The J1 thingamajig

Mr.Nice Guy

Apparently there's an information session in the Student Centre tomorrow on the J1 programme at 12:30.

Is anyone planning on doing the J1 or do you know anyone who has done it before?

It's quite expensive but spending 3 months in America would be some experience.

Is anyone going to go?

irlrobins

I did the J1 thing twice. Loved it. Spent two summers in Texas.

I'd def do it again if I was back in 2nd yr or whatever.

Having said that with all the new restrictions involved now a lot of people have lost interest as it can be a bit of a pain. Interview in the embassy etc.

My tip, have work lined up before you go. Makes it much easier. And make sure u pass ur exams or its a waste of money.

Sangre

Best. Summer. Ever.

Mr.Nice Guy

irlrobins wrote:

I did the J1 thing twice. Loved it. Spent two summers in Texas.

I'd def do it again if I was back in 2nd yr or whatever.

Having said that with all the new restrictions involved now a lot of people have lost interest as it can be a bit of a pain. Interview in the embassy etc.

My tip, have work lined up before you go. Makes it much easier. And make sure u pass ur exams or its a waste of money.

Did you go with friends? How were you fixed for accomodation? Did you have a job lined up before you went?

irlrobins

no went by myself. Advantages of going by urself is that your irishness is a novelty. A lot of my friends went to Mrytle Beach. It was as if UCD jsut upped and moved to SC. They were living with irish people, working with irish people, drinking with irish,etc. Think I got a better experience being by myself.

As regards job, I got an intern position with a software company and they helped me rent an apt.

Best way to find jobs is to find someone who did it before, if a place took on J1ers one year chances are they look for more for the following summer. So just ask around and get some names to fire mails off to.

tintinr35

spent last summer in long beach new york, fcuking amazing, going back this summer fo sure

^CwAzY^

How much is it and like do you HAVE to work? Even if u have enough money saved before going..

irlrobins

no idea of costs these days but i imagine that a condition of getting ur visa is that u do work. otherwise why not just get a holiday visa (which is free i think). But if u don't work over there u'll get bored as all ur mates will be and u'll be hanging around during hte day spending money i imagine....

tintinr35

ud want to have a whole lot of money saved to be able to live sans job. im going again next summer and its working ou at about 1130 yo yos for everything! if u get your visa and dont work, once u come home the nice boys in US immigration will put a 10yr ban on your passport! cause thats the whole reason u get the visa for 4 months of work and then a month of travel!

breadmonkey

Essential advice:

My tip, have work lined up before you go. Makes it much easier. And make sure u pass ur exams or its a waste of money.

You will make very very little money working over there unless you get a job as a waiter (tips=$$$$) and it isn't that easy to find a job.

As Sangre said:

Best. Summer. Ever.

breadmonkey

once u come home the nice boys in US immigration will put a 10yr ban on your passport!

I find this hard to believe. Why would they care since they get your money either way. Can you elaborate?

tintinr35

its not the government that you pay the money to its the irish companies that you book your visa through. happened to my sisters friend, she worked as in a kids summer camp which you are not allowed to do in a j1 visa and she quit three weeks before she left the states to get a proper job in a restaurant or somthing like that, but she couldnt get one and because she had not registered that she had worked she got a ten year ban on arrival at JFK

Scraggs

outta interest is it possible to get a j1 without going through one of those irish companies??

tintinr35

dont actually know would be interesting to see because they are such a money racket! i think u have to go with one of them because they vouch for you to the government guess to make sure u are not a terrorist carrying WMD's in your suitcase

Mr.Nice Guy

Deadline for this is the tenth of December. Hmm. My friends are asking me to go but I'm quite scared.

Are you allowed leave the programme early if you are unhappy or is staying there 3 months mandatory?

If I have to stay there for 3 months then I'd probably not want to go.:o

Sgt Slaughter

You dont have to stay for 3 months, go for it you wont regret it. Spent 3 months in the Bronx, Ny myself. Went over on my own. Once your irish youll find work but as said earlier if you can get work before you go over all the better

Dave!

Mr.Nice Guy wrote:

Deadline for this is the tenth of December. Hmm. My friends are asking me to go but I'm quite scared.

Are you allowed leave the programme early if you are unhappy or is staying there 3 months mandatory?

If I have to stay there for 3 months then I'd probably not want to go.:o

You should go!!! Feckin go! I'd like to go to America, but I doubt I'll be able to find anybody to go with me ffs...

What age were ye all when you went, btw? I feel a bit young to be going travelling and stuff (18 in a month), since the drinking age is 21 and stuff -- I'm still a kid in that sense!

irlrobins

Go by urself! U'll meet loads of people there. In fact going by urself is better, u have better opportunity to meet new people. If you go with a big gang of friends its jsut UCD Arts on tour.

Dave!

hmmm... maybe!

I don't know anything about it... how does it work? How much does it cost? Can you only go in 2nd year(someone mentioned wanting to be back in 2nd year again)? You don't go abroad to study or anything, do you? Cos that would be un-cool! lol. Would I be in the same area as other Irish people? Do I get to pick where in America I wanna go?

Sorry for all the questions, I'm sure there's a link that tells me all about it

irlrobins

http://www.sayit.ie/jone.php

Dave!

Sure enough

Thanks for that... I hadn't thought about a J1 before, but I'm all of a sudden very interested in it! :eek:

What age were ye when ye went? Like I said, I'll only be 19 if I were to go the summer after 2nd year.

Thanks

irlrobins

20

Dave!

Straight to the point eh

Yeah my brother was 20 too... I never realised that he was on a J1, I just assumed he went away with friends, but sure enough.

panda100

If your only 19 id say go to canada-you only have to be 18 to drink there.All me mates went to vancouver 2 summers a go but i was repeating exams so only went for bout a month.Was brill though-we brought a car and did a roadtrip across the west coast-some experience-especially when me and my mate gatecrashed the armani party on rodeo drive and spent the whole night chatting to paris hilton and outcast.We were both weraing pennys skirts and tops at the time and someone asked if my skirt was from the latest collection-hahaha!ask bigjimthefirst if ya dont believe me?!

Vorsprung

panda100 wrote:

If your only 19 id say go to canada-you only have to be 18 to drink there.All me mates went to vancouver 2 summers a go but i was repeating exams so only went for bout a month.Was brill though-we brought a car and did a roadtrip across the west coast-some experience-especially when me and my mate gatecrashed the armani party on rodeo drive and spent the whole night chatting to paris hilton and outcast.We were both weraing pennys skirts and tops at the time and someone asked if my skirt was from the latest collection-hahaha!ask bigjimthefirst if ya dont believe me?!

And all that time when she wasn't at lectures, I thought she was shopping in New York.....

Gotta agree with herself on the travel thing, went to Vancouver meself, summer of my life. Great people, good jobs, beautiful country to travel in. You should consider it, better with a few mates, but deadline is soon (if not passed already if it's the same as when I did it). Was travelling in America coast to coast this summer and got IDed everywhere, except one Irish pub (and was only there to watch a match though!). Even an Irish themed casino in Vegas had the cheek to ID me. Bastards!

Mr.Nice Guy

I've never really travelled before. I guess it would be a great experience. My friends are heading to New York. I have to decide by the 10th of December.

I still have alot of concerns though mainly because my friends have approached it half-assed. I've no idea what will happen in relation to accomodation or work and I'm not totally sure that I can return home early if I'm unhappy as on the J1 site they say that you can go home if you have a family emergency or to repeat exams but they don't say anything other than that.

What to do, what to do...

Sgt Slaughter

Who says you have to decide by then. Not having a j1 doesnt mean you cant go to america. Join the other 50,000 irish working there illegally

irlrobins

its a lil harder to do that since 9/11.

Vorsprung

If you haven't travelled before, why not go InterRailing instead? Thats what I did during my 1st summer out of college, made loads of money that summer and went away with a few mates for about 1.5 months. Saw most of Eastern Europe, had great time. Beauty of it is that it only takes a few days to organise and can be done on the cheap.

Mr.Nice Guy

bigjimthefirst wrote:

If you haven't travelled before, why not go InterRailing instead? Thats what I did during my 1st summer out of college, made loads of money that summer and went away with a few mates for about 1.5 months. Saw most of Eastern Europe, had great time. Beauty of it is that it only takes a few days to organise and can be done on the cheap.

Well my friends have already registed for the J1 thing. They're just waiting for me to make my mind up.

Dave!

I'd say go for it... You only live once. Are you actually interested in travelling/going to America? If you're not then it's hardly worth it. But if you are and are just afraid to go, then don't be! You only live once, and you've got a great opportunity since you have people to go with and everything. You could either (a) take charge yourself and get the thing organised, or (b) just organise yourself, your own job and accom, and let them worry about themselves.

I'd love to do it, and I've been doing some research and I'm planning on going next summer (after 2nd year). It'd be great to have people to go with, and hopefully I will by then, but I'll go on my own alternatively.

Mr.Nice Guy

DaveMcG wrote:

I'd say go for it... You only live once. Are you actually interested in travelling/going to America? If you're not then it's hardly worth it. But if you are and are just afraid to go, then don't be! You only live once, and you've got a great opportunity since you have people to go with and everything. You could either (a) take charge yourself and get the thing organised, or (b) just organise yourself, your own job and accom, and let them worry about themselves.

I'd love to do it, and I've been doing some research and I'm planning on going next summer (after 2nd year). It'd be great to have people to go with, and hopefully I will by then, but I'll go on my own alternatively.

I am interested in travelling and New York is somewhere I've always fancied going to. I'm kind of worried about exams as well. If I fail and have to repeat, which is a possibility, then the whole thing could prove a waste.

I don't have a job at present so I would have to earn around €2000 to make this trip.

If I don't go though next summer for me is going to be very dull. Stuck in Ireland by myself while my friends are living in New York. Seems like one of those things I'd always regret...

Sangre

God you have to go, can't go after 3rd year.

Dave!

Mr.Nice Guy wrote:

I am interested in travelling and New York is somewhere I've always fancied going to. I'm kind of worried about exams as well. If I fail and have to repeat, which is a possibility, then the whole thing could prove a waste.

I don't have a job at present so I would have to earn around €2000 to make this trip.

If I don't go though next summer for me is going to be very dull. Stuck in Ireland by myself while my friends are living in New York. Seems like one of those things I'd always regret...

I think one of the insurance things is for in case you fail an exam, you're flown home to repeat and then flown back for the rest of your trip (wouldn't be worth it if it were like a month long trip, but for 4 months -- grand).

I worked it out as closer to €1000, but I could be wrong. You might be able to get a loan from the bank, I dunno. Would your parents be able to spot you a few bob and you could pay them back? I'm sure if you work from now until the summer you could build up a decent amount.

I think it's definitely something you'll regret, and you should go for it.

Mr.Nice Guy

I'm leaning towards going. This thread has been a useful way of gaining information on the whole thing.:)

breadmonkey

I would also advise you to go to Canada. But not to Vancouver, that was basically a crowd of the dreaded "D4" heads all living in one area. Go to Toronto, it rocks!

LovelyHurling

I dont hear anyone mention Hawaii. I went last Summer unfortunately to come back for to repeat an exam in pharma-just-my-luck-cology. Cant explain how great Hawaii was: I didnt come back until three weeks before the exam, spent the first week on a high and telling everyone how great twas (before finally thinking "oh sh1t") I still have the sandal marks on my feet a few friends were getting worried it was fake tan for a while there but no the weather was incredible,. It has a fair old d4 crowd but its grand, its not as bad as san diego i think, thats basically downtown dalkey. Anyway sure we're all the same when we get pissed/ whatever.

Best place ever. better than belfield...

panda100

LovelyHurling wrote:

I dont hear anyone mention Hawaii. I went last Summer unfortunately to come back for to repeat an exam in pharma-just-my-luck-cology. Cant explain how great Hawaii was: I didnt come back until three weeks before the exam, spent the first week on a high and telling everyone how great twas (before finally thinking "oh sh1t") I still have the sandal marks on my feet a few friends were getting worried it was fake tan for a while there but no the weather was incredible,. It has a fair old d4 crowd but its grand, its not as bad as san diego i think, thats basically downtown dalkey. Anyway sure we're all the same when we get pissed/ whatever.

Best place ever. better than belfield...

Loads of me mates were in hawaii last year!did u meet any ucd meds?

LovelyHurling

panda100 wrote:

Loads of me mates were in hawaii last year!did u meet any ucd meds?

More than likely, met millions of irish people, I dont think i remember hearing of anyone who was in med at ucd but doesnt mean i mightnt have been living with them at some stage, lived in a village at first with around 400 people, at least 10% of them were irish students. Lots of english ppl too and loads of americans, well, kinda duh. so yeah go to hawaii!

Stabshauptmann

J1 deadline. Who says you have to have picked where you are going by Dec 10

I thought you had to pay a deposit by the 22nd? Who are you going with?

what service to Go4less etc actually provide. They dont get jobs or accomadation. why cant I just get my own tickets and visa from the embassy.

Mr.Nice Guy

Kaptain Redeye wrote:

J1 deadline. Who says you have to have picked where you are going by Dec 10

I thought you had to pay a deposit by the 22nd? Who are you going with?

what service to Go4less etc actually provide. They dont get jobs or accomadation. why cant I just get my own tickets and visa from the embassy.

I would be going through USIT. If you pay by the 10th you get 100€ off so while technically that's not the deadline it makes sense to decide by then what you're going to do.

Sangre

You need usit or go4less to be/get your sponsor.

Don't worry too much about these deadlines, you'll still get them in february.