18 Years Old, In 7 Months I'm On My Own

[Girino]

Programming is one of those "practical" jobs where you can actually start doing something relevant before you have your piece of paper. I doubt a law student or an engineering student would be able to practice some law or work in an engineering company before graduating. Programming is more the exception than the norm, imho.

Where I come from, graduating "on time" says a lot about your commitment to your future profession and your life project, plus if you graduate "on time" you are younger, flexier and less lazy (that's what the recruiter see in getting your piece of paper on time). Nobody will hire a 28 y.o. architect because they flipped burgers while studying.
Besides, if you are younger you are likely to accept a low salary because you don't have to provide for a family and are willing to accept a lower standard of living (i.e. not a full apartment, but just a room, or no need to pay rent because you stay your parents')... but that's another deviating behavior of the Italian job market.

 

[Bajo_cero2]

Forget about renting an appartment. Do like locals from the country side: rent a bed in a student pension. I did untili had a decent job while i was a student. Around lavalle and junin there are many.
They cost about 2000 pesos.
To find a job at a call center should nit be dificult if you get a DNI.
Are you going to study law or medicine?

 

[Bajo_cero2]

And this doesn't affect your chance of finding a good job? In Italy it's all about finishing "on time" and even better if with higher grades. Usually people working during their academic years are not working in a related field, so any extra year toward your degree is a less year in relevant experience.
I was always asked what year did I enroll and what year I did graduated, often it is even asked on careers portal with a detail up to the very day!
That said, in Italy students rarely work to maintain themselves, but studying is fairly cheaper as compared to the US and nobody graduates with a loan to be paid off.

We have a saying at the law school, if you finish your degree without experience you are going to be a great taxi driver.

 

[sleslie23]

Programming is one of those "practical" jobs where you can actually start doing something relevant before you have your piece of paper. I doubt a law student or an engineering student would be able to practice some law or work in an engineering company before graduating. Programming is more the exception than the norm, imho.

Where I come from, graduating "on time" says a lot about your commitment to your future profession and your life project, plus if you graduate "on time" you are younger, flexier and less lazy (that's what the recruiter see in getting your piece of paper on time). Nobody will hire a 28 y.o. architect because they flipped burgers while studying.
Besides, if you are younger you are likely to accept a low salary because you don't have to provide for a family and are willing to accept a lower standard of living (i.e. not a full apartment, but just a room, or no need to pay rent because you stay your parents')... but that's another deviating behavior of the Italian job market.

Things (everything?) works differently in Argentina than where you come from. You haven't figured that out yet?

I know two attorneys who both worked in law firms before they finished their degrees (both finished in their late 20s).

 

[citygirl]

Pretty much all of my employees here were finishing up their degrees while working full-time. Totally normal here and employers don't take it as a negative at all.

 

[Girino]

Things (everything?) works differently in Argentina than where you come from. You haven't figured that out yet?

I know two attorneys who both worked in law firms before they finished their degrees (both finished in their late 20s).

in Argentina there are more things in common with Italy than with the US, but bad news for you Americans today: the world is not made to your's image and likeness.

People here are surprised about not having their high school degree recognized here... High school is just 4 years in the US and in the US you have subjects such as singing, lumberjacking, dilly-dally and tip-tap. All of the people who I talked about with and who have a certain degree of experience as to this subject (such as researchers who work in the US, high school students taking one year abroad in the US, professionals who moved to the US) all said that high schools in the US provide a much lower level of classical "culture" as we know it (literature, math, history, geography, science, etc.) compared to European schools. I am not saying this is better or worse, just trying to open your eyes (is this even possible?!) to WHY your precious high school diploma doesn't lead you to a red carpet abroad.

Like the OP's friends said, studying is more independent and tests are a serious stuff - not multiple-choice tests every other week, but big massive examinations every 3 or 6 months.
That said, I hear that here university is far more practical than in Italy: at the architecture faculty you present scaled models of building in the first year, whereas in Italy it is something done at the end of your career (5th year). I like that because the Italian university preps great researchers but quite poor professionals. I spent 5 years solving complex equations for load flow calculations (I remember those 4 hours examinations full of iterations... ) and when I graduated I wasn't even able to use a tester.

Some universities in the US reach higher excellence, but I am not sure the OP is aiming to top notch education or just wants to get a degree.
I still don't understand how a parent could tell his/her child he won't be no longer supporting him/her when he wants to pursue a degree. This should be encouraged, not treated like something done against everyone's else support.

 

[sleslie23]

in Argentina there are more things in common with Italy than with the US, but bad news for you Americans today: the world is not made to your's image and likeness.

You're confusing me with someone else. I'm not lamenting that Argentina is not like the US (or Italy). I've been explaining to you how things work in Argentina.

 

[RodalfoWalsh]

What are you interested in studying?

 

[MnParaPalermo]

Update #1
First off thanks for all the input, guys! I'm so glad that there is a community of smart, experienced travelers here.

I have a few links to start. After looking through some threads and google searches it seems like I can do the CBC class in a few months. The registration for the first quarter ended but there will be a second in a bit. To sign up I will need to go to one of the locations (Monte de Oca) and send out paperwork.

Materials: http://www.cbc.uba.a...cias economicas
Sites: http://home.econ.uba...-donde-se-cursa
Checklist: http://home.econ.uba...emadeavaluacion

I'll need my transcript and a few other documents but I should be able to finish this in a week or two
For studying, I decided that If I practiced 1-2 hours a day in the materials and language of the CBC then I should be ready for the class in a few months and even more ready by the time of the actual test

For a job, online definitely seems the way to go. As my spanish improves I can eventually offer services as a document translator. I'm not sure the requirements or certificates but there is certainly a need for the service. Here is one place I found:
www.translatorscafe.com
For the visa... I will update soon

 

[Matiasba]

UBA ups:

- Totally 100% free, you wont have a mortage to pay
- Good level
- Nice people

UBA downs:

- The degree, if you make it on time, lasts 6 years minimum
- Bureaucracy
- Low quality infrastructure (although economics might not be the case)
- Lots of strikes