Hi CC! Always wanted to post here, never got the chance.
Anyways I’m an Australian citizen (my parents are Aussie born and raised) but I moved to the US when I was 3 years old. We haven’t yet gotten our Greencard and thus I’m considered an International student when applying.
This is really annoying but what makes it worse is the fact that for some of the colleges that I’m applying to, I get different “international” essays compared to all of my friends, and they ask me questions like “Why would I like to study in the US?”
I’m not sure how to go about answering them seeing as the reason I’m applying to them is the fact that I live in the US - and have been for pretty much my whole life. I’ve talked to various college admissions people on the phone and they’ve told me that they don’t know how to answer my question.
Has anyone ever been in this situation and can they help me out?
Thanks!
The colleges won’t tell you how to answer the question but you just answered it above. You would like to study in the US because this is where you grew up. Depending on what the word count is you can write a short essay saying you moved here when you were 3 and this is the only country you feel connected to.
If you have lived in the USA since you were 3, your parents would have made a conscious choice not to become citizens or GC holders (That might be an Aussie thing or a financial thing) so getting annoyed is pointless. In your essay maybe explore that experience of being expat. Loads of kids are in your position.
Why would you like to study in the USA? Are you considering Aussie Unis?
Do you(and your parents) know the financial implications of being international? Does your state have resident friendly college rates for noncitizens? Do you know that many scholarships are for US citizens or GC only (even in my state at an 80% admission rate school, this is the req). Are you aware that being international reduces your chances of acceptance at many universities? Are your parents able to be full pay anywhere?