<p>Every international applicant knows that education in the US is very very expensive. A lot of us will be applying for financial aid and unfortunately, not all schools will be able to meet 100% of our need. With that in mind, consider a hypothetical situation: Suppose that you got into your top choice university with some aid. However, with your family contribution and aid combined, it can only fund you for at most 3 years. Almost there, but not quite. You'll probably have to shell out $50,000 on your own, still a very big sum of money. Okay, so maybe the situation can be a little different, $30,000 short or $40,000 short - whatever. The question I'm asking is: how can you make up for the last one year? What would you guys do?</p>
<p>Here's my thought</p>
<p>The first thing that comes into mind is.. loans!
The Good: Well, it's a nice quick way to solve this problem,
The Bad: Hey no one likes to graduate with a significant debt right? Maybe you'd only take $20,000-$25,000 to cover part of it. </p>
<p>The next thing available would be on-campus employment.<br>
The Good: Good when you are not doing internships or is saving the time of your Curricular Practical Training(CPT) for 1-year of Optional Practical Training (OPT) if you want to work in the US.
The Bad: The competition will be stiff, everyone's looking to earn extra income. Plus as an international student, as part of your F-1 visa stipulation, you are only allowed to work 20hrs/week while school is in session. Compensation can be a bit iffy. Perhaps a little bit more than $8/hr? Haven't done my research. Still.. shaving a chunk from that tuition and living costs is still welcome</p>
<p>There's also internship.
The Good: For recruiting before you graduate. This is the best way to secure employment later. Compensation can be great depending on the job
The Bad: It counts towards your CPT, so your OPT will be less, meaning that you'll only be able to work for less than 12 months in the US depending on your internship length</p>
<p>I realize there are also numerous ways to make money. I heard donating plasma gives you $40 per session. Not bad at all. Then it's also possible to invest/trade but we might not have the capital. So international undergrads, what are your thoughts on this? What if you get caught in that kind of situation? Anyone experienced enough to share?</p>
<p>From what i heard u can make $400-$500 from on campus jobs a month but thats still not enough...i guess the only other option would be to work illegally</p>
<p>from whitman college's website. though i don't know if this applies for just whitman students or for all intels.</p>
<p>"Most international students work on-campus while attending school. Under U.S. law you can work up to 20 hours per week while classes are in session and up to 40 hours per week during holidays and breaks. About half of our international students remain on campus during the summer to work and earn the funds necessary to help pay for their education. During the school year you can earn approximately US$2,500 and an additional US$4,000 during the summer."</p>
<p>to make substantial amounts of money you will probably have to work illegally. (selling drugs comes to mind - good way to make a lot of money really quickly. do keep in mind that it is a good way to get in jail or shot as well)</p>
<p>This is an excellent question that you bring up, tomo88, because I'm wondering how the eff Ima fund my education, and pay off loans. Obviously I'll receive finAid, and pursue an intership, but the problem is that internships are almost impossible to find if you're an international.
My guess to make lots (or at least, significant) of money (apart from drug trafficking) would be to work as an interpreter (?) in your language for other people. Or maybe you can tutor SAT for highschoolers (This is what I'm planning to do every vacation when I go back to Korea, where Ivy league + stanford + uchicago ugrads can earn up to $4,000 per month, and I'm not kidding. Though you have to be REALLY good.)</p>
<p>I heard drug and medicine trials can earn upto $2000 a fortnight....altho you could end up dying...
Well, if you can come up with some short term capital, investing would be the best way to earn quick easy money......take a month or two and research well on the stock market and the economy there and youll start making some free cash in no time..</p>
<p>No, you can actually donate twice a week for around $20-30 per session. That translates to an extra cash of around $200 per month. Not too shabby eh? Assuming you do that for 6 months a year, thats $1200. Repeat that for the whole of 4 years? Around $4800. Another chunk taken off from that deficit. Actually it's kinda wrong to use the word "donate" since you do get paid for it but heck, who cares? We are on a tight budget here :)</p>
<p>to Kowloon:</p>
<p>Tutoring SAT for highschool kids sounds interesting. I'd probably tutor kids taking O-Level/A-Level from international schools here. As for my country, I don't think the pay's gonna be as stellar as yours but it beats having nothing to do during vacation.</p>
<p>to aj16:</p>
<p>I considered trading stocks (or forex but that would be more risky) but you gotta be a pro at it I guess. The current financial market situation is kinda crappy though. Maybe if you can find any full time MBA grad students from your country and ask for tips? I heard there are also clubs for these kind of activities but I don't know how they'll work.</p>
<p>^ You don't need to worry about those stupid ways to earn money. If you've filled out the ISFAA with honesty, and are prepared to be offered (if admitted) a package which more or less meets your full need, there wouldn't be a problem at all. </p>
<p>College isn't a time to shuttle around for earning a quick buck; all that can wait for until after graduation. As it is, work is a part of a standard FA package. If your parents have saved decently, and your income doesn't deviate from what you specified in the ISFAA, you should be fine.</p>
<p>My actual situation is different but similar to what I've described. Basically I am lucky enough that my parents can already fund me for around 3 years without financial aid. They can push it up to 4 but as far as I can, I want to make up for the deficit myself. Besides I've got 2 younger siblings to consider, one is entering university next year although maybe not a US one. </p>
<p>Perhaps I should clarify a bit. The premise of this discussion is that: with aid or not, you are short of around $40,000 to $50,000 for your top choice university ie. one year's worth of tuition and living cost. 'It's so close yet so far away' kind of situation. If you are willing to do anything to enroll your top choice, then purpose of this discussion is to share what ways can we make up for that deficit without resorting to loans as far as possible. I figure some of us may be in this kind of situation. Even with all your needs met, it doesn't mean that you should sit back and relax :) Why, you can use that extra income to party or something, right?</p>
<p>tomo88, nice to know that you can donate blood more regularly. seems like you did your research ;). wish they would pay more though, somewhere around $2000 a year.</p>
<p>^^Medicine and drug trials pay about that much.....its great if your willing to take a risk....And you might also be doing your "part" for society by....</p>
<p>to aktiv8d:
its not exactly blood that you are donating. you can only donate blood at most once a month. rather, you donate only the plasma which contains mostly water, nutrients, minerals and antibodies. Unlike blood cells, the plasma is replenished quickly because, well its mostly water and nutrients. the risk is very low but there's always a caveat. i would suggest to research more before deciding that it's for you. as for me, i'd resort to this only if my budget is totally on a pinch. </p>
<p>regarding medicine and drug trials though, they are pretty risky if you ask me. personally i'd stay away from them. what if you exhibit an adverse reaction to the medicine? wouldn't want your parents back home to worry right? and logically speaking clinical drug trials are conducted on people who are afflicted with the particular illness anyway.</p>
<p>Taking anything under $50000 as loans for four years at college is reasonable. As far as work is concerned, you can work 3 hours a day and earn around $150 a week. during the 30 weeks of term you will be able to earn 4500. During vacation you can earn double the amount in a week (40 hours max) and that would mean $300 per week for 20 weeks that is $6000. So you can earn about $10000 in a year if you are extremely regular and are prepared to work every single day!! in junior and senior year you can earn atleast $5000 a month during vacations from internships. You also have to allow for the fact that you will be paying for your own living during vacations. that means you will be spending at least $3000 of the money you earn during vacations on yourself. Moreover, I dont know whether your earnings are taxed or not. that can be significant too. People also tend to spend more on recreation/entertainment when they are earning themselves! Considering all such factors the max you would be able to contribute to your education (after allowing for everything) would be $30000 in your four years. If the FA provided to you requires you to earn more than that, then you would have to turn towards loans. But loans will already be included in your FA package.
So make wise, calculated decisions.</p>
<p>P.S if anyone thinks i missed out on anything (i am sure i have) in my calculations, then please do point out.</p>
<p>I think your calculation is okay if not too optimistic. Personally, I would say a total of $20,000 from on-campus job alone would be a more reasonable figure and you already have to work quite hard to get that amount in the span of 4 years. Like I said, taking loans would be the easy way out but I would recommend not taking more than a total of $40,000 to $50,000. I'll just hope that we internationals all get a decent paying job after college to pay off the debt real quick because the compound interest really adds up.</p>