I can't get my FR-S! :'(

[Dimman]

Originally Posted by 70NYD

cheers dimman,
ok so 86 projected price in australia is around 40K drive away, petrol here (for premium) costs 1.6 per LITER, and the general cost of living is very high
what i was refering to in my original post in THIS thread was that the price of education seems to be much less here than in US, while everything (most) else is cheaper in the united states.
when i say stix, in australia bush means that you are in middle of nowhere, dessert around you for 300-400km in all directions, no civilisation, no entertainment, NOTHING to do, working hours on mines sites are usualy 10-12 hour days, roster depends but say working for 9 on 4 off, fly in fly out or fully based there for 3-6 months.
and everything around the mine site in the little community costs way too much cus it can

We get the sticks option in Canada, too. When the diamond mines were going up, waaaaay up north they were throwing money around like nothing. And the oil sands when that was hot. Camp jobs I think were 3 weeks in 1 out or something like that. I grew up in the sticks so I opted for less money and civilization instead.

Is education partially subsidized in Aus like in Canada?

I've heard that the education/student loan situation in the US may be their next bad bubble. The return on investment for some degrees just doesn't cut it anymore at the price of college...

[Longhorn248]

Originally Posted by Dimman

We get the sticks option in Canada, too. When the diamond mines were going up, waaaaay up north they were throwing money around like nothing. And the oil sands when that was hot. Camp jobs I think were 3 weeks in 1 out or something like that. I grew up in the sticks so I opted for less money and civilization instead.

Is education partially subsidized in Aus like in Canada?

I've heard that the education/student loan situation in the US may be their next bad bubble. The return on investment for some degrees just doesn't cut it anymore at the price of college...

Education costs in the united states have skyrocketed well ahead of inflation. Couple that with how easy the government makes it to get a loan (loans that are immune from any bankruptcy protections) and you have kids getting into mountains of debt before they even realize how the whole scheme works. The part that makes it even worse is that everyone just assumes college is what you do after high school without giving any real thought to what they're paying for. Someone who shells out $40k-$80k worth of student loans for a degree in communications or fashion design isn't going to see much return on their investment.

/soapbox

The problems with the education system in the United States could fill up it's own subsection on a forum.

[70NYD]

Originally Posted by Dimman

We get the sticks option in Canada, too. When the diamond mines were going up, waaaaay up north they were throwing money around like nothing. And the oil sands when that was hot. Camp jobs I think were 3 weeks in 1 out or something like that. I grew up in the sticks so I opted for less money and civilization instead.

Is education partially subsidized in Aus like in Canada?

I've heard that the education/student loan situation in the US may be their next bad bubble. The return on investment for some degrees just doesn't cut it anymore at the price of college...

we have schemes here for tertiary education support, for Australian residents. thats why my degree cost me ~900 per subjects (4 subjects a semester/2semesters per year), but if i was not a resident, i would be paying 2000 plus per subject in engineering. also if you have the government scheme (used to be called hecs) and you lump sum pay more than 500, then you get 5% discount
if you dont, then you have a no interest loan (amount subject to inflation but, but it can go up as well as down) which you dont repay untill you find a job that pays over x amount.
when you do get that job you pay back weekly
some things are subsidised more than others, as well as the type of qulaification (diploma vs bachelor vs masters etc)

[Dimman]

Originally Posted by 70NYD

we have schemes here for tertiary education support, for Australian residents. thats why my degree cost me ~900 per subjects (4 subjects a semester/2semesters per year), but if i was not a resident, i would be paying 2000 plus per subject in engineering. also if you have the government scheme (used to be called hecs) and you lump sum pay more than 500, then you get 5% discount
if you dont, then you have a no interest loan (amount subject to inflation but, but it can go up as well as down) which you dont repay untill you find a job that pays over x amount.
when you do get that job you pay back weekly
some things are subsidised more than others, as well as the type of qulaification (diploma vs bachelor vs masters etc)

Student protests here always piss me off... We are partially subsidized but it is 'hidden', ie we just pay less than the US but it is because the gov't funds a bunch of it. But students still whine about how expensive it is. I did a year in '98 and it was $75/credit hour, worked out to $225/course for most, $300 for courses with labs. I don't know what it is now, but you'd think the students were dying of starvation even back then at those rates. (I did it also working weekends at 25% more than minimum wage, no loan. Also no beer or parties. Could have something to do with it...)

[Vr4gasmtt]

This thread is too funny. In fact this whole forum is 90% 16-18 year olds. Someone make a forum for young adult/ enthusiasts for this car.

OP. it sucks for you. Maybe if you worked your ass off highschool you'd been able to pay for the car and go to college with it. But you didn't. Stop crying. Iunno why there's so much hype over this car. It's nothing new.. Really ..just a new underpowered rwd car. That many will end up not buying after a test drive. Those who are wanting it badly probably never even had a nice car. Period. Either there needs to be a moderator or a new section in this forum called "newbies". Or I'm outta this forum. It really is just a bunch of cry babies. You whiners make nasioc seem chill lol and I'm not a fan of that place either.

[Longhorn248]

Originally Posted by Vr4gasmtt

This thread is too funny. In fact this whole forum is 90% 16-18 year olds. Someone make a forum for young adult/ enthusiasts for this car.

OP. it sucks for you. Maybe if you worked your ass off highschool you'd been able to pay for the car and go to college with it. But you didn't. Stop crying. Iunno why there's so much hype over this car. It's nothing new.. Really ..just a new underpowered rwd car. That many will end up not buying after a test drive. Those who are wanting it badly probably never even had a nice car. Period. Either there needs to be a moderator or a new section in this forum called "newbies". Or I'm outta this forum. It really is just a bunch of cry babies. You whiners make nasioc seem chill lol and I'm not a fan of that place either.

I'm so glad you joined just to say that you're leaving

[Giccin]

Originally Posted by Vr4gasmtt

This thread is too funny. In fact this whole forum is 90% 16-18 year olds. Someone make a forum for young adult/ enthusiasts for this car.

OP. it sucks for you. Maybe if you worked your ass off highschool you'd been able to pay for the car and go to college with it. But you didn't. Stop crying. Iunno why there's so much hype over this car. It's nothing new.. Really ..just a new underpowered rwd car. That many will end up not buying after a test drive. Those who are wanting it badly probably never even had a nice car. Period. Either there needs to be a moderator or a new section in this forum called "newbies". Or I'm outta this forum. It really is just a bunch of cry babies. You whiners make nasioc seem chill lol and I'm not a fan of that place either.

Tough love. Don't hit the door on your way out.

Originally Posted by Longhorn248

I'm so glad you joined just to say that you're leaving

+1

No one likes a negative Nancy! :happy0180:

[MiguelAE86]

[yarik83]

Typical job out in the boonies involves working like a horse virtually 24/7 about 12-16 hours per day 7 days per week on a 1-2 year contract.

Mathematically $120K seems like a huge number that all of us want to earn. But we want to earn it working 40 hour weeks with benefits, retirement, sick days, holidays, vacation etc.

Working 12-16 hour days for example implies that you work 84-112 hours. On a 2 year contract you would earn say $240K minus taxes so say $160K after taxes or $80K per year clean. Working 7 day weeks for 2 years implies that you earn about $28 per hour before taxes.... wow that is some err... job there. Good money but you are not going to enjoy it. It will be like waking up to a ground hog day day after day after day after day.

[Mitch]

Originally Posted by yarik83

Typical job out in the boonies involves working like a horse virtually 24/7 about 12-16 hours per day 7 days per week on a 1-2 year contract.

Mathematically $120K seems like a huge number that all of us want to earn. But we want to earn it working 40 hour weeks with benefits, retirement, sick days, holidays, vacation etc.

Working 12-16 hour days for example implies that you work 84-112 hours. On a 2 year contract you would earn say $240K minus taxes so say $160K after taxes or $80K per year clean. Working 7 day weeks for 2 years implies that you earn about $28 per hour before taxes.... wow that is some err... job there. Good money but you are not going to enjoy it. It will be like waking up to a ground hog day day after day after day after day.

So first you deny that it's possible to get payed that much, then when you realize the opportunity does exist all you can do is knock it. Well, some of us don't mind buckling down for a couple of years. I'm in a middle ground. I average 60-70 hours a week and I miss some holidays, but I have good pay, fantastic benefits (401k, insurance, etc), extremely flexible schedule when we're not in a crunch, and after working for two and half years I've got two cars and I'm shopping for a house. Also, the technical people who work these high demand positions rise more quickly through their companies. You can break down the hourly pay any way you want, but I'd rather work an 80 hour week of my job than than 80 hours between two other jobs that would add up to the pay I'm getting now.

[switchlanez]

Originally Posted by borge12

What?? http://www.uscollegeranking.org/engi...st-degree.html

According to that, OSU is far better than Dayton. Also, Toledo has a good engineering school. Perhaps not as good as Dayton, but it is still really good.

That link only lists schools that offer doctorate programs (uhh... why?) and is filtering out schools with list-topping undergrad programs.

Even then, "top engineering schools" is a blanket rating; it's better to compare rankings of the specific engineering program(s) you're interested in (Chemical, Mechanical, Bio, etc.). When I had to go through all this I found UC Berkely, US Naval Academy, and Cal Poly were among the top 10 in the nation for undergrad EE programs and my top 3 picks.

[switchlanez]

Originally Posted by yarik83

Typical job out in the boonies involves working like a horse virtually 24/7 about 12-16 hours per day 7 days per week on a 1-2 year contract.

Mathematically $120K seems like a huge number that all of us want to earn. But we want to earn it working 40 hour weeks with benefits, retirement, sick days, holidays, vacation etc.

Working 12-16 hour days for example implies that you work 84-112 hours. On a 2 year contract you would earn say $240K minus taxes so say $160K after taxes or $80K per year clean. Working 7 day weeks for 2 years implies that you earn about $28 per hour before taxes.... wow that is some err... job there. Good money but you are not going to enjoy it. It will be like waking up to a ground hog day day after day after day after day.

Dude this is not typical and is dependent on job role and company. Sometimes the same engineering role under a different company w/ different culture pays more for working less. Also contractor v. working Visa v. full time v. salary v. hourly makes a difference. I and my college engineering buddies have collectively been in every situation I listed.

Also I know of someone in business (I think sales & marketing) do similar slave hours making 300k/yr with her NYC studio rent paid for by the company. Burned her out in 2 years and she "settled" for a 100k/yr job with friendlier hours.

[Ryuu0u]

This is why im thankful to have people who put an adequate amount of investment into my savings while i was a child to help me out with college expenses. Should be able to graduate before the car's release with a proper job lined up with cash to start payments on my education along with a substantial down payment on an FRS if i decide to buy the first year. If not i'll just keep my current car till the lease is up the next year and pick up the FRS then. I saw this car coming when i was in high school and i planned accordingly.

[yarik83]

Goal of any career is to work less and earn more. You can chose to work more and earn more but it is far more complicated.
If you have a family (wife+kids or husband+kids) then working 80 hours per week implies that you spend very little time with your loved ones. Marital problems will catch up very fast. I know all too many career oriented guys who are now divorced paying allimony out the wazoo because in time they did not realize that spending time with family was more important than earning tons of cash.
Another aspect is that competition for those jobs is mind boggling. In my work out of all the interns over the years and out of all new hires there has not been one in past 5 years that was hired fresh out of college aside from myself. In my case I not only had a diploma but also had years of experience working in the industry. Average employee hired is 35-45 years old with 10-20 years worth of experience. I work for a mining company that shall remain nameless but is arguably one of the largest in the industry supplying product both domestically and all over the world.
Finally there is the college bill situation. Every engineer has a ton of debt behind him/her even with scholarships, parents helping etc. So you have to take out college payments from your paycheck.

I am not denying the fact that engineers can and do make 120K per year. What I am having a very hard time believing that industry will hire 24-25 year greenhorn with no experience in the industry and suddenly pay him or her that much money. Industry standard for entry level engineers is 60K here in the states.

Haliburton... a company with bazillions of dollars pays average salary of 76-89K to their engineers.
Vale... a huge mining company with bazillions of dollars pays average salary of 82K to their engineers.

To address jobs that pay a lot of money.
Commercial fishing/crabbing can pay as high as 40K per season 3 seasons per year. Job is usually hit or miss. Usually miss.
Oil rig/natural rig jobs usually involve either sub freezing temperatures with a -80 degree wind chill or monster 40-50ft waves crashing on your platform in middle of the sea. Working conditions are brutal, hours long, little rest, high risk on job which also is either hit or miss. Unless you can hit a vein every single time you will be drilling and drilling and drilling...

And here is another aspect of industry that most people never know about. Mining industry is not a guaranteed enterprise. Permitting challenges, litigations, laws and regulations, economic variables may prevent a mining company from any profit.