$400 a month, is that impossible for a student?

[nvictor]

Hello all.

The dream comes true. I'm flying to Maryland state next friday.
I'll have english and math test on monday and the following monday, classes will begin.

I was saying in my introduction that I was going to work hard in order to support the most important person in my life. As a web developper in a family company I was paid $90 (*from rough conversion) a month. And with this money we were supporting each other (she was paid the same).

She's asking me to send her $300 a month. I've increased the amount to $400, the remainder would be for saving. I've never been in the US. I didn't need any permit to work in my country since it was something like internship. But I've learned a lot about working for a company.

My question, is it possible to earn $400 a month for an international student?

Any "yes" would be nice

[dor]

Short answer: of course it is...depends on what you do, how much you do it and how much you're paid for it.

What work do you expect to do, and how much of it?
Depending on the part of the country you're in, even retail clerks get $10.00/hour.. also depends on how much your living expenses are, how much debt you have, and so on.

If you are a student, you probably have a visa, no? Does this include the permit to work ?

[Ellesse]

If you're a web developer, you can do freelancing for some small-mid scale projects in elance.com, rentacoder.com and I don't think getting $400 would be tough. The beauty of it is that it doesn't matter where you're from, as long as your "supply" of web development skills meets the "demand" of a potential client.

[ahimel]

I think it's very doable. I had classmates in college who paid their way through school ... and that came out to over $1,000/month when you included housing and textbooks. And that was in Colorado, where our retail clerks are paid $6.85/hr, so it should be easier if you're in almost any other part of the US.

If I were you, I would brouse through this forum for ways to make money, especially as a student. There are a couple of threads on it, but I don't know which will interest you.

Then look at your skills and abilities, determine what value you can offer people, and figure out a way to monetize that value.

Good luck! And keep posting if you have questions, topics for brainstorming, or ideas on which you'd like feedback.

Amanda

[escapee]

As a former international student, I used to earn more than USD 1XXX/mth doing multiple jobs like campus work, waiter , ebayer and even casino bonus hunter (back in 2000 when rules were a little lenient for cashing out ) to pay off the expensive tuition fee. So i think it's really possible to earn more than USD400 as an international student based on my personal experience.

My recommendation is to get a waiter job in any of the busy restaurant as i believe it's one of the best paid jobs for college students.

Best wishes of luck on your future endeavour .

[nvictor]

Thanks for all replies.

That's cool !

[andrew]

If you're a good designer, you should be able to get that much in a few days. 4000 a month would be a more reasonable goal for a talented designer.

I don't know, I'm in the professional level now, so rates are expected to be high like that. If you're not at that level yet, then of course maybe it'll be more difficult. But don't impose the limiting belief that a student couldn't be able to make as much money as anybody else. I'm a student, and have the ability to make more in a year than both my parents do combined. Though that's not one of my priorities right now, I still have the chance to. Granted I've been doing this for 6 years, so it's not quite the same thing for everyone else this age. But my point is, you can do whatever you want at your age.

[Unplottable]

I'm making over $500 per month now only by campus jobs, and not work much. High paid, but the living expenses here is also freaking high.
I think that the important thing is what's the goal of having a job? If you don't make much money but can learn much from that job and have practical experiences/social connections/unexpected opportunities... then it's really good. Of course we have to make enough money to survive though .

Anyway, international students need to work out legal papers carefully before taking off-campus works. I got a friend that worked illegally at a restaurant and get caught(very rare, but they did check) .

[duhshuh]

Originally Posted by andrew

If you're a good designer, you should be able to get that much in a few days. 4000 a month would be a more reasonable goal for a talented designer.

I don't know, I'm in the professional level now, so rates are expected to be high like that. If you're not at that level yet, then of course maybe it'll be more difficult. But don't impose the limiting belief that a student couldn't be able to make as much money as anybody else. I'm a student, and have the ability to make more in a year than both my parents do combined. Though that's not one of my priorities right now, I still have the chance to. Granted I've been doing this for 6 years, so it's not quite the same thing for everyone else this age. But my point is, you can do whatever you want at your age.

Andrew,

I just took a look at your work and I must admit it's pretty good! Just curious, where do you find most of your business? As far as design goes, do you do everything? By everything I mean graphics, layout, database design, background programming.

John

[andrew]

Well thank you! Though I have to say all of that is about a year old now, and it's not really what I'm doing now.

As for your question, yes I do everything. But for the past year I've been a developer working on a (yes it really is, I'm not trying to hype it) revolutionary Flash plugin. So I have done very little graphics design for a long time, even though that's where I started out. But I know for sure I'm making a hell of a lot more money coding Flash than I would be designing graphics. But I enjoy both, so money isn't really the driving force.

Also, being in the design community for such a long time, I've met quite a few people, so most of my business comes from previous clients or word of mouth.

[nvictor]

Originally Posted by andrew

Well thank you! Though I have to say all of that is about a year old now, and it's not really what I'm doing now.

As for your question, yes I do everything. But for the past year I've been a developer working on a (yes it really is, I'm not trying to hype it) revolutionary Flash plugin. So I have done very little graphics design for a long time, even though that's where I started out. But I know for sure I'm making a hell of a lot more money coding Flash than I would be designing graphics. But I enjoy both, so money isn't really the driving force.

Also, being in the design community for such a long time, I've met quite a few people, so most of my business comes from previous clients or word of mouth.

Andrew, this is exactly what I'm trying to do. I have two driving forces, money and the urge to learn more. I've arrived at Towson University for only two days. Speaking english is quite difficult for the moment but everything is fine.

Help me Andrew, tell me what to read, what to write, where to start. Some websites I've designed or participated the designing of:
C.A.F.E. Informatique & Télécom - L'Internet est notre métier!
http://www.yomla.tg
Miss Togo - Bienvenue sur le site officiel de Miss Togo
http://jpo.cafe.tg
Mariage de Ayikido & Ambah - Accueil

thanks a lot in advance Andrew.

[Dani]

Just out of curiousity, why did her living expenses jump up to more than 3 times their original level when you -leave- the house?

Is she going to continue to work? Or has she stopped and you are supporting her even though you went to the US to study and not to work.

Don't forget that you aren't talking about making $400 a month here. You are talking about making $400 a month on top of what you need to survive and have a life. So probably you are looking at $800 a month at least.

How often will you be seeing her? Would it be better to save some of that money so you can actually visit her some times? Or bring her to the US?

What will you do after you finish? Go back with her, bring her over? Keep supporting her even though you are on different continents?

[nvictor]

Originally Posted by Dani

Just out of curiousity, why did her living expenses jump up to more than 3 times their original level when you -leave- the house?

Is she going to continue to work? Or has she stopped and you are supporting her even though you went to the US to study and not to work.

Don't forget that you aren't talking about making $400 a month here. You are talking about making $400 a month on top of what you need to survive and have a life. So probably you are looking at $800 a month at least.

How often will you be seeing her? Would it be better to save some of that money so you can actually visit her some times? Or bring her to the US?

What will you do after you finish? Go back with her, bring her over? Keep supporting her even though you are on different continents?

Dani, thanks for that reply.
Bringing her to the US is my objective. But it's very difficult, and I still don't know how to do that.

This is how I view it, my personal expenses are taken care of by my parents while I work and save money for both her and I.

Dani, please if you have an idea of how to bring someone here in the US that would be nice to tell me about it. You see my university is too expensive (I got a scholarship that is paying half of my tuition).

[Doku]

Originally Posted by nvictor

Dani, please if you have an idea of how to bring someone here in the US that would be nice to tell me about it. You see my university is too expensive (I got a scholarship that is paying half of my tuition).

On a student visa? Simple. You don't.

You can probably get her here for a short time under a visitor visa, but other than that, you'd have to talk to someone who knows immigration law much better than those on these forums.

[Dani]

Plus, I have never lived in America sorry!

I live in Japan, and I am an Australian.

It's pretty easy to get a visa in Australia, and really not so hard here in Japan if you have a degree.

But no idea about the US. If I could help you I would.

But one thing I can help you with, don't listen to anyone being negative, because anything is possible if you put your mind to it.

I am in the process of proving that.

As Doku said, seek some professional advice. There might even be free immigration advice in your area you never know.

hmm Doku... didn't you steal a dragon sword once from some ninja clan?

[andrew]

Originally Posted by nvictor

Andrew, this is exactly what I'm trying to do. I have two driving forces, money and the urge to learn more. I've arrived at Towson University for only two days. Speaking english is quite difficult for the moment but everything is fine.

Help me Andrew, tell me what to read, what to write, where to start. Some websites I've designed or participated the designing of:
C.A.F.E. Informatique & Télécom - L'Internet est notre métier!
http://www.yomla.tg
Miss Togo - Bienvenue sur le site officiel de Miss Togo
JPOs 2006 - Accueil
Mariage de Ayikido & Ambah - Accueil

thanks a lot in advance Andrew.

Those sites are much better than I expected, good work. But they're not going to be $xxxx jobs unless you can market.

First I would go look at the some of the best of on award sites:

The FWA: Favourite Website Awards - Web awards at the cutting edge
CSS Beauty | CSS Design, News, Jobs, Community, Web Standards


First one is mostly Flash, and the 2nd is xhtml/css.

Go look around for a few HOURS, maybe even a few days. Don't go to any other site, just keep looking at high quality sites and you'll get used to it. Then when you see another site, or your designs, you have a huge idea of what to compare it to. Of course you're not going to be able to make those right off the bat, but you want to aim for the quality. You don't have to look like them, you just have to know why those are worth more than other sites.

Get involved in design communites. Good ones with a focus in web design.

Just surround yourself with it, eventually it will get absorbed.

After you know what the best sites are, you can then go and learn how to do all the things they do.

[nvictor]

Thank you a lot Andrew. My style has evolved since those crappy websites
I'm already thinking of submitting a css garden...

But right now I don't own myself a computer...

I promise to get to this level as soon as possible.

[Simpleclicks]

If you have a computer and internet excess, it is possible to earn $400 a month, and maybe more if you work harder.

A new concept of making money online called A GLObal COmmunity, better known as AGLOCO, just came out last November 2006 and it is inviting people to work together. It will be the next big thing along with Google, Yahoo, YouTube, MSN etc.

You can try since membership is free and you have nothing to lose.

[nvictor]

Thanks for the tip Simpleclicks, I'll try that too. I've involved my english teacher in the process. She said she would help me write my resume, cover letter and others. Isn't that nice?

Simplieclicks, I've read a little bit about AGLOCO. The PROBLEM is, will it work for me? How?