Dutch International student looking for help

Student Lounge International Students
1

<p>Dear everyone,</p>

<p>Let's start off with this,
I'm a Dutch student currently enrolled at a Dutch college, doing my first year of study here in International Business and Management Studies. I'd love to go to America the upcoming year (Fall 2011 or Spring 2012) and if I'd be going then I'd be going as an International transfer student. </p>

<p>I'm 18 years old, male, my high school grades are pretty bad (due to not having the need for high grades, that's how the Dutch system works, you can get into almost any uni/college without having good grades). I haven't taken the SAT (but as I want to transfer, I think in most cases that isn't needed) nor have I taken the TOEFL, but I will soon if needed and if I found a college within budget and such.</p>

<p>It has been my dream to study abroad since I got in my 1st year of high school, I then got introduced to the wonderful language of English and I met people online from America and such. </p>

<p>Now onto the fun part, where you hopefully help me :D</p>

<p>I have a budget of 12000 euro (4000 of which is a loan, which I'd rather not use, but if I have to I will), this results in around $17500.
Now the question, could you help me find a university/college that has a bachelor offered that is an equivalent of mine and that's within my budget.
There are also some things that I'd love and is a huge plus if the college has it;
- Financial aid for International students (who doesn't want that)
- It has to be in some kind of warm climate. (I'm asthmatic, so if it'd be really cold, I'd have a really hard time breathing)
- On campus housing with occasional parties, so not some dull college/uni, with occasional parties I mean, having something to do during the weekends or during the week, I've had a lack of parties here in the Netherlands, because where I live everything is 18+, which I recently turned.
- Greek life (This isn't really needed, but it'd be a huge plus, because I would love to be in a Greek community)</p>

<p>Well I guess that's it so far, if there's anything else I'll add it and if you have any questions, shoot away!</p>

<p>See you around on the forum and thanks in advance,</p>

<p>Scylin (I'd tell you my real name but the CC board tells me not to, PM me for msn/e-mail/facebook or anything else)</p>

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<p>Ok,since you have some money,your options are a bit wider.Check out the SUNY colleges(State University of New York)which are in your price range.Oh,just saw that you wan’t to study in a warm climate.How about Lynn University in Boca Raton,Florida?[Lynn</a> University, Boca Raton, Florida](<a href=“http://www.lynn.edu%5DLynn”>http://www.lynn.edu) I’ll think of more and post in a few hours.good luck:)</p>

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<p>You might check out public universities in the Southeast: Auburn, University of Alabama, University of Tennessee, Ole’ Miss.</p>

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<p>I would like to ask for a few clarifications.</p>

<p>First, is 12,000 Euros your total budget or your budget for tuition only? If it’s your total budget, you are not in a position to pay tuition, which would severely restrict your options (possibly down to zero).</p>

<p>Second, do you intend to transfer to the US and finish your degree there, or do you want to study abroad for 1-2 semesters and then return to the Netherlands?</p>

<p>I don’t know how familiar you are with American higher education, but there’s a few basics that I think you should know before you think any further about transferring. My apologies if this is all well-known to you.</p>

<p>Do you know that an American Bachelor’s degree is structured differently from a European one? American degrees are set up as 4-year programs. One full year is typically devoted to general education classes (literature, math, science, history, …) unrelated to your major. Are you able and willing to pay for an extra year of “fluff” classes?</p>

<p>Have you looked into application deadlines at all? As far as I know, most application deadlines for fall 2011 transfers have passed already, and some of the “better” universities don’t accept spring transfer applications at all.</p>

5

<p>Okay, thanks for your replies so far,</p>

<p>@b@r!um</p>

<p>First, my budget is 12000 euros in total (Might be able to gather another 1000, don’t know for sure though). And in my knowledge so far, $17500 should be a pretty large number to go to college/uni and live on campus, correct me if I’m wrong.</p>

<p>Second, I intend to transfer to the US and finish my degree here.
I know how the American higher education works, if I’d transfer I’d have to do 30 credits of my first year in general education, and then some more in my second year if I’m right.
I am willing to pay for those classes, as in my opinion, having a general education will heighten my chances on a job.</p>

<p>I have looked at application deadlines, so far there are still plenty open to what I’ve seen and I’ve also seen universities that accept spring transfer applications.
Also I’m not looking for “the best” university, if it’s not very well known or anything I don’t mind, as long as I receive good education and have the opportunity to “taste” the American life, I’m cool. Because where I’m studying right now, I speak and write better English than most of the teachers here, which is pretty sad and makes me really unmotivated.</p>

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<p>Oh and @macmill
As much as I’d like to study at Lynn university, I won’t be able to pay $43000 for a year of school :).</p>

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<p>

</p>

<p>The full cost of attendance for international students usually ranges between $30,000 and $60,000 per year. </p>

<p>$17,000 will pay for your living expenses but not tuition, which runs at $15,000 - $35,000 in addition to the $8,000 - $15,000 that you might be billed for room and board. Don’t forget to budget for health insurance (often around $2,000), airfare, etc.</p>

<p>Is it correct that you would need a full-tuition scholarship at attend a college in the US?</p>

<p>I am afraid that I am not aware of a business school that gives financial aid to international transfer students.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the response,</p>

<p>I don’t think that this usually ranges between 30 and 60k, I have found atleast 1 college that requires a financial statement of $21000 (which is tuition + room and board) and another college that requires a statement of $22500, and as I’ve looked around a lot, it isn’t under my impression that it’s THAT expensive.</p>

<p>Also, $17000 for living expenses? I’m not planning on living a royalty’s life, on top of that, on most of those financial statements personal expenses are also included, they can be higher or lower, but I’m not the type of person that would go around throwing with money. </p>

<p>Most health insurances I’ve looked at were around the 1000-1500 range (Florida).
Airfare is around 400 euro for a one way ticket according to what I’ve seen.</p>

<p>And as much as I’d like a full tuition scholarship, I don’t think I’d qualify for that seeing that my high school grades are not good (understatement). If you think otherwise, please say so and I’d happily apply for a full tuition scholarship! :)</p>

<p>I also heard that in the smaller institutions they are more eager to give financial aid to International students, because they want to have a larger diversity between cultures, maybe anyone knows such colleges? </p>

<p>Then at last, I know that $17000 is a bit low to study in the USA, but I hope and think that it can be done, with scholarships ofcourse. Unfortunately I’ve lost the webpage of some uni/college in the north of America that offered in state tuition (by scholarships for every applying International student) instead of out of state to lower the costs. Unfortunately I do remember that the place it was located at was really cold and most of the year it was freezing.</p>

<p>Thanks for the responses so far, and please bring up some cheap colleges :smiley: </p>

<p>Scylin</p>

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<p>

A lot of the expenses depend on where you are living. My own college charges $12,420 for room and board, and health insurance is $2,570. That’s pretty standard for the East Coast but the South might be less expensive. </p>

<p>Airfare depends very heavily on when you fly. I can get round-trip tickets from Philadelphia to Germany for 400 Euros for most of the year, but in late August/early September (right when classes start) and around Christmas they sell for 1000 Euros. </p>

<p>When you make a budget, be careful about all the expenses that you might incur which are not included in the estimated cost of attendance. For example, does it have a sufficient allowance for transportation? Housing and food during breaks? Most colleges kick students out of the dorms during breaks, and you either have to go home or find another place to stay. Also keep in mind that exchange rates fluctuate and are better-than-average right now. If you are unlucky, your $17,000 might only be worth $14,000 next year.</p>

<p>You can pick a school in a cheap cost-of-living area, but that won’t help you if you don’t have enough money left over to pay for tuition. Unfortunately, there is very little financial aid available to transfer students in general and almost none for international transfers.</p>

<p>I cannot help you in your situation, and would like to defer to the expertise of the other posters. I wish you the best of luck.</p>

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<p>Right now your focus should be on what you realistically afford since any prospects of finaid are out of the question.That means you have to compromise on some of your criteria.A solid school I would recommend(it’s within your price range) is [Morgan</a> State University - Home](<a href=“http://www.morgan.edu%5DMorgan”>http://www.morgan.edu) Also,the City University of New York schools[Welcome</a> to CUNY - The City University of New York](<a href=“http://www.cuny.edu%5DWelcome”>http://www.cuny.edu) and University of North Texas[University</a> of North Texas](<a href=“http://www.unt.edu%5DUniversity”>http://www.unt.edu)</p>

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<p>How are any of these in the OP’s price range? The OP has $17K to spend in total (including cost of living) and you are suggesting schools that charge $17K in tuition alone. Do you want him to live in the streets and beg or steal for food?</p>

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<p>Those are the only schools I know of that are both decent and remotely close to his budget.If you know of better options why don’t you go ahead and point them out instead of just criticising.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the responses,</p>

<p>To be quite honest with you, I really really don’t want to go to Texas. I have looked at the CUNY schools myself as well for a fair bit. They’re pretty good options, most of them aren’t that expensive.</p>

<p>I find it really unfortunate that there’s hardly schools in the South or the warmer parts of the USA looking for International students (if they do, they’ll offer aid). All I’ve found so far is in cold states, and I really can’t take that with my asthma and how my health is, I’d be having a cold all the time.</p>

<p>Well cheers for the responses!</p>

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<p>

My point is that there are probably no decent schools within his budget. You are saying that the only decent schools you know which are “remotely close” to his budget are charging five-digit sums for tuition, i.e. unaffordable. I think we are on the same page here?</p>

<p>But since you would like me to make a constructive contribution, how about Brigham Young? It’s a good school, they charge around $16,000 for tuition, room and board per year, and it’s in a warm climate. The OP will only need about another $5,000 for unbilled expenses (BYU’s estimate) and $4,000 to put into an escrow account (as per institutional policy for international students). Oh, and then there’s the Mormon thing. BYU probably doesn’t have the parties and Greek scene the OP is looking for, but hey…</p>

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<p>What barum is trying to say – diplomatically – is that there may NOT BE any good options with a budget of $17,000 a year and OP’s wish list. I know to a European that sounds unlikely. Unfortunately for OP (and most Americans) that is the case.</p>

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<p>I wonder if you could spend a year in America on that budget attending a community college, like Santa Monica Community College in Los Angeles. The OP would still have to return to the original college to finish, but could have a great experience.</p>