What are my options?

[Tsar]

Why don't you apply to an MBA program in a foreign country where you want to meet the local women?
This could be ideal for you if you are willing to meet university girls and aren't still insisting on dating only 16-year-old virgins.

Student loans and debt-financed education are not options.

Not even if it leads to having the time of your life overseas, making serious business and social connections in a foreign country which interests you, increases your confidence, skills, and earning potential, and overall positively changes your life forever?! You should reevaluate the pros and cons involved, I think.

Sometimes debt is an INVESTMENT in yourself. The world usually won't just hand you the opportunity of your dreams out of nowhere for free! lol

A MBA wouldn't increase my earning potential when good jobs at established firms are increasing in scarcity. People born in the 1990s are lucky to find any relatively decent below-median income job. $50,000 invested into a new business that provides income and the possibility to be self-employed while abroad would be an investment. How many Ph.D.'s like scientists and physicists (two of the most complex jobs in the world) that were employed before the Soviet Union actually have jobs or regained decent jobs? Most of them weren't lucky enough to keep their jobs, get relocated to Russia, or hired by foreign nations for their expertise. I watched documentaries and news stories about how some of them live in crumbling cities with vast poverty, that at the time of the Soviet Union were prosperous and they weren't beggars or struggling to find any type of work. The West is just like that. Look at Greece where many people can be educated but they can't find work. Many of those college-educated girls become street whores or starring in porn films.

Many countries do have socialist education. There are living expenses and maybe they have to pay for lodging and books, but not tuition.

A loan for a university education, especially a graduate degree or doctorate isn't worth it for most people. Unless a person graduates from one of the top universities in the world where getting a high-paying job is almost guaranteed, then it isn't worth it anymore. It's a race to the bottom.

There are other ways to build confidence, have the time of your life, and make social connections than going for a graduate degree funded with debt and becoming an indentured servant and decreasing your earnings potential (especially when not being able to get a decent-paying or above-average paying job means defaulting on the student loan).

An investment is something that increases your potential and betters your future. Many people who took out student loans and couldn't get a good job aren't better off and it wasn't an investment, it became a liability.

[Tsar]

http://www.donaldasher.com/articles/myths_phd.html
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/arc ... ts/273339/

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_an ... fort_.html



The unemployment rate of 7.2% is a lie. Most of that is because they exclude people like the long-term unemployed and underemployed.

44.7% of working age of Americans have a full-time job. Within that number is full-time minimum wage jobs.

I don't see how an MBA or even a Ph.D. is a good investment anymore.

The number of Ph.D.s with employment has dropped significantly since 2000.

Therefore graduate degrees and doctorates are worth it for most people. They aren't an investment or an asset, they are a liability.

[Tsar]

Graduated in New York, a state with many jobs, and sent out 150 applications. She only got 1 response being told the position was filled. Most people in my generation including I are in this situation.

[Cornfed]

Graduated in New York, a state with many jobs, and sent out 150 applications. She only got 1 response being told the position was filled. Most people in my generation including I are in this situation.

And that is how a female is treated who in the recent past would have been paid a fortune to turn up at an office wearing tight clothing and give out the odd blow job. Imaging how ordinary, decent men are now treated.

[Tsar]

Graduated in New York, a state with many jobs, and sent out 150 applications. She only got 1 response being told the position was filled. Most people in my generation including I are in this situation.

And that is how a female is treated who in the recent past would have been paid a fortune to turn up at an office wearing tight clothing and give out the odd blow job. Imaging how ordinary, decent men are now treated.

Ordinary, decent men are treated like cannon-fodder. The male engineering graduate was laid-off from a job, had some underemployment that paid a stipend of $4/hour, and then went to the military after seeing it as his only option.

You can't find a job unless you think outside the box. Thinking outside the box doesn't involve taking out more debt or taking out debt when you're debt-free to fund an education, especially a graduate degree or doctorate degree.

I wouldn't ever accept the option of being cannonfodder, I would be a toy soldier for the elites waiting to be smashed to pieces fighting an unjust war to protect Israeli interests, fight for American imperialism, or secure valuable resources or markets for the corrupt American elite or the fascist corporate oligarchy.

[publicduende]

Why don't you apply to an MBA program in a foreign country where you want to meet the local women?
This could be ideal for you if you are willing to meet university girls and aren't still insisting on dating only 16-year-old virgins.

Student loans and debt-financed education are not options.

Not even if it leads to having the time of your life overseas, making serious business and social connections in a foreign country which interests you, increases your confidence, skills, and earning potential, and overall positively changes your life forever?! You should reevaluate the pros and cons involved, I think.

Sometimes debt is an INVESTMENT in yourself. The world usually won't just hand you the opportunity of your dreams out of nowhere for free! lol

The problem about MBAs is that they're indeed useful to kickstart or boost a corporate career if they're awarded by one of the top 50 business schools in the world, but they carry a hefty price tag. A $100/$150,000 price tag isn't unheard of, when you factor in cost of living locally to the school, books and learning material, etc. Second or third tier MBAs offered by virtually every other university in the world are significantly cheaper but, although you may well walk out having learned more about statistics, finance, sales & marketing etc. your guarantee of a good job or a career progression are reduced by three quarters at least.

My take on MBAs is that, unless your literally from a top 25/50 school, it's a waste of money. I am telling you this because, in 2007, I was weighting my options and eventually chose a specialised Masters, or MSc in Risk Management and Financial Engineering, which I dropped out after the first year (of two, part-time) because of lack of funds...and the credit crunch!

[publicduende]

Graduated in New York, a state with many jobs, and sent out 150 applications. She only got 1 response being told the position was filled. Most people in my generation including I are in this situation.

And that is how a female is treated who in the recent past would have been paid a fortune to turn up at an office wearing tight clothing and give out the odd blow job. Imaging how ordinary, decent men are now treated.

Always "the best" crude, trite and tired stereotypes from you, Pornfed. Maybe you could wear tight clothing and give away BJs and see if it gets you somewhere. San Fran and NYC have a lot of gay/trans friendly companies

[publicduende]

Tsar, honest, why don't you try your luck "the hard way" then? Anything would be worthier than hiding away in your cage of dreams and poems. Not that there's anything wrong with the above, yet you're in an age when exploration and learning by direct experience is infinitely more valuable than sticking to opinions and rants gathered in online forums and blogs.

Why don't you try saving just enough money for a ticket and move to, say, Visa-friendly places like Thailand and the Philippines, Costa Rica or Guatemala? You will meet new people, new ways of life, and even if you will have to pick up whatever occasional job to survive, the excitement of living abroad will trump a lot of the hardship from having to work the odd shift or not being financially sound.

The way you sound, you make me (and more than one other member here) that anything is preferable to you lingering in the US, waiting for something that you don't believe in and might well never happen.

[Halwick]

Since you have no savings, assets or work history or any idea what you want to do, I would have suggested the military, even the Coast Guard, to learn a usable skill. For example, a high school friend of mine learned all about heating and airconditioning while serving in the U.S. Navy. Now he lives in Arizona and has a thriving business.

But since that is not an option, why not join the Peace Corps? http://www.peacecorps.gov/
A good way to go overseas, help people, make friends and get "Happier Abroad" experience at the same time.

I should be graduating college this May. I applied at good jobs but haven't gotten any replies. So it's doubtful I will receive any offer of employment for a good job. Working a minimum wage job, poverty-line job, or worthless slave labor type job isn't something I would do because it's not a viable option. Joining the US Military isn't an option because I won't fight for the country's elites. Every war that America has waged since WWII has benefited the elites or US imperialism. I have no interest in computers (it's not something I'm passionate about) and I'm not mechanically skilled. I will have a Business Administration degree. Most rents are overpriced compared to the median net monthly income for the low-paying jobs. I don't see any viable options.

I have no savings
I have no assets
I have no official work history

I have no student loans
I am debt-free

I don't know what my options are at the moment.

[Tsar]

Since you have no savings, assets or work history or any idea what you want to do, I would have suggested the military, even the Coast Guard, to learn a usable skill. For example, a high school friend of mine learned all about heating and airconditioning while serving in the U.S. Navy. Now he lives in Arizona and has a thriving business.

But since that is not an option, why not join the Peace Corps? http://www.peacecorps.gov/
A good way to go overseas, help people, make friends and get "Happier Abroad" experience at the same time.

http://www.peacecorps.gov/volunteer/lea ... om=vrs_map

It does sound interesting and like a possible option. The volunteers learn the language. Moldova would be my choice (although placement isn't guaranteed). I've heard its very competitive?

[Jackal]

44.7% of working age of Americans have a full-time job. Within that number is full-time minimum wage jobs.

I don't see how an MBA or even a Ph.D. is a good investment anymore.

The number of Ph.D.s with employment has dropped significantly since 2000.

Therefore graduate degrees and doctorates are worth it for most people. They aren't an investment or an asset, they are a liability.

Okay, if your plans are to simply work in America your whole life, then yes, I agree that often graduate degrees aren't worth the money. But if you want to live and work in a foreign country, going to a university in that country could help you make important connections, as well as being lots of fun, and universities in places like Eastern Europe are generally much cheaper than they are in America. Additionally, in Eastern Europe, most people who go to university earn master's degrees. A bachelor's degree often isn't too significant here.

So American companies probably won't respect degrees from foreign universities which they have never heard of (because they are ignorant and narrow-minded), but if you plan to never return to America and to live and work in a foreign country, a degree earned in that country could be very helpful.

To succeed in a country where you don't have relatives or friends yet, having a social network/support system is very helpful. A foreign university can provide this. Some jobs will, but others won't. "Going it alone" in a country where English often isn't spoken while having weak/no skills in that foreign language, little work experience, and no professional connections is quite a steep climb!

You talk like you have it all figured out, but all you have figured out is the way things are in America. Every European country is different. You can't generalize based upon only the example of Greece.

[Tsar]

44.7% of working age of Americans have a full-time job. Within that number is full-time minimum wage jobs.

I don't see how an MBA or even a Ph.D. is a good investment anymore.

The number of Ph.D.s with employment has dropped significantly since 2000.

Therefore graduate degrees and doctorates are worth it for most people. They aren't an investment or an asset, they are a liability.

Okay, if your plans are to simply work in America your whole life, then yes, I agree that often graduate degrees aren't worth the money. But if you want to live and work in a foreign country, going to a university in that country could help you make important connections, as well as being lots of fun, and universities in places like Eastern Europe are generally much cheaper than they are in America. Additionally, in Eastern Europe, most people who go to university earn master's degrees. A bachelor's degree often isn't too significant here.

So American companies probably won't respect degrees from foreign universities which they have never heard of (because they are ignorant and narrow-minded), but if you plan to never return to America and to live and work in a foreign country, a degree earned in that country could be very helpful.

To succeed in a country where you don't have relatives or friends yet, having a social network/support system is very helpful. A foreign university can provide this. Some jobs will, but others won't. "Going it alone" in a country where English often isn't spoken while having weak/no skills in that foreign language, little work experience, and no professional connections is quite a steep climb!

You talk like you have it all figured out, but all you have figured out is the way things are in America. Every European country is different. You can't generalize based upon only the example of Greece.

I'm not completely against getting graduate degree but I need to get on with my life. Maybe in the future if it benefits me then I'd go back but I need to experience love and earn myself money before I continue with professional education. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. I already have some of everything except love and enough money.

If studying a language is affordable then I would go for that.

http://www.mgu-russian.com/en/learn/courses/141/

It mentions the cost of private lessons is 20 Euro. Is that per class or for all the classes within that level? It mentions the group lessons are 180 Euro. Is that per group course or for all group courses?

[Jackal]

If studying a language is affordable then I would go for that.

http://www.mgu-russian.com/en/learn/courses/141/

Language learning can be quite cheap. Download some introductory textbooks. Join some language learning forums. Get a cheap Russian tutor which uses Skype.

You might find these sites helpful.
http://www.mylanguageexchange.com/
http://www.lingq.com/

It mentions the cost of private lessons is 20 Euro. Is that per class or for all the classes within that level? It mentions the group lessons are 180 Euro. Is that per group course or for all group courses?

I have no idea. Why don't you email them and ask?

But anyway, those prices seem quite high to me.

[publicduende]

If studying a language is affordable then I would go for that.

http://www.mgu-russian.com/en/learn/courses/141/

Language learning can be quite cheap. Download some introductory textbooks. Join some language learning forums. Get a cheap Russian tutor which uses Skype.

You might find these sites helpful.
http://www.mylanguageexchange.com/
http://www.lingq.com/

It mentions the cost of private lessons is 20 Euro. Is that per class or for all the classes within that level? It mentions the group lessons are 180 Euro. Is that per group course or for all group courses?

I have no idea. Why don't you email them and ask?

But anyway, those prices seem quite high to me.

I know Russian is a very complex language to learn. Are you sure you want to learn Russian just so you can find a gf/wife in one of the ex Soviet bloc countries? And if you plan to go to Moldova anyway, over there they speak Romanian, a completely different language from Russian.