University in America?

You can apply for scholarships - are you particularly good at a sport? or a genius in the subject you want to study? My friend is a great golfer, and she was approached by about 5 uni's, one willing to pay EVERYTHING for her, and others at least 75%, so not too shabby!

Reply 2

OP

Original post by littlehobbit

You can apply for scholarships - are you particularly good at a sport? or a genius in the subject you want to study? My friend is a great golfer, and she was approached by about 5 uni's, one willing to pay EVERYTHING for her, and others at least 75%, so not too shabby!

I'm no Olympic athlete but I've played sports my entire life. I'm pretty good at soccer, golf and running but I'd never of been scouted or anything for either. Nor am I a genius at any of my subjects.

Any other ideas, or an opinion on my point in the OP?

Reply 3

littlehobbit

Original post by Notorious.

Any other ideas, or an opinion on my point in the OP?

Sorry I really don't know anything else! That was all I knew ha! hope someone does for you though :smile:

Reply 4

OP

Original post by littlehobbit

Sorry I really don't know anything else! That was all I knew ha! hope someone does for you though :smile:

No problem, thanks for your help anyways :smile:

.

Would really appreciate some more advice here guys, an answer to my idea would be extremely useful, thanks

Reply 5

OP

bump, would love some more advice on this.

Reply 6

Perhaps look at going in the first instance to a community college and getting your associates degree (usually takes 2 years) then transferring elsewhere for 2 years to get a bachelors degree. Community colleges are usually quite inexpensive even for international students.

Reply 7

I'm sorry, but you can't just 'get' a Green Card. It is one of the most painstaking, lengthy and bureaucratic processes you can go through. I would advise ging to Uni in the UK and applying to do a semester abroad as part of your study.

Reply 8

OP

Original post by iliveinacake

I'm sorry, but you can't just 'get' a Green Card. It is one of the most painstaking, lengthy and bureaucratic processes you can go through. I would advise ging to Uni in the UK and applying to do a semester abroad as part of your study.

I know this, like I said I have family who have attained green cards in the past, but this was before 9/11, and things seem to have become significantly worse now.

I was thinking of that, but then what? I don't just want a year in the US, I want a life there. It's probably my biggest lifelong goal to move permanently to the US and I'd go through anything to obtain a Green Card.

Are you speaking out of personal experience here? Have you tried to obtain one before?

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 9

OP

Original post by PercyChatsworth

Perhaps look at going in the first instance to a community college and getting your associates degree (usually takes 2 years) then transferring elsewhere for 2 years to get a bachelors degree. Community colleges are usually quite inexpensive even for international students.

Could you obtain a student Visa through this? and would this be regarded in the same terms as getting a straight up degree to US employers?

Thanks :smile:

.

Reply 10

Original post by Notorious.

Could you obtain a student Visa through this? and would this be regarded in the same terms as getting a straight up degree to US employers?

Thanks :smile:

.

Yes, you can get a student visa. How attractive it is to employers depends on the type of employers you are trying to target - the employers that target Ivy League grads may not be interested but the average graduate employer should be fine with it as its a route taken by many cost conscious college students.

Reply 11

OP

Original post by PercyChatsworth

Yes, you can get a student visa. How attractive it is to employers depends on the type of employers you are trying to target - the employers that target Ivy League grads may not be interested but the average graduate employer should be fine with it as its a route taken by many cost conscious college students.

Thanks very much for the info mate. Is there any kind of format rating with regards to community college rating like there are with Universities here?

Reply 12

There's a survey called the Community College Survey of Student Engagement, or CCSSE (available at www.ccsse.org). The survey tests colleges on how well they use teaching techniques that have been proven to lead to better learning, such as how often students collaborate with other students and interact with faculty. There's also a survey by Washington Monthly Magazine that uses the CCSSE data as well as other factors to rank what it calls the top 50 community colleges. Those are the only ones I know, sorry.

Reply 13

Original post by Notorious.

I know this, like I said I have family who have attained green cards in the past, but this was before 9/11, and things seem to have become significantly worse now.

I was thinking of that, but then what? I don't just want a year in the US, I want a life there. It's probably my biggest lifelong goal to move permanently to the US and I'd go through anything to obtain a Green Card.

Are you speaking out of personal experience here? Have you tried to obtain one before?

Basically, the only way to obtain permanent residence in the US is by marrying a US citizen. Even then you're looking at over £2k in paperwork and about a four month wait to begin processing things. Other than that, you can apply for an H1-B working visa, where a US company would sponsor you to work for them. Again, horrendously expensive and only extremely highly skilled people qualify for it - i.e. people that are otherwise in short demand within the US workforce... so not students.

The J-1 visa is the student related one, although it will never qualify or lead to an ability to apply for permanent residence. As much as you want to make a life for yourself in the US, so do A LOT of other people and as a result, it is THE most difficult place to emigrate to in the world. The immigration authorities will do everything in their power to not have there on a long term basis. And yes, I am speaking from experience.

My advice, is to look into J-1 or F-1 (maybe M-1s too) visas. These are completely student focussed and will at least get the ball rolling.

Hope that helped and sorry to be so blunt - it's the way it is over there I'm afraid.

Reply 14

OP

Original post by iliveinacake

Basically, the only way to obtain permanent residence in the US is by marrying a US citizen. Even then you're looking at over £2k in paperwork and about a four month wait to begin processing things. Other than that, you can apply for an H1-B working visa, where a US company would sponsor you to work for them. Again, horrendously expensive and only extremely highly skilled people qualify for it - i.e. people that are otherwise in short demand within the US workforce... so not students.

The J-1 visa is the student related one, although it will never qualify or lead to an ability to apply for permanent residence. As much as you want to make a life for yourself in the US, so do A LOT of other people and as a result, it is THE most difficult place to emigrate to in the world. The immigration authorities will do everything in their power to not have there on a long term basis. And yes, I am speaking from experience.

My advice, is to look into J-1 or F-1 (maybe M-1s too) visas. These are completely student focussed and will at least get the ball rolling.

Hope that helped and sorry to be so blunt - it's the way it is over there I'm afraid.

Oh ok, thanks for the very depressing but helpful advice ha.

Isn't there a thing called the green card lottery? Have you any information on that?

Reply 15

The Green Card Lottery basically makes available 50,000 permanent resident visas annually to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. The UK (except NI) doesn't apply for this so unless you're from NI, there's nothing for you here either. More info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Card_Lottery

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 16

Original post by iliveinacake

The Green Card Lottery basically makes available 50,000 permanent resident visas annually to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. The UK (except NI) doesn't apply for this so unless you're from NI, there's nothing for you here either. More info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Card_Lottery

OP has said he is from Ireland and he would therefore be eligible for the green card lottery.

Reply 17