<p>Dear all,
I was a college confidential user by a different username for several years, active user while I was in high school and then community college. After transferring to UC Berkeley (I only applied to UCB, UCLA, UCSD, UCD, was accepted to all) I stopped using the forums. I graduated and work in the SF Financial District (won't go into detail about what firm I am at) and can answer almost anything you could want to know about being successful in America, college, careers and the transfer process, what you need to do to get accepted, quirks of the essay, selecting majors, getting internships, jobs, interviewing... etc.</p>
<p>College confidential was a big help to me in getting to where I am today and I'm looking to give back now that I am in a position to do so.. feel free to post a question here, if things get too dense and your questions get lost, or you have several questions that require some dialog/back and forth feel free to email me. </p>
<p>What were your standardized test scores? How difficult was it to land on a job after graduation as an international? Is it really that impossible as people here make it out to be? Also, what is your approximate salary now? How much do internationals usually get paid doing internships and how hard is it for internationals to get internships?
Thanks</p>
<p>wb csteep
i wanted to ask
wats the best way to utilize a gap year.
i am thinking of taking a gapyear ( i am a senior havent applied to any college in US this year) , go to a college study some courses take few APs, job and a few extracurrliculars and then apply as freshmen to Top unis.</p>
<p>^ Many schools won’t let you apply as a freshmen if you have already attended another higher education institution. Transferring from a non-US university could be close to impossible, so I would not attend any. Furthermore, some schools, such as Vassar, do not gve FA to international transfer applicants.</p>
<p>csteep, I have applied to many Tier 1 liberal arts colleges and hopefully will be accepted by some. I wanted to know what are the job opportunities for internationals who have a non-vocational degree.</p>
<p>1) What were your standardized test scores? How difficult was it to land on a job after graduation as an international? Is it really that impossible as people here make it out to be? Also, what is your approximate salary now? How much do internationals usually get paid doing internships and how hard is it for internationals to get internships?</p>
<p>Answer–> I did not take standardized tests because I was a community college transfer, test scores are not required. I was not an international student, but it was not easy to find a job, although I did get multiple offers. Who makes it sound impossible? Where are you located… if you private message me I can give you specific help and examples. The biggest obstacle for internationals is getting a work visa, as you know the F1 Student Visa is only good for schooling, so your challenge becomes finding a sponsor who can help you stay for work in America. I get paid well.</p>
<p>2) wats the best way to utilize a gap year.
i am thinking of taking a gapyear ( i am a senior havent applied to any college in US this year) , go to a college study some courses take few APs, job and a few extracurrliculars and then apply as freshmen to Top unis.Any advices or suggestions ??</p>
<p>Answer—> Gap years can be a good way to take a break from academics and explore. A chance to see what you enjoy in life and what you might want to do in college. You could travel, work, volunteer, do anything you want that you feel will enrich your life.</p>
<p>3) csteep, I have applied to many Tier 1 liberal arts colleges and hopefully will be accepted by some. I wanted to know what are the job opportunities for internationals who have a non-vocational degree.</p>
<p>Answer—> Are you talking about job prospects in America, or in your home country?</p>
<p>I’m talking about the US. In my country it is almost impossible to find any job…</p>
<p>I wanted to know if people who major in social or natural sciences are competitive in fields that do not directly relate to their major. For example, would your company employ a physics major?</p>
<p>Your challenge in America will be obtaining a work visa. People majoring in social and natural sciences are competitive for a great variety of jobs, and yes, my company would hire a physics major.</p>
<p>I’ve seen that you are talking about major above. Is it true that majoring in an advanced major(STEM) will boost the chance to get hired or do intern?</p>
<p>U mentioned tt u r working in a financial district, so i’m juz wondering if u r working in finance related careers. i’m applying to major in econ. Is a general degree valued less than a degree in finance? it seems that econ major usu may hv trouble finding jobs as its so general. Thank you!</p>
<p>I’ve seen that you are talking about major above. Is it true that majoring in an advanced major(STEM) will boost the chance to get hired or do intern?</p>
<p>Answer—> Certainly the more advanced your skills are the more likely you will be hired for work, an advanced major will always be more valuable than a non-technical one. After all there is more demand in society for an electrical engineer than for a Celtic Studies major.</p>
<p>U mentioned tt u r working in a financial district, so i’m juz wondering if u r working in finance related careers. i’m applying to major in econ. Is a general degree valued less than a degree in finance? it seems that econ major usu may hv trouble finding jobs as its so general. Thank you!</p>
<p>Answer—> Yes, I work in finance, investment banking. Econ is a fine major, if you want to work in finance consider taking some finance and accounting courses in addition to your econ courses.</p>
<p>I got accepted to Mount Holyoke College which is liberal arts ranked among top 25 colleges. I got a scholarship but it’s insufficient, i.e. with my family contribution and their scholarship, I still have to come up with 10k dollars. In today’s unstable economy and being an international student from Europe who would like to got to law/business grad school, is it worth to take loan for additional 40k dollars, meaning after I finish college I’d have app 60k $ to pay off (loan from college is included).</p>
<p>In case they increase my FA package, is it worth taking their offer and still end up 20k in debt due to their loan (3500$ a year (increasing 5-10% each year) which has to be repaid within 10 years from graduation?</p>
<p>I know all the numbers say it’s not worth is especially when returning to Europe (if not getting into grad school), BA would count only as having finished 3 years of university plus I’d have to go to some masters. On the other hand, studying in the States would be a tremendous experience and in case I graduate from some great grad school (and get job and visa) it would be easier to repay my debt.</p>
<p>luluzg: your question is more a personal finance question, it’s really a tradeoff you are going to have to answer for yourself. personally i believe education is a necessity and to the point of reason worth its cost. of course there are the exceptions where people put themselves into several hundred thousand dollars worth of debt forever imprisoning themselves to work in order to pay off the debt, but if you feel like you could get a job afterwards that would enable you to pay off your debt while doing something you enjoy then i’d say it’s worth the cost.</p>
<p>Thank you but everyone says it’s practically impossible to get a job in the States if you are not scientists or working in the IT.
I am asking you, is it worth to take such big loans for any school in the States just to gain a tremendous experience when you can go to European university and study law right after the high school and way much cheaper.</p>
<p>It’s not impossible, I have 4 siblings in the US, none of whom are scientists. One’s a professor in the Humanities field now, even. Another one’s into Econ. The others are in business. It’s really not impossible.</p>
<p>“I am asking you, is it worth to take such big loans for any school in the States just to gain a tremendous experience when you can go to European university and study law right after the high school and way much cheaper.”</p>
<p>You are asking me to make a big decision for you. You have to make the decision yourself so that in five years you and you alone are responsible for where you are. Like quasi stated, nothing is impossible.</p>