Do you truly love your fiancé???

[Martyshk 137]

Alla has a masters she obtained in Ukraine, when it was still Ukraine SSR. She is in a masters program here. She is upset that she is taking nutritional classes and an Anthropology class to get her masters to teach English. They do not do that and did not, in the FSU. College education was more specialized. I can go through her transcripts from Ukraine and see she had little in the way of classes that were not geared toward her major...Russian and Russian Philology/Literature. She had no math or science classes in college. Most other not directly related to Russian and Russian literature were political in nature. Big surprise.

One can debate whether that is better or not. Our son is in college in Moscow now for Physics at one of the top universities in the FSU...Moscow Physical Technical Institute (by the way, the terms "college", "university" and "institute" have specific meanings in the FSU, Alla was embarrased to be attending a "college" here, though it is one of the top private colleges in the Northeast) Our son focuses nearly exclusively on science and math, there will be no geography lessons in his studies...he had those in high school. College here seems to offer a broader base of courses, though not necessarliy focused on one's chosen major.

I'm a biochemist. My track was 90% biology and chemistry here. With 9 electives over 5 years. I'm comparing to a person who graduated from MGU (Moskow State University) as a biochemist as well. Big difference.

I guess it depends on a field.

But Gary, at this point you gotta realize, I'm a person who's still split between two worlds. I've lived 2/3 of my life there and 1/3 of my life here, so even though I consider US my home, I cannot just forget everything I've learned and seen back in Crimea. It's a weird place to be at.

College here offers electives, at least mine did. If you wanna take geography over molecular biology - go ahead. It's just how it was. I also got 2 years of experience in a field from internships, which helped me get a nice job right out of college, so I can't complain.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

This came up in my "recent topics list" so while it's not my region, I thought I would share what I've read recently in regards to education:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_Index

Take from it what you will, but I'm pleased to see Australia at the top of the list, and completely not surprised given my experiences with US education that they're not very high on the list.

This isn't to say there aren't good and bad school all over the place (even in "top ranking" countries) but it's interesting I think.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I'm a biochemist. My track was 90% biology and chemistry here. With 9 electives over 5 years. I'm comparing to a person who graduated from MGU (Moskow State University) as a biochemist as well. Big difference.

I guess it depends on a field.

But Gary, at this point you gotta realize, I'm a person who's still split between two worlds. I've lived 2/3 of my life there and 1/3 of my life here, so even though I consider US my home, I cannot just forget everything I've learned and seen back in Crimea. It's a weird place to be at.

College here offers electives, at least mine did. If you wanna take geography over molecular biology - go ahead. It's just how it was. I also got 2 years of experience in a field from internships, which helped me get a nice job right out of college, so I can't complain.

And I am not really sure what is better, as far as college goes. It is a different philosphy. I will say that the attitude in Ukraine is more of education being of higher importance. The Wikipedia chart is a relative thing and I question whether there is much difference in an improving country with a rating of .956 and a decreasing country with a rating 0f .968, or what they even use for criteria. I just know that there is a strong social priority put on education in Ukraine, a "stigma" if you will, and I like their (and other FSU countries) policy of paying for education through college. Though we have to pay for Sergey's education since he is not Russian and going to school in Russia. He could go to college in Ukraine for free but MPTU was "the best"

[Martyshk 137]

Though we have to pay for Sergey's education since he is not Russian and going to school in Russia. He could go to college in Ukraine for free but MPTU was "the best"

And yet it's nothing compared to what we have to pay here....Even though I make good money now, school loans put me in such a hole, that it's going to take me a decade to crawl out of. To give you an idea, my first year costs 16K (not counting my scholarships) and my 5th ear was $44K...yeah...F-ed, that's what I call it.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

And yet it's nothing compared to what we have to pay here....Even though I make good money now, school loans put me in such a hole, that it's going to take me a decade to crawl out of. To give you an idea, my first year costs 16K (not counting my scholarships) and my 5th ear was $44K...yeah...F-ed, that's what I call it.

So true. We pay TOTAL $3,700 per YEAR including tuition and room and board for Sergey's education. That's a lot of money to a Ukrainian working class family, but dirt cheap for us. Alla's education here is nearly double that, per SEMESTER and is tuition only. No room and board included. Alla refuses to take student loans (she is not big on any kind of credit and has only a small credit card she hardly ever uses) and has received a 50% grant from the college itself. As a graduate student is is not eligible for federal or state grants. So we "pay as she goes". For Sergey we pay in full in advance. We have his last two years education costs (estimeated) put away in savings but the school would not let us pay for it that far in advance (they never know the final cost until just before the pervious year finishes)

[Martyshk 137]

So true. We pay TOTAL $3,700 per YEAR including tuition and room and board for Sergey's education. That's a lot of money to a Ukrainian working class family, but dirt cheap for us. Alla's education here is nearly double that, per SEMESTER and is tuition only. No room and board included. Alla refuses to take student loans (she is not big on any kind of credit and has only a small credit card she hardly ever uses) and has received a 50% grant from the college itself. As a graduate student is is not eligible for federal or state grants. So we "pay as she goes". For Sergey we pay in full in advance. We have his last two years education costs (estimeated) put away in savings but the school would not let us pay for it that far in advance (they never know the final cost until just before the pervious year finishes)

Sh!t, I wish I could be against student loans too

If I was, I'd be flipping burgers in McD now though. Or something similar.

That was the only way for me to go to college. I did not expect my school to hike tuition 250% over the 5 years. If it was 16K all the way I wouldn't have an issue paying it off in 5 years after graduation. However, it wasn't. So I'm f-ed for another 7-12 years (two different loans).

That's the price for the higher education here.

Could've gone to Temple U, of course, but wouldn't have gotten the job I did right out. It's convoluted. Pay more for college - get a better job, pay more in student loans. Pay less for college - get a lower paying job, pay less in student loans. At least in this area everyone ranks the graduates based on the Universities they graduated from

[AKguy 1]

Something to look forward to, just for my associates @ 2 years, I'm paying 325 a month (30K plus in debt). I will be heading back to school once Anna gets here to finish the bachelors.

[Martyshk 137]

Something to look forward to, just for my associates @ 2 years, I'm paying 325 a month (30K plus in debt). I will be heading back to school once Anna gets here to finish the bachelors.

Im 100K in debt, I win

[AKguy 1]

I wouldn't trade you!

[Martyshk 137]

I wouldn't trade you!

Dammit!!!

Well hey, now I've gotten me a MOB to help me pay off my loans

Edited February 18, 2010 by Мартышк+Мартышка

[AKguy 1]

Based on my conversations on the all encompassing subject with my SO... GOOD F'N LUCK! hahahah.

[Martyshk 137]

Based on my conversations on the all encompassing subject with my SO... GOOD F'N LUCK! hahahah.

Yeah, we had the conversation where I told her how much I make a month and she was like: whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat? THAT MUCH?

Then I proceeded to tell her how much I PAY a month for sh!t.......

After which she said: yeah, when I get a job, we're getting me a car, after that - whatever.

Even with all the loans, if I keep my salary around what I make now I can afford to cloth and feed and entertain her forever pretty much.

But can't afford another car hehe.

So yeah, in essence, I heard that " good f'n luck" in exactly those same words in russian lol

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Sh!t, I wish I could be against student loans too

If I was, I'd be flipping burgers in McD now though. Or something similar.

That was the only way for me to go to college. I did not expect my school to hike tuition 250% over the 5 years. If it was 16K all the way I wouldn't have an issue paying it off in 5 years after graduation. However, it wasn't. So I'm f-ed for another 7-12 years (two different loans).

That's the price for the higher education here.

Could've gone to Temple U, of course, but wouldn't have gotten the job I did right out. It's convoluted. Pay more for college - get a better job, pay more in student loans. Pay less for college - get a lower paying job, pay less in student loans. At least in this area everyone ranks the graduates based on the Universities they graduated from

I had my education paid for by my employer, but it meant working and going to school (both full time) which sucked. At any rate, you are young so they have little go by except what school you went to. When you are an old fart they hardly even ask anymore and really don't care. They go by your work experience more than anything.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Yeah, we had the conversation where I told her how much I make a month and she was like: whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat? THAT MUCH?

Then I proceeded to tell her how much I PAY a month for sh!t.......

After which she said: yeah, when I get a job, we're getting me a car, after that - whatever.

Even with all the loans, if I keep my salary around what I make now I can afford to cloth and feed and entertain her forever pretty much.

But can't afford another car hehe.

So yeah, in essence, I heard that " good f'n luck" in exactly those same words in russian lol

I think we all have that conversation. Alla almost fell over when I told her how much I made and absolutely did not believe it. I got the Alla "Vooooowhat???!!!!!!!" Not even possible! She was sure I was filthy rich, like Bill Gates rich! LOL Now she says..."You never told me we weren't rich, we are just normal people" LOL Um, yes, I did. To be honest, we are paying a lot for education right now which means she is in school and not working. It is a "double whammy" but I give her credit for making what money she can with translations and interpretation and a few modeling calls, she does what she can, plus cares for the family and goes to school, so who is complaining?

When she got here, I think she was expecting to see huge wads of cash, but the first pay day I had she asks to "see the money" and I show her the bank account online and say "here, see...direct deposit" (which she thought was pretty cool when I was in Ukraine) but now she says... "WHERE'S THE MONEY?????" LOL she still prefers cash.

Edited February 18, 2010 by Gary and Alla

[Nasturtium 500]

Alla has a masters she obtained in Ukraine, when it was still Ukraine SSR. She is in a masters program here. She is upset that she is taking nutritional classes and an Anthropology class to get her masters to teach English. They do not do that and did not, in the FSU. College education was more specialized. I can go through her transcripts from Ukraine and see she had little in the way of classes that were not geared toward her major...Russian and Russian Philology/Literature. She had no math or science classes in college. Most other not directly related to Russian and Russian literature were political in nature. Big surprise.

One can debate whether that is better or not. Our son is in college in Moscow now for Physics at one of the top universities in the FSU...Moscow Physical Technical Institute (by the way, the terms "college", "university" and "institute" have specific meanings in the FSU, Alla was embarrased to be attending a "college" here, though it is one of the top private colleges in the Northeast) Our son focuses nearly exclusively on science and math, there will be no geography lessons in his studies...he had those in high school. College here seems to offer a broader base of courses, though not necessarliy focused on one's chosen major.

That would be a school-by-school decision... if she's taking random classes that's not normal unless they are hitting her up for some kind of remediation, but the nutritional course, unless it is being counted as a science, wouldn't count as that for most schools. My graduate degrees are completely within my field for coursework, nothing else.