Tell me about your daily habits of using money and saving money when you were in college. Part of the concept of saving money mentioned here is how not to spend unnecessary money, and part of it is how to maximize it if you spend money. value. I am not an expert in investment or life finance. Some small summaries are for reference only.
1. About cards.
I currently have three cards in my hand.
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A BOA tuition card, which contains part of the tuition saved when I was in school. The remaining part was spent on my parents coming to the United States for the graduation ceremony this summer, and on buying a car and furniture. This card is usually kept at home and not used outside.
There is also a card called Chase (checking account saving account). This card is a salary card. It is an account linked to direct deposit at work. Each I will deposit 15 yuan of my monthly salary into a savings account (when I was in school, my income was limited and I would usually save 25-70 yuan a month, so even a little money is money).
The other one is the Discover credit card, which is usually used for travel. It, but will transfer money in time to avoid debt.
2. Accounting habits.
I personally think that keeping running accounts is a very good and necessary habit, whether it is in a small book, Or use the app on your mobile phone. Whether it is a large purchase or daily chores, you should record it. Even if it is not accurate to the decimal point, you should have a rough idea of ??how much you have spent recently and what you spent on it. Above.
I personally like this app. It takes 2 seconds to write down an account and 3 seconds to write a note. The key is that there are many cute little icons and small analyses.
p>3. Apply for scholarships
Generally speaking, American scholarships are divided into three categories: service scholarships, non-service scholarships, and school loans.
Non-service scholarships have the largest number of applicants and the largest amounts. They include college grants, scholarships, free tuition and other specific awards.
Service scholarships include teaching assistantships and research assistantships, which are usually required to help teachers complete research and development tasks or teaching tasks. However, there are three types of scholarships that do not strictly require you to have excellent grades.
The first is Need-Blind, that is, when enrolling students, once they think you meet the admission standards, they will make a judgment based on your family situation. If the students cannot afford the fees, the school will actively try to provide them. . Even if students do not request scholarships, the school is willing to offer them in order to attract outstanding students.
The second type is Need-Based. The scholarship award standard is determined based on the financial income of the student's family.
The third type of scholarship is Teaching Assistant (TA) and Research Assistant (RA). Usually, as a teaching assistant, you need to teach college students and correct their homework, which usually requires a lot of workload. As a research assistant, the workload depends on your professor.
There are also some prestigious American universities that have strong requirements for applicants’ own learning ability and comprehensive ability. However, in most prestigious American universities, almost 100% of international students have the opportunity to receive scholarships. . The following is a table of scholarships from some prestigious schools in the United States. We can see that the scholarship award ratios of these schools are very high, some even exceeding 80%.
4. Work-study program
The United States not only has many famous universities, but these schools also provide students with many work-study opportunities. Normally, American students do not Being willing to do these part-time jobs also gives Chinese students more opportunities to compete.
Students can obtain these part-time jobs through the campus website or recommendations from tutors.
On-campus jobs last about 20 hours a week. The salary is low, but it is safe and enough to subsidize students' living expenses, such as school libraries, campus restaurants, computer rooms, etc., which can not only meet study requirements, but also solve life problems. .
Another way to work-study is to participate in Curricular practical training programs (CPT), which is equivalent to the domestic graduation internship, and the school provides internship opportunities. After completing the course tasks, international students can participate during their holidays. During CPT, you enjoy the same treatment as the employees of your company, which not only meets your financial needs, but also helps you find a job after graduation.
Of course, if you meet the following two conditions, you may also have the opportunity to go out to work on your own: you encounter "serious financial difficulties" after enrolling; you have studied in school for at least one academic year and have good grades, and you are unable to obtain "on-campus employment" Opportunity” or “on-campus job” pay will not cover your financial expenses.