<p>Hello! I am an American Studies senior(with a minor in French) from Romania, which should automatically imply "NO college counseling whatsoever"( we don't even have a psychologist here, at the oldest and most prestigious university in Bucharest, for crying out loud!)...My all-time dream was to go to the U.S. and become a writer,as a consequence of which I'd like to do an MA in English Lit there,but lately everything seems to fall apart...My GPA seems to be just fine, professors like me(some told me that I'm a brilliant student), and I'm not looking for easy ways to succeed in life(will work hard, will love what I'll be doing)...However, my parents' total income is less than $12,000/year, so I cannot pay for graduate studies, I believe it's way too late to start an admission program for this fall, and, on top of all that, I think I blew my TOEFL( Internet Based--boy, was that a stupid decision!). I don't have the results yet, but my mind went blank at the speaking part, where I had 15 seconds to think of an answer and 40 to formulate it...I even cursed at some point, and let my tears stream down...
That being the case, do you have some advice for me? Should I just forget about everything-America, grad school- and take a year off to meditate upon my future, read at leisure and relax? If not, should I fight for my dream? And, more importantly, against whom, starting from where?
Thank you very much!</p>
<p>First of all, great username there.
Open for correction here (I’m Irish, not American)</p>
<p>You could always do an MA in Europe (fees would be much lower as you’re an EU citizen), somewhere like Northern Ireland or Scotland where the fees are fairly low. Could then redo the TOEFL.</p>
<p>You could then apply to do a PHD in the US in English literature (most universities offer funding packages for PHD students)</p>
<p>^Exactly. Do something in England, though it’s kind of late. Either hurry or just wait - there’s plenty to do in a gap year.</p>
<p>PS. Si eu sunt roman, dar traiesc in America. In schimb, ma duc la facultate in Anglia 
Si sa stii ca vorebsti englezeste f bine :D</p>
<p>actually, I have a different suggestion - get a job. My son and his now girlfriend were both English majors in the US (separate colleges) and after undergraduate they each got a job - writing about technology. Each or either may decide to go on to grad school later but you do not need grad school now to write. “Writers” write no matter what - if you are not writing now perhaps you do not really want to be a writer.</p>