[quote=Dmitri]Yeah, poke your nose too far and the NeoMallers Secret service (operated by evil Irisheyez) will be at your door before you can even say "luck of the irish" :P[/quote] sounds scary D: The NSS(OBEI) :O Anyway I must depart, first day of actual school tomorrow D: (today was just a welcome day for us "freshmen" coming into grade 10). Bye

Thanks. I don't like to cause problems. :)

Okay, posting to the 2nd theme of this thread -- financing education. I live in the US and completed my Bachelors program here. I was able to get scholarships and loans that I didn't have to pay back until after I graduated when I made enough money to afford the payment. It took 14 years to pay back an 8% loan for $6,000 US. My ex husband is a plastic surgeon who pays over $500 each month for his student loans. When everyone was asking him why he wanted to be a surgeon when it would take him to age 35 to finish his answer was, "I'll be 35 no matter what so why not be a doctor?" Great point!! He joined the air force and they helped pay for his education as well as loans. The military is the same idea as the next program I'll tell you about: In the US we have programs which are paid back though service to rural areas (small towns or the country). Teachers and some doctors / nurses (maybe others) can get their education paid for if they work in these underserved areas of the US. A teacher can go to college and if she works in a rural area, each year she works a percentage of her loan is paid. I think it takes most 5 years of service to pay back their loans. Nursing is a great profession for now and in the future with the aging population and the Nurse Practitioner makes more income and is in higher demand because they see patients and can prescribe medications (RNs cannot do this). Areas that can't afford to hire a lot of doctors hire one doctor who supervises 3-5 nurse practitioners. Also another program that takes less time to complete is a Physician's Assistant. I think this is a 2 year program after 4 year degree. I worked in pharmaceutical research which also hires tons of nurses to mange the clinical trials. Where ever you choose to get your credentials make sure you know where you want to work after you graduate because you'll have to take tests to be able to work in a country/state if they recognize your degree. If you get your education somewhere they do not recognize you may have to take additional classes (that are review in many cases) or a whole program of study in addition to taking these tests. A nurse in one state cannot be a nurse in another state in the US. The same is true with teachers believe it or not. Best of luck to you and everyone else seeking advanced degrees!! _____________________________________________________ ~ Mimi's Ménagerie Avatars ~ http://www.neopets.com/browseshop.phtml?owner=temps_bons&misc

the us is just so much better anyways. there's just so many opportunities down there. canada has an interest-free loan as well but thats about it. not much scholarships or bursaries unless your income is almost nothing. and ohh the income taxes, property taxes... everything tax is so expensive here so even if you do get a good paying job, prepare to give half of it to the government. canadians will probably murder me for treason since i just said the us is better (A) but its still the truth though

I dunno about that dmitri. My spouse is an American (he is still living in the US while we work out the immigration bullshit). He has more education than I do (I have some paltry college diplomas, while he has a degree). I work in health care, he has a high ranking job in social work. I also make about 6$ more an hour than he does. And even after taxes I see WAY more money than he does. Our rent is about the same, although his groceries are a little less, and while my health coverage is completely free (I am not just talking about OHIP, I am also talking about the medical benefits that I get at work) he pays out the nose for his and -still- has to pay every time he visits the doctor (his insurance covers most but not all of the fees). Were he living in Canada he'd be making more than he makes now, and paying less in taxes and healthcare costs. He would be better off. His father somehow believed that Canadians paid like 50% of their wages in taxes, which clearly isn't true. I showed him my T4 one year and he was floored. I pay about the same percentage a year to the tax man that he does (he is a highschool teacher) - and on top of that I don't have the added expenses of healthcare that he has.

I agreed that Canada pwns ^_^ But I do know that you pay close to 50% in taxes in Quebec if you are in the highest tax bracket :( But Canada STILL pwns =P

[quote=demirep77]I dunno about that dmitri. My spouse is an American (he is still living in the US while we work out the immigration bullshit). He has more education than I do (I have some paltry college diplomas, while he has a degree). I work in health care, he has a high ranking job in social work. I also make about 6$ more an hour than he does. And even after taxes I see WAY more money than he does. Our rent is about the same, although his groceries are a little less, and while my health coverage is completely free (I am not just talking about OHIP, I am also talking about the medical benefits that I get at work) he pays out the nose for his and -still- has to pay every time he visits the doctor (his insurance covers most but not all of the fees). Were he living in Canada he'd be making more than he makes now, and paying less in taxes and healthcare costs. He would be better off. His father somehow believed that Canadians paid like 50% of their wages in taxes, which clearly isn't true. I showed him my T4 one year and he was floored. I pay about the same percentage a year to the tax man that he does (he is a highschool teacher) - and on top of that I don't have the added expenses of healthcare that he has.[/quote] Exactly. While I was shocked at all of the Canadian sales taxes, I think in the long run you all might benefit more. Heath costs being the biggest. For full family coverage, it is costing us nearly $600 a month, that does not include vision or dental, or the fee's for every visit and copays for nearly everything you have done. Those together are another 50-100. And this is employer provided, on our own it would be much much more. My husbands position in Canada earns about $9 an hour more in Canada as well. He is in Telecommunications.

[quote=demirep77]I dunno about that dmitri. My spouse is an American (he is still living in the US while we work out the immigration bullshit). He has more education than I do (I have some paltry college diplomas, while he has a degree). I work in health care, he has a high ranking job in social work. I also make about 6$ more an hour than he does. And even after taxes I see WAY more money than he does. Our rent is about the same, although his groceries are a little less, and while my health coverage is completely free (I am not just talking about OHIP, I am also talking about the medical benefits that I get at work) he pays out the nose for his and -still- has to pay every time he visits the doctor (his insurance covers most but not all of the fees). Were he living in Canada he'd be making more than he makes now, and paying less in taxes and healthcare costs. He would be better off. His father somehow believed that Canadians paid like 50% of their wages in taxes, which clearly isn't true. I showed him my T4 one year and he was floored. I pay about the same percentage a year to the tax man that he does (he is a highschool teacher) - and on top of that I don't have the added expenses of healthcare that he has.[/quote] Unfortunately Social Work is one of THE worst paying professions that requires the MOST education. :( :( I know that people who do that kind of work are special people with a big heart because it pays crap and one could make so much more with all that education!! Yes taxes and healthcare take a great deal of money from Americans -- and we can't see a doctor if we don't have insurance because most can't afford $150 minimum cost for no insurance doctor's visit. Here we have to pay for an insurance policy and then still must pay some ($5 - $25) for every doctor's visit and prescriptions ($4 - $16). If you go to hospital with insurance it is usually $5K and up (even $100K for some stays). Atleast in Canada your taxes pay for some basic health care. This is the BIG DEAL in the US now with President Obama wanting some kind of public health insurance and Americans are FURIOUS about that idea because it may cost us 1 Trillion in additional taxes. He had put an August deadline on himself to have something to present to Congress which was really sudden. It really makes me wonder if he wants to get us American's covered before H1N1 hits us... imagine millions of sick americans with no health insurance...not just sick but sick with something that has killed people in every country that has had the illness. They have gotten everyone so worried around here with this stupid flu...children and young people (if you're under 19 are getting it and some are dying. Now the truth is that you shouldn't die from it if you don't have other health issues and you get to the doctor but we are all terrified when they say this and with the next sentence report they are quarantining 50 college students in Atlanta, GA from the rest of the students (a separate dorm building) and having their food sent in to them. Anyway....I know both countries have pluses and minuses but everyone always cites Canada's healthcare program as the IDEAL as compared to our industralized nation with the sickest population because so few can afford healthcare (insurance or even a visit to the doctor.) So.... Americans get sick and just don't go to the doctor until they are nearly dying and then go to the Emergency Room where they wait sometimes 12 hours to be seen (making others sick while they wait in the lobby) and then are so sick they have to be hospitalized (most hospitals will not turn a VERY sick person away because they cannot pay and this is the loop-hole to get care)....the person stays in the hospital until the get better, is discharged, can't pay the bill, the hospital has to just eat the expense, and now the hospital has to fold that cost (billions annually) into what people with insurance have to pay for their hospitalization which makes their insurance premiums go up... It is a VERY UGLY HORRIBLE CYCLE GOING ON! _____________________________________________________ ~ Mimi's Ménagerie Avatars ~ http://www.neopets.com/browseshop.phtml?owner=temps_bons&misc

I really don't understand why some Americans are so scandalized over the idea of Socialised Heath Care. Yes, you might pay $50 more a month in taxes - but you also won't be paying 500+ a month to have insurance and there will be no more co-pays etc etc etc. You never hear of Canadians having to claim bankruptcy because they got sick or in an accident. I would never live anywhere else. My spouse can hardly wait to get here. He has Type 1 Diabetes (the kind that you get as a child because your pancreas just stops working) and even though he has medical insurance through his work the amount of money he pays every month for health care and his diabetes meds and supplies is close to TWICE what I pay for rent. Think about that. Between his insurance premiums and copays and supplies and stuff he has to pay nearly 1k a month to not die. And this is an educated person with a "good" job.