Looking For Advice/help From Seasoned Expats

[lucha54]

Since you asked:
Would advise that under no circumstance should you take out any student loans. The return on your investment would be (most likely) enslavement for years to come in paying off the high interest loans. Talk to other graduates about their post graduate reality. For most, it ain't pretty. Huge amounts of debt and no jobs or low-paying jobs. Many are caught up in the muck of student loan debt that they can never escape. May be timely to do a bit more research. Perhaps contemplate what you really want to do in your life before taking on the economic burdens of obtaining a new degree that may turn out to be worthless. Getting an education does not have to cost a fortune. Steven Jobs' pursuit of education was on his own terms and things turned out okay for him. Be creative, courageous and look for alternatives. Best of luck.

Such great advice. What are the real motivations for studying anyway, if you won't be able to afford to pay back the cost of it? Pretty ironic if you study international business and can't even get a job to pay off the acquisition of knowledge that was supposed to prepare you for the workforce!!! Sad state the world is in

 

[lucha54]

I still find the rental price hard to believe also, but they say its not in a villa, that its in middle downtown. Now if thats run down, i guess it would be a villa to us but maybe not them? I dont know bs as at all, so I cant really say. Is there student housing around there? Because they are going to be students, maybe there is a landlord who loves students? I have no clue haha. I got to check with them though, because its very plausible that the housing is owned by the family, they are native portenos after all, and semi wealthy. I am not to filled in past the part they want me to chip in for the rent, they said they would take care of where to live. Which for me is all the better. And if it is a villa, it wont be my first time living in one...

In regards to wages... it really is crazy to expect 70 an hr? Ive seen plenty of CL post that are offering 60. I know in the south my friend is making a bit over 120 an hour and he doesnt even try finding work, they all came to him out of the clear blue. I assume there is just a surplus in bs as then. I also know a few natives who make around 15k a month teaching privately in more remote areas of argentina. But again, none of those places are BS AS and that where I want to live.

Palermo is not "downtown". Can you ask for the address (or cross streets) and we'll tell you if it's IN a villa or not. Btw villa = slum in Argentine Spanish (I think you may be thinking that villa = shack, sorry if I'm mistaken in that assumption.)

 

[Azagarth]

Well its not the big bucks it once was, but not having a college degree just leaves you living in the dumps your whole life, for the average person. Sadly you have to go to college to even get a mediocre job nowadays to earn (type of lifestyle) what regular people did 50 years ago climbing the ladder. But thats the reality in america now. Normally the cost of living though is half your student debt, so for me coming to BS AS lowers that overall, a smart choice i thought. less debt = better in my book. Plus a lot of jobs are requiring bilingual applicants now, so i get both skills in one shot

outside of selling drugs I cant really see many easy ways to money now....

I know villa means slums, i will ask him later on when i can skype him. I am legitimately interested too. as I would like to google earth it and get a good view myself.

 

[GS_Dirtboy]

For what it's worth - I have an MBA in International Business and have actually worked internationally for the last 20 years. My MBA taught me how to think critically. I don't think I actually use any content I got in B school. My experience working in other countries taught me how to run international businesses. I took out a student loan and just paid it off last year (ugh!). Contacts are best at top-rated schools (think Ivy League). We all worked full-time getting our MBA's so no one was out drinking beers with the next Bill Gates.

 

[Azagarth]

well was that skill to critically think worth the cost? I don't plan to go into massive debt, after all is said and done I would have only 40k-50k or so, its not world ending debt, and I could always go work for some people i know and get around 50k a yr... not tons, but its better than my BS is psychology haha, but they require that paper. I am really good with money, so I could get that paid off fairly easy in 2-3 years, my cost of living is super low normally.

I couldent do ivy league though.... its just to much debt for me to stomach.

 

[nlaruccia]

I don't even know where to start.... GS Dirtboy kind of summed it up, go back to the drawing board.

You hit the nail on the head. $3,500 pesos a month to live on here? It doesn't exist. You'll be very disappointed when you get here.

 

[nlaruccia]

I just... I just LOVE posts like this. They are good for a laugh. As far as help... hmmm don't even know where to start!

Every three days there's a post like this. Before posting, one can search and find repeated answers to the same questions.

 

[arlean]

Maybe it depends on where you are in Argentina. If you are taking classes online couldn't you be anywhere? A friend of mine rents a beautiful 3 bedroom house in Villa la Angostura, and I am not stretching the beautiful part, near the water, beautiful area on the cordillera, for $350 US a month. Of course not much is going on in Angostura, but he surely has an inexpensive, yet comfortable and beautiful lifestyle. A person could easily rent rooms out on a temporary basis during the season there. Or so it seems to me anyway.

 

[lucha54]

I know villa means slums, i will ask him later on when i can skype him. I am legitimately interested too. as I would like to google earth it and get a good view myself.

Ok good, didn't mean to sound condescending but from my perspective you seemed so under-researched, but like you said it's the start of your journey, so we'll try to help you with any info we can provide!

 

[syngirl]

ya I would only do the bachelors part online, and the the MBA i would never take online, defeats the purpose of making business contacts. I already have a good MBA program picked out here on the west coast, I just lack a few prerequisite courses they require. So I figured while I am finishing those up this year, might as well learn spanish better, and have some fun vacation type travels. But going to UBA also interests me, especially if during my time there I grow to love the city. But for the long run I do not want to live in BS AS... I love the states too much, except for the cost of college and living sometimes.

I still find the rental price hard to believe also, but they say its not in a villa, that its in middle downtown. Now if thats run down, i guess it would be a villa to us but maybe not them? I dont know bs as at all, so I cant really say. Is there student housing around there? Because they are going to be students, maybe there is a landlord who loves students? I have no clue haha. I got to check with them though, because its very plausible that the housing is owned by the family, they are native portenos after all, and semi wealthy. I am not to filled in past the part they want me to chip in for the rent, they said they would take care of where to live. Which for me is all the better. And if it is a villa, it wont be my first time living in one...

hmm, if flight gaps can only be one year, maybe i make a run back home in the middle then.... the price between round trip and one way isnt very different, and if planned well you can make it almost free

thanks for the help all!

In regards to wages... it really is crazy to expect 70 an hr? Ive seen plenty of CL post that are offering 60. I know in the south my friend is making a bit over 120 an hour and he doesnt even try finding work, they all came to him out of the clear blue. I assume there is just a surplus in bs as then. I also know a few natives who make around 15k a month teaching privately in more remote areas of argentina. But again, none of those places are BS AS and that where I want to live.

Downtown and Palermo two very different things, and downtown can mean a number of areas, some of them super scuzzy. And even the barrio name can mean many different things, one end of a barrio can be super nice, and the other you wouldn't want to walk the streets after sundown.

The only MBA programmed that might be worth it to do as a foreigner who is thinking to move away are IAE and diTella, both of which are about 30k USD. Cheaper compared to some American institutes sure, but not cheap cheap. (Especially when factoring in no loans for a foreigner for the programmes)

Somewhere along the way you said you both want to marry an Argentine and don't want to live in Argentina permanently. let me know how that works out for you. 1) it's hard to find a sane portena girlfriend according to the men on this board, and 2) it's even harder to separate that girlfriend from her family. If things go tits-up here maybe you could convince her to move, but typically you marry an Argentine, odds are you are going to be spending a lot of your life down here, if not all of it. Especially if she's got a kid from another relationship, you will not be able to leave until the kid is 18. No one knows who they're going to marry before meeting anyway, I think most of us on this board with local partners had little intention of that happening, and their Argentine partners probably didn't either. Choosing one's spouse based on nationality probably not the greatest criteria!