Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Help me solve a dilemma, study in the US or take a job in the EU?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–107 of 107 posts

Re: Ask HN: Help me solve a dilemma, study in the US or take a job in the EU?

#101

Post by mista2nith »

arp242 wrote: post #49
throwup238 wrote: post #33

Go get your degree. Immigrating to anywhere else in the Western world basically requires an undergraduate degree and if you don’t get permanent residence and a path to citizenship in Germany you may be locked out completely due to a tough job market. US University scholarships for undergrad are also harder to get once you’ve aged out of the standard path so it may be now or never. What happens after the degree will n…

Yes, this. Even if we assume that a degree is worthless for the sake of the argument, it's never "worthless" if you ever plan to migrate, from any country to any country really. And degrees from Asian universities are often ranked lower or not accepted at all. I don't know what the situation is like for computer science, but my Indonesian ex had a six year university degree but that wasn't accepted in any Western cou…

Huge number of degree mills - difficult to verify, which isn't true of like, Buffalo State University.

Re: Ask HN: Help me solve a dilemma, study in the US or take a job in the EU?

#102

Post by FredPret »

ranguna wrote: post #95
FredPret wrote: post #58

Career aside - I’ve had the experience of being an immigrant in both North America and Europe. There’s no comparison: go to the USA. This is about more than stats and numbers - it’s about finding a new home, being welcomed, being able to fit in, open minded locals. Even really conservative North Americans are super nice and welcoming if you stick to the rules. Having said all that, actually getting the right to move…

Where did you stay in Europe to have such a bad experience?

I didn’t have a bad experience per se. I just had a strong sense that I’ll never be considered a true & proper (insert country here)-man. Those cultures are so old and have an ethnic component - nobody will ever think that I’m French / English / a Swede etc. I often got the vibe of “you’re lucky to be here, now when are you going back?”

That’s not their fault by the way - they don’t owe me a good immigration experience or even the chance to immigrate.

But in the US & Canada it’s completely different. I’m just another guy here. People who were born here consider this to be my home, not the country I’m from. I’ve met exactly two Canadians who were even mildly xenophobic (one on here!).

Re: Ask HN: Help me solve a dilemma, study in the US or take a job in the EU?

#103

Post by FredPret »

diggan wrote: post #99
FredPret wrote: post #58

Career aside - I’ve had the experience of being an immigrant in both North America and Europe. There’s no comparison: go to the USA. This is about more than stats and numbers - it’s about finding a new home, being welcomed, being able to fit in, open minded locals. Even really conservative North Americans are super nice and welcoming if you stick to the rules. Having said all that, actually getting the right to move…

> being welcomed, being able to fit in, open minded locals This part differs as much across Europe as it does in the US, I'm sure. Hard to say one is "more racist" or "more bigot" than the other, without knowing exactly what locations you're comparing. > Even really conservative North Americans are super nice and welcoming if you stick to the rules That's the easy part! The interesting and valuable part is how they t…

I would argue if you move to a new country without the intention of fitting in there, you’re moving in bad faith.

Now, in NA, you can still “fit in” even while doing something new & weird, as long as your intention is to build some enterprise, contribute to society, and not do any crime. This is not the same as the social strictures of other places.

Re: Ask HN: Help me solve a dilemma, study in the US or take a job in the EU?

#104

Post by mista2nith »

diggan wrote: post #99
FredPret wrote: post #58

Career aside - I’ve had the experience of being an immigrant in both North America and Europe. There’s no comparison: go to the USA. This is about more than stats and numbers - it’s about finding a new home, being welcomed, being able to fit in, open minded locals. Even really conservative North Americans are super nice and welcoming if you stick to the rules. Having said all that, actually getting the right to move…

> being welcomed, being able to fit in, open minded locals This part differs as much across Europe as it does in the US, I'm sure. Hard to say one is "more racist" or "more bigot" than the other, without knowing exactly what locations you're comparing. > Even really conservative North Americans are super nice and welcoming if you stick to the rules That's the easy part! The interesting and valuable part is how they t…

[dead]

Re: Ask HN: Help me solve a dilemma, study in the US or take a job in the EU?

#105

Post by diggan »

FredPret wrote: post #103
diggan wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> being welcomed, being able to fit in, open minded locals This part differs as much across Europe as it does in the US, I'm sure. Hard to say one is "more racist" or "more bigot" than the other, without knowing exactly what locations you're comparing. > Even really conservative North Americans are super nice and welcoming if you stick to the rules That's the easy part! The interesting and valuable part is how they t…

I would argue if you move to a new country without the intention of fitting in there, you’re moving in bad faith. Now, in NA, you can still “fit in” even while doing something new & weird, as long as your intention is to build some enterprise, contribute to society, and not do any crime. This is not the same as the social strictures of other places.

> Now, in NA, you can still “fit in” even while doing something new & weird

And what that I understand you're also implying that you cannot do this in Europe?

I cannot say it's possible all over Europe, as I haven't been everywhere, but to the places I have been, I'm confident you'd be able to fit in while at the same time doing something new and weird.

Re: Ask HN: Help me solve a dilemma, study in the US or take a job in the EU?

#106

Post by FredPret »

diggan wrote: post #105
FredPret wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would argue if you move to a new country without the intention of fitting in there, you’re moving in bad faith. Now, in NA, you can still “fit in” even while doing something new & weird, as long as your intention is to build some enterprise, contribute to society, and not do any crime. This is not the same as the social strictures of other places.

> Now, in NA, you can still “fit in” even while doing something new & weird And what that I understand you're also implying that you cannot do this in Europe? I cannot say it's possible all over Europe, as I haven't been everywhere, but to the places I have been, I'm confident you'd be able to fit in while at the same time doing something new and weird.

My point is I wouldn't even fit no matter how conventional I might be. I'm not from there, so I don't fit into the local identity.

In Canada and the States, they care more about what you do and how you behave than where you're from.

EDIT: I want to stress that I don’t think Europeans are racist or xenophobes. They just have old idenities that are tied in with ethnicity, whereas in NA most people have an immigrant grandparent.

Re: Ask HN: Help me solve a dilemma, study in the US or take a job in the EU?

#107

Post by ranguna »

FredPret wrote: post #102
ranguna wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where did you stay in Europe to have such a bad experience?

I didn’t have a bad experience per se. I just had a strong sense that I’ll never be considered a true & proper (insert country here)-man. Those cultures are so old and have an ethnic component - nobody will ever think that I’m French / English / a Swede etc. I often got the vibe of “you’re lucky to be here, now when are you going back?” That’s not their fault by the way - they don’t owe me a good immigration experien…

I get that wherever I go outside the country I was born in, including the US.

Mind you, I didn't visit all the states or stay for too long.

Post reply on HN