At the begining of the setup when Amanda Sharpe is given two skills, can she use her unique ability (take one extra skill and then dicards one) or she just takes these random cards?

If yes is this also applies to Dexter Drake, Bob Jenkins and Monterey Jack?

Yes for all of them. In many of our games, it's the only chance Amanda gets to use her ability.

If Amanda gets a lousy hand to begin with, she can take out a Loan, grab herself some sweet, sweet education at the Uni and just default on the payment.

Always wondered why she starts at the bank. Now it makes sense.

It's a great idea if you don't care about your score at the end of the game!