international house: I graduated high school a week ago. On track to attend UCLA. I already have my AA in poli sci because i took classes at community during high school and classes are free for hs students. HOWEVER I have no substantial amount of money (about $150 for graduating) I have no car. I have no job. I have no inside connections to get a job. I applied to 37 businesses (i've been keeping track) starting from about 3 weeks ago. I regularly phone-call and visit the human resources/hiring office located in each store. I've received no calls or offers. I've applied to Mcdonalds, Dollar Tree, janitorial companies,...etc. ( I even applied with the UFW's Take our jobs campaign to get a farm labour job picking crops, but yet to hear back from them) My family is too poor to pay for my college, and too rich to qualify for grants for college. I am a good student however, not outstanding enough to qualify for academic scholarships. Called the financial aid office but they won't adjust me for diddly squat and i only got $3000 of federal loans offered towards $30,000 tuition and fees. FAFSA says i can only take out $6000 worth of student loans and my parents have a horrible credit score and cannot takeout loans either. Parents cannot handle paying $21,000 for my college like the FAFSA said they have to. What to do...... I don't have a lot of hope. If i couldn't find a job there'd be no way to pay for college. (Obviously not pay for it all, or atleast a good portion. but set a trend for me and get me atleast money to eat) New Choices: Join the military? Immigrate to a more prosperous country? Sell bone marrow? Spend all the rest of my money of lottery tickets? illicit activities? Time is ticking and i'm losing hope, when you apply to Mcdonald's for a part-time position and go there once every two days to check on your application and in three weeks time you still haven't gotten anything back it doesn't help your self esteem.|||If you join Americorp's Public Allies program in a city with public transportation (San Francisco, Boston, etc.), you would: have a job & income, gain valuable skills, & ultimately get $5,000 toward any U.S. college (on top of your usual pay). Because it's non-profit domestic service work, you would also immediately qualify for ~$200 in food stamps every month on top of your work check & the education award. Public Allies is a leadership development program focused on social justice. You would work four days a week with a local non-profit (32 hours) and do a training every Friday. Trainings vary from hard skills (how to start a non-profit, how to do grant writing, how to recruit people & host events, etc. etc.) to social justice issues (about racism, homophobia, gender, etc.). It's a 10-month program. By the end, you would have the education award, a ton of new skills, & a huge network of Americorps alumni as well as a professional network from your PA work.|||The job market sucks. That's not exactly news. Keep applying to jobs and bothering the people everywhere you apply. Kiosk applications tend not to get call backs that often. You may want to nicely try to talk to a manager or assistant manager if you can so that they have a face to go with the application. And make up a resume to take with you. It looks more professional. What to do in the meantime... Apply to a community college instead of a regular university and the tuition expenses should go way down. Military is an option, but you're going to have to stay for 4 years and work towards the degree piecemeal and then you can finish up with the GI Bill when you get out. It's not for everyone and you're most likely going to be deployed. Be forewarned. You might try looking for more other types of work - babysitting, yard work/lawn cutting services in the area. Make up a flyer or magnetic business cards and pass them out. Answer ads from the newspaper. It's not as steady a job, but it helps when you have no income. You don't have to go to college immediately. So don't give up.