takin35: Please I finished from technical school and I studied mechanical engineering and I have worked as an operator in Nigerian Breweries plc in the Packaging department section for 5 years pls if I have visa to USA can it be possible for me to see a better job that will give me good money?

auschris:
No wahala. We(male nurses) are used to the stereotyping.
I guess I'll just wait and hope that the retrogression improves. Any plan that does not include my family is a 'no no'

ozo_emeka: Disregard that trump of "why theatre arts"

NY is a THRIVING ground for those in theatre arts. There are successful Nigerians in the arts that RESIDE in NY.

PRIOR to coming to the US look up Schools and their requirements. Get in touch with them and make sure you are accepted to a school. Doing so automatically qualifies you for a student visa.

Juilliard is an excellent art school
Art Institute of NY
Columbia
CUNY
SUNY Oneonta

be prepared BEFORE you come here.

25omega: i work in the tech field in Virginia. So what is the issue?

manny4life: Babyosisi flogged @ozo_emeka badly,

It was the same guy who told a poster on his thread not to come for his Masters in IT because he need flashy clothes, flashy phones, go out to the club... I laugh tire, me sef no wan talk too much.

My own take on the issue, if you want to come, come prepared. Yes you will achieve what you want, BUT America isn't bed of roses. For education, grants and scholarships aren't the way they used to be, with current budgetary cuts, education is being defunded and that means less money for federal grants in the future. Please do not rely on friends and family for help, they're the GREATEST DISAPPOINTMENT and it's not because they don't wanna help you, fact is ego adiro (no money) .

femmyb: Ok if most Nigerians in the US have ego adiro(no money) who are these folks on Nairaland with their so called six figure salaries.

dayokanu:

Have you thought of it that those who make these money also have responsibilities

Student loans, Car notes, Mortgages, Kids School fees, Credit card bills, etc

Basically they dont have money sitting around to help families but just for themselves to survive and live their dream life

manny4life:

Unfortunately, I have to agree with you.

Most six figure earners do not have money saved up on somewhere, some have their money tied up in their asset, some have liabilities and the funny system here is: the more you earn, the more you're likely to pay more. So no, there's no money tied up somewhere, MOST people live from check to check, it's hard for people to save, it takes GREAT FINANCIAL DISCIPLINE to save.

ozo_emeka: Is it falsehood?

So those pictures are NOT REAL? There are no homeless people in america, hobos? I'm making that up?

The hood is not real? I just photoshopped that?

Racism does not exist? Trayvon Martin is a fairy tale?

Africans don't get caricatured for their "accents"? TV ads don't portray Africa as ONE COUNTRY with starving kids?

PLEASE by ALL MEANS, prove me wrong if any of the "claims" I made are false

What is false is LYING to people and telling them America is all skyscrapers.

CFCfan:

Also, most savings accounts here do not generate any significant interest (barely $20 over the course of a year).

excell12go: @babyosisi, thank u very much 4 dis thread. I really appreciate u. I'm a medical student and would be inducted next year by God's grace. I intend to move 2 d US for my Masters and phD and den return 2 practise in Nigeria. The issues I have are the problems of finance and relatives. I've got nobody there. Please how can I go about this?

manny4life:

Savings ke?

Don't go through the "traditional savings" plan, set aside money before it's taxed through your plan so it's not deductible because if you check it out, what you're trying to save in the bank has been taxed already. For instance, you have $100 after taxes you want to save, why put it in the bank whereas if you enrolled in the pre-tax deductible plan, that $100 would have been $100 + the tax rate on it. Also, the banks will give you 0.01% OR 3.6% annual rate (which is RARE) on that same taxed money whereas through your standard "LOW RISK PLAN", you can have as high (when compared to 0.01%) 2-4% ROI.

manny4life: A lot of people think U.S. is bed of roses, but let me give you a breakdown.

Someone earns about $2,000 bi-weekly and their taxes (social security, federal and states, medicare, insurance deduction, etc) is about 35% of your check. That's $1,300 ($1000 - $700) or $2,600 monthly, then you have to budget travel to work, and an average commute to work daily (whether train, bus, or whatever) is about $6 and that depends on the area. If you're in my type of area (DC Metro), that's about $8 -$12 daily to commute into DC, that's about $51/weekly or $102 bi-weekly. Then you have to buy food which is about $50 bi-weekly.

So the most basic comes to $152 bi-weekly or $304 monthly.

Now compute

Rent or mortgage, electricity bill (about $45 during winter, $120 during summer), cable and internet ($70 monthly), cell phone ($60 monthly), car note and insurance, gas for car, personal maintenance, etc. By the time you're done, you'll be lucky to have $300 saved to you monthly.

Gayigaskia:

where do you pay electricity $45 a month? my monthly electric and gaz here in MD is between $250 to$300 a month . even when i was renting i average $150

davidylan:

America is a vast country so prices are bound to vary. Have you considered that someone paying $45/month on gas and electric may be living in a 1-BR apartment in a place like Michigan where cost of living is quite low? the arrogantly thoughtless way nairalanders just fly at posts can be quite puzzling.