is 'the crunch' affecting you

hopefully the next 6-8 years will be better when i'm done with school

My abs do hurt this morning, is that what you mean?

'the crunch' has not been a problem for me so much as 'the lack of work ethic/motivation'

i have remained quite employed despite my best efforts.

  On 7/2/2010 at 6:12 PM, Joyrex said:

My abs do hurt this morning, is that what you mean?

you're doing them wrong then.

oh baby oh baby

let's crunch so wrong

make your abs hurt

toniiiiight

Since last year I got a gurt big scholarship to go back to university so that wasn't too crunchy. Bit more success in job hunting now but it looks easier to get a funded PhD than a job

  On 7/2/2010 at 3:12 PM, disparaissant said:

how possible is it to get into a half decent university in/around london with an art history program for a 25 year old with 2 years of school under her belt? (dropped out 5 years ago, decent grades though)

Easy enough to get offered a place, but 'overseas' fees are high, and you would struggle to get any kind of scholarship, especially at undergrad. They probably wouldn't accept your 2 years as credit and so you'd be starting as a first year.

Ugh, student loans. Please avoid them if you go back to school.

I took out a ton of them to put myself through law school (I should have realized much earlier that everyone else there had rich daddies and that the myth of upward mobility in the States is a lovely fiction).

I worked hard and took a decent, high paying job out of law school, but I got laid off (along with a couple thousand other first years in the country) after 6 months because of the credit crisis, even though I theoretically did well on what work was actually given to me. Just getting laid off has been a huge black mark, and now I'm essentially underemployed (I've been able to find a contract-basis job which has kept me a bit above water).

What I do make either goes to the IRS now as estimated quarterly payments or goes into student loan payments. I have some of those on deferment because I'm not working full-time, but the second I do work full time again I need to pay about $2k a month. For, like, ever. Geeziz.

Don't do what Baphy Don't does!

Yeah I got debts, student loans and shit and no work. FML. Just glad we have ok social services here so I can survive.

if i stayed in florida at the job i had there. things would've been cool since other plants closed down and they've been getting a lot of work.

but since i moved back to cali, things been nothing but downhill... took a huge pay cut in november which is now making us move into a less expensive place. my motivation has been challenged, i've been in and out of depression. still have a job, but way not happy. been looking for another job but there isn't much. i do freelance but not enough to cover what pay i lost from my job.

it's hard to stay positive... especially where i work. everyone at work sees that i'm not happy and don't approach me like they used to. but that's ok. i guess i'm feeling under appreciated there. i do a lot and know everyone's roll but my boss doesn't care about that... he basically sees me as a "utility man" instead of a "major player"... but he picks favorites and no matter what their work ethic is, he'll back them up leaving the hard workers in the shit.

moving back to california was a mistake really. but i need to snap out of my depression and make something of it. i've been pretty depressed in the last month especially and i'm trying not to show it at home in front of the kids.

they just raised the taxes here yesterday. it's now 14 percent on , i think, everything. lots of angry poeple and i'm sure this is going to affect all of us (bc'ers, ontarions?) negatively..

  On 7/2/2010 at 7:11 PM, kakapo said:

  On 7/2/2010 at 3:12 PM, disparaissant said:

how possible is it to get into a half decent university in/around london with an art history program for a 25 year old with 2 years of school under her belt? (dropped out 5 years ago, decent grades though)

 

Easy enough to get offered a place, but 'overseas' fees are high, and you would struggle to get any kind of scholarship, especially at undergrad. They probably wouldn't accept your 2 years as credit and so you'd be starting as a first year.

from what i've been told, a good school would be about 10,000 pounds a year. which is actually a bit cheaper than tuition for an in-state public university here. so that's no biggy. and as for the credits transferring, that doesn't really bother me too much, as i don't plan on going back to school for what i WAS studying anyways, so that's not too many credits lost. do you need a lot of general education classes over there like you do here? because that would kind of suck as i did get a lot of that stuff taken care of...

where da gold at?

  On 7/2/2010 at 8:02 PM, disparaissant said:

  On 7/2/2010 at 7:11 PM, kakapo said:

  On 7/2/2010 at 3:12 PM, disparaissant said:

how possible is it to get into a half decent university in/around london with an art history program for a 25 year old with 2 years of school under her belt? (dropped out 5 years ago, decent grades though)

 

Easy enough to get offered a place, but 'overseas' fees are high, and you would struggle to get any kind of scholarship, especially at undergrad. They probably wouldn't accept your 2 years as credit and so you'd be starting as a first year.

 

from what i've been told, a good school would be about 10,000 pounds a year. which is actually a bit cheaper than tuition for an in-state public university here. so that's no biggy. and as for the credits transferring, that doesn't really bother me too much, as i don't plan on going back to school for what i WAS studying anyways, so that's not too many credits lost. do you need a lot of general education classes over there like you do here? because that would kind of suck as i did get a lot of that stuff taken care of...

I just biked in to say that when I was looking at studying in the UK as an overseas student, University of Newcastle was 17,000 pounds a year, and that was 9 years ago.

A decent school in London is certainly going to be much more than 10,000 pounds a year for an overseas student.

  On 7/2/2010 at 7:45 PM, yek said:

they just raised the taxes here yesterday. it's now 14 percent on , i think, everything. lots of angry poeple and i'm sure this is going to affect all of us (bc'ers, ontarions?) negatively..

i honestly don't think hst is bad.

nah, i was looking at goldsmiths and that's between 10 and 13k a year depending on the program. granted this is just tuition but if i've got a place and a job lined up that kind of takes care of itself, though my life may be quite miserable for a bit.

edit: obviously this is in re: chenGOD

  On 7/2/2010 at 8:23 PM, essines said:

  On 7/2/2010 at 7:45 PM, yek said:

they just raised the taxes here yesterday. it's now 14 percent on , i think, everything. lots of angry poeple and i'm sure this is going to affect all of us (bc'ers, ontarions?) negatively..

i honestly don't think hst is bad.

but you gotta pay more how can that be good?

HST is shit - it's added taxes on all sorts of things that never existed before, and because this is a consumption tax, it hits us, consumers right in the wallet.

who saves money? companies that had to administer PST.

http://www.theprovince.com/technology/least+problems+July/3226482/story.html

read it and weep essines

  On 7/2/2010 at 8:02 PM, disparaissant said:

  On 7/2/2010 at 7:11 PM, kakapo said:

  On 7/2/2010 at 3:12 PM, disparaissant said:

how possible is it to get into a half decent university in/around london with an art history program for a 25 year old with 2 years of school under her belt? (dropped out 5 years ago, decent grades though)

 

Easy enough to get offered a place, but 'overseas' fees are high, and you would struggle to get any kind of scholarship, especially at undergrad. They probably wouldn't accept your 2 years as credit and so you'd be starting as a first year.

 

from what i've been told, a good school would be about 10,000 pounds a year. which is actually a bit cheaper than tuition for an in-state public university here. so that's no biggy. and as for the credits transferring, that doesn't really bother me too much, as i don't plan on going back to school for what i WAS studying anyways, so that's not too many credits lost. do you need a lot of general education classes over there like you do here? because that would kind of suck as i did get a lot of that stuff taken care of...

10-13k is about right, but don't forget to factor in the exchange rate, the pound is weak at the moment. Only a couple of years ago it was £1=$2.10.

UK degrees are significantly different from the US system. You don't have general education classes. There is usually some scope to take some classes outside your department but within your faculty, but this is usually limited. They tend to be much more focused than US degrees, no major/minor thing.

I've studied in both the UK and US. From my limited experience of two well regarded but not ivy league/oxford institutions... Standard of teaching is about the same. More work in the US, but a higher standard expected in the UK, particularly in the first year. Smaller class sizes in terms of seminars in the UK and potentially more access to tutors if it's a decent school. The US college felt at times like being in school (i.e high school) more than university. You'll be expected to bring a certain 'maturity' to your work from the beginning, less hand holding. Surprisingly, the US school felt more egalitarian somehow. There was also a much greater range of ability. In the US it was either very bright and hardworking, or dim and hardworking. In the UK at a decent uni you'll get bright and hardworking or bright and lazy.

  On 7/2/2010 at 8:17 PM, chenGOD said:

I just biked in to say that when I was looking at studying in the UK as an overseas student, University of Newcastle was 17,000 pounds a year, and that was 9 years ago.

A decent school in London is certainly going to be much more than 10,000 pounds a year for an overseas student.

17K? That must have been either for a business/finance degree or something clinical or laboratory based?

yeah back when i dropped out, my in-state tuition was $7k per semester, so just over twice that for a whole year is an insanely good price. and that school was cheap. and shitty. so heyo, that sounds great. so does a lack of gen ed stuff.

this is looking like the way to go, i think. plus i mean i want to study art history and anthropology (yes i want to spend money on a degree that will most likely be useless unless i take it all the way to a phd level) and what better place to do that than somewhere with access to decent art and architecture?

it probably doesn't hurt that i am a massive anglophile, as well.

my country is no different.

expenses grow higher, quality level and job offer doesn't.

me and my family aren't actually that bad as my parents have their jobs secured, because they have a pretty solid career and they always made the best strategy when it comes to money savings and where to spend it.

i am taking an architecture course at public uni and it costs about thousand € a year and my brother will start high school soon, at public too, so it's not a higher expense.

i see people really going through massive difficulties and know of many, personally. meanwhile our government keeps spending our money on bmw and audis for their "work travels" and companies give million euro prizes to their "top" workers that never really knew what really working is about. i am afraid it will get harder.

i had a great announcement the other day, tho. Uni is offering me two pizes: one for best grades at high school, as entering for the first college year and the other for best grades at the first college year. if everything goes as planned, it should be about seven hundred €. the best feeling you can get at uni is watching your work recognized.

at least something is working fine on my country.

  On 7/2/2010 at 9:33 PM, kakapo said:

 

 

  On 7/2/2010 at 8:17 PM, chenGOD said:

I just biked in to say that when I was looking at studying in the UK as an overseas student, University of Newcastle was 17,000 pounds a year, and that was 9 years ago.

A decent school in London is certainly going to be much more than 10,000 pounds a year for an overseas student.

 

17K? That must have been either for a business/finance degree or something clinical or laboratory based?

Nyet comrade - liberal arts.

Thank fuck I didn't take it though, now I'm going to a top ranked school and paying like 8 thousand a year. Yay Canada, some things you get right.

Read the rules.

yeah...im worried about my future....liberal arts grad student..hoping to get into a PhD program...but if i pay for anything its a lost cause.

luckily my GPA is close to perfect, i have tons of solid recommendations, and i have a lot of archival experience....wouldn't be a bad gig to work in a dusty cellar handling old shit while playing whatever music i want 8 hours a day.

*considers not getting PhD*

Gas and electricity bills in the UK are set to rise after Scottish Power led the way with 4%.

Apparently they were raised in the mid 00's for good reason, but never dropped when supply prices dropped. We've been getting screwed for almost a decade and now they want to raise them again. The Trading Standards agency are going to look into it, but I don't expect anything to actually happen. Motherfuckers.

I don't drive, thankfully, but anyone that owns a car is getting fucked deeper and deeper obviously.

My girlfriend and I are in jobs that pay well enough, but have little to no incentive (pay rises or career-progression). She's been seriously talking about going travelling for a year, which I'm into actually, so we might do that.