame on baby

 

[pageman99]

Yadda, yadda, yadda... (lecture to follow

)

I've been a business owner for about 75% of my life and I've hired hundreds of people. Given the choice, I always hired people that are qualified in whatever technical skill was necessary. The key word here is qualified. When hiring programmers out of CMU we couldn't touch a good one for less than around 75k. To start, from the bottom of the class... And we were glad to get them.

When hiring for a retail business that I owned, I hired purely on personality and experience. And I wanted achievers. Those that were hungry. A college degree was a liability, those folks needed to make too much money.

On the other hand after my kids were raised and I more or less gave up on the rat race and looked to be hired for an interesting job. No one would hire me. They were scared of my resume. I was overqualified...

My point is that generalizations don't work. A degree helps get you in the door of a large company. If you're in a technical field it really helps. But it might be a liability too.

After that, you're on your own. And believe me it ain't an immigrant/immigration problem. The US throughout its history has ALWAYS been short of labor. We NEED immigrants, they're hungry, very hungry. (yes, I know not all of them). If you don't know we need immigrants you haven't read enough history.

If you're willing to work and discipline yourself to stay within your budget, you'll make it in this country. Here we have opportunity. That's far from a given in most of the world. And we should never forget it.

Now I'll get off my soapbox...