Thanks guys! Appreciate it. I will be EWR based for life since I'm from NYC...
I started college at the age of 16 and graduated at 20. I got all my ratings while attending college.. After graduating, I worked at the Blackstone group for 6 months(finance related, not flying)before leaving for a charter company(flying job)..The Gulfstream I fly now is also owned by Blackstone. The money at Blackstone was good, in the 6 months I worked there after graduation I earned 125k, ofcourse it was not a flying job. FO pay flying their Gulfstream is $120k per year so not a bad gig. You just don't fly much..
Also, I came from a poor family, my dad was a law professor in Pakistan and my mother was a Math Teacher..When they immigrated to the U.S in the 1970s, they had to start all over. My dad drove a nyc yellow cab for 25 years before starting a small food business and my mother was a stay at home mother in the states..I had a free ride at Penn so that helped(including room n board).. For flight training, I took out student loans from Penn for personal use but used them for the flight training..All in all, it worked out.