Mancala:


Permit me to add some insight. To be successful in the U.S., you need to think long term. Being a corrections officer or joining the military in a non officer cadre is a good start, but you don't want to remain there. In my opinion, these jobs are a young mans game. Do you want to be working corrections and doing odd shifts in your 50's and beyond? If it's not a state position with a pension, will you earn enough to save a good amount in your 401k so you can retire when your strength or health starts to wane? In the military, the salaries are not that good compared to the private sector and the lifestyle is brutal. Looking from the Nigerian perspective, yes, they are a good start but you must look beyond the here and now.
I have friends who started in these jobs but went back to school to upgrade their educational qualifications. They are all doing very well today. The difference in income, potential and lifestyle is like night and day between both paths.

pDudd:


The poster above just simplified it well.

Now let me put it simply in monetary terms. Right now, I earn more than 6 times what I was earning before going to school over here.

For example if I was earning $1000 every 2 weeks before I went to school, today i earn $6000 just because I went to school and I am working with less effort but earning more.

jamoyakz:
would you classify getting a six month certification as getting a qualification or climbing the ladder?

pDudd:


Every qualification is better than no qualification. It is a good step.

neurosci:
Why do people say they work in healthcare instead of simply saying they are a nurse? I don't get it. Just say, "I'm in nurse," instead of saying "I work in healthcare."

Exmay02:


Except you are politician pikin in naija, then affording US school fees is close to a mirage, taking loan to study is a norm, even a lot of American citizen can only survive schooling by taking loan.

It won't be bad if you can list out this your many opportunities aside limited offer for grants/funding through GRE/Scholarship.

neurosci:


First of all, the OP here is referring to permanent residents aka immigrants. You can see that in the tone of his writings where he talked about quitting your minimum wage jobs and getting more education. Only permanent residents or citizens can do this. As an international student, you are expected to show proof of funding before applying for your visa at all, therefore, the ideal thing is that once you're here, you have the money for school. You cannot rely on loans and you're not even eligible for that.

Now, as a permanent resident, there are very many opportunities. Start by going to your state school where you qualify for in-state tuition. File the FAFSA. These ones alone would reduce your expenses drastically. The rest depends on how much work you're able to put into research. Find out what makes you unique or a minority, there are scholarships for you. Are you black, a woman? There are loads of minority scholarships. You'll have to do the work. Finally, get good grades. There are merit scholarships that, when added to need-based, can help you pay off your entire cost. And yes, you can work and study, especially when you eliminate the distractions that the OP mentioned. It's very doable. If you end up taking out a loan after all of these, it'd be very minimal. Loans should be your last resort.

neurosci:
I agree with everything except the student loan part. Avoid student loans if you can. And yes, you can! There are very many opportunities out there to help you avoid loans. Don't drown yourself in debt. Life is better without debts!

stonemasonn:
Is the interest on loan more than 10%?

neurosci:


There are. I say so because I have been a beneficiary of several - without which I would not have been able to remain in school. This year alone I've had up to $8,000 on three different external scholarships. I just finished an essay for one now which is for $1,000 (if I get it). The Western Union Foundation scholarship will be out soon; I'm watching for it. If I get it, that's an additional $2,500 - a scholarship whose recepients since inception have been 75% women, and strictly need-based. Talk about Google Lime scholarship which is $10,000. Everything adds up really quick. How about all-expense-paid conferences/programs for college students, especially ones that deal with leadership that even pay you stipends. In September, I'm headed to Washington DC for a black youth conference, all-expense paid with an additional $1,500 stipend.
How about being a student ambassador at your college, or a resident assistant and get your room and board fees waived?

I keep telling people that there are loads of opportunities in the USA, but you have to do the work of researching and taking advantage of them. No one will spoon-feed you or bring them to your door. A lot of students don't even know about these opportunities until they're about to graduate. If you can avoid taking out a loan, avoid it!! Believe it or not, there're several poor, international students here studying at expensive universities without any support from home. There's a way they do it.

pDudd:


Lol. This guy is a clown. Anyways stop derailing my thread. Thank you.

pDudd:


Not just white guys. People of different colors like him. Me too I like him

pDudd:


Depends on if the certificate is accepted in the US. You will still have to take the US certification boards though.

pDudd:


Not just white guys. People of different colors like him. Me too I like him.

tardell007:
I'm a dentist hopefully I'll be immigrating to the u.s before the end of this year as a P.R. getting licensed to practice dentistry is quite expensive going back to school for 2years and spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in school fees. This is where getting a student loan is tricky op.
what do you advice?

EVILFOREST:

You are EMIGRATING or Traveling as a STUDENT...?
Because they are two different things oooo
How.. ?
Have you secured a University and Paid your Fees..?
Your Case is not tying up... ?
I really need to understand..
Educate me more..

I'm in the US.
People come in via Several Routes but most of them come in as Visitors and Students.
Some come in via Employment Based Visas like the Nurses... Who start up as RN after passing their Exams....

neurosci:


I've deleted my posts, since you consider them a derailment to your thread. Like I mentioned, I agree with every other thing you said except the student loan part, and I commented because I thought someone else might benefit from a different perspective, but I think you simply want us to agree with everything you post. So, please kindly delete the areas where you mentioned me so that my posts can disappear completely and I'll delete this one too.

tardell007:
I'm done with school,I'll be coming to live with my spouse a u.s citizen. for a foreign trained dentist to practice in the u.s he or she has to go back to a dental school in u.s for 2years to be licensed to practice.

klawaaa:
You made real sense in your detailed writeup on student scholarship and someone like me have started reasonable research into that. I am someone who have been a great opportunist of scholarship and I really understand your perspective. Please you can open a new thread on that... definitely it gonna be a great resource for some people. NEVER STOP SPEAKING FOR WHAT YOU BELIEVE IN BECAUSE EVERYONE HAVE THERE OWN INSIGHTS!

pDudd:


Tech jobs are abundant here but very competitive. It is mainly dominated by Indians and Asians. Getting in is very competitive. The big money is made of you work in one of the big tech companies like google, Microsoft, apple, etc. But the smaller independent ones don't really pay much.

I work in healthcare and I can speak more about healthcare.

tardell007:
I'm a dentist hopefully I'll be immigrating to the u.s before the end of this year as a P.R. getting licensed to practice dentistry is quite expensive going back to school for 2years and spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in school fees. This is where getting a student loan is tricky op.
what do you advice?

Tomsss:



Are you a nurse?

BelieverDE:


Follow the advice of neurosci. Thank God I read it before it was deleted