Study abroad/transfer from Melbourne Uni, Australia to the US

Student Lounge International Students
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<p>Hi all, I'm a grad student (Master of International Politics) at the University of Melbourne in Australia.</p>

<p>After applying through my university's official exchange program for a year-long exchange to the US or Canada (in the end the University of Toronto was my first preference, though I'd much rather go to Berkeley or another quality US institution), I received a letter yesterday informing me that I could only exchange for a semester. This was not what I'd been told originally, but alas, there's little I can do about it now.</p>

<p>However, the confluence of this alongside the fact that I was discouraged from picking a UC (etc.) - which is where I <em>really</em> wanted to go - now makes me wonder if it's worth looking at other options - study abroad (i.e. applying directly to a university), or even a full transfer of my degree.</p>

<p>There are obvious problems with this:</p>

<ul>
<li>Funds. I expected my exchange trip to cost around $18,000 AUD (like, $16,000 US), and am reasonably confident I will have that amount - actually, I intended to raise $22,000 AUD - by point of departure (August 2008). However, study abroad/transfer is likely to cost significantly more.</li>
</ul>

<p>Probably $10,000 of that original amount will be from student loans and bank loans. I am not averse to taking out more loans - once in a lifetime opportunity and all that - but it will be absolutely impossible to get the money from elsewhere. My parents/relatives are poor with few assets.</p>

<p>I understand that financial aid is much harder to get for international students, but will my academic record (it's pretty sweet) and/or the impoverished nature of my parents help at all? Is there anything else I can look into?</p>

<ul>
<li>Secondly, since the process until this point had been relatively smooth, I had not made "contingency" arrangements. If I now apply for study abroad/transfer, the turnaround time will be short. It's already December, and I want to exchange in August/September next year.</li>
</ul>

<p>Am I being unrealistic?</p>

<p>I understand that many of these concerns need to be addressed to specific institutions, but at the same time that's putting the cart before the horse, since there's little point doing so if my expectations are unrealistic in the first place.</p>

<p>FWIW I'm aiming pretty high if I do this. Ivy Leagues are obviously the dream schools, but there are plenty of others on my radar - Berkeley, UCLA, UNC, GWU, Georgetown, Stanford, Boston College etc.</p>

<p>Hope someone can help, and if you think there's anything else I should be looking at/asking, please let me know! Thanks in advance :)</p>

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<p><em>bump</em></p>

<p>(It was about to drop off the page! Plleeeeeeeeeeeeeasssse someone? :))</p>

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<p>Oh P.S. I know that Ivies are not always as good at grad as they are at undergraduate, but I'll look into the specifics more once/if I apply anyway.</p>

<p>It's more likely that I'd try for one of the Californian colleges anyway - Stanford, UCB, UCLA etc.</p>

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<p>Graduate students in the US usually don't pay tuition. Instead they have teaching assistantships, research assistantships, fellowships etc. that cover tuition and pay a stipend for living costs (e.g. at UCB stipends range from $18 to $22K per year).</p>

<p>Application deadlines for regular admission have passed or are about to pass for most competitive programs (they are usually sometime in December). In order to apply you would need GRE scores among other things. Have you taken the GRE by any chance?</p>

<p>I am not familiar with policies concerning visiting students though. I cannot tell you anything about application requirements (e.g. whether or not you would have to take the GRE), deadlines or financing options. It might be a good idea to contact the departments you are interested in asap.</p>

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<p>Forgot to mention that financial aid (as in teaching and research assistantships) is NOT harder to get for internationals than for domestic students. In fact many undergraduate students at research universities complain about the number of foreign teaching assistants who cannot speak English properly (Of course that doesn't apply to you :))</p>

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<p>Cheers b@r!um: have already sent out feeler emails to the departments of a few colleges, investigating others as we speak.</p>

<p>Figure I will have to sit the SAT and probably a bunch of other things too, haven't come across the GRE yet but imagine I'll find info on this site.</p>

<p>That info's pretty helpful.</p>

<p>It looks like UCB and UCLA are both out already, but Stanford and Georgetown are (sort of) looking good - application deadlines aren't till Jan/Feb.</p>

<p>I'm looking most prominently at the following:</p>

<p>Stanford
Georgetown
Columbia
Princeton
Harvard
GWU
American
NYU</p>

<p>Probably in that order. Any further info people can give with that in conjunction with the original Qs - thanks again b@r - would be super!</p>

<p>I'll go track down some GRE info :)</p>

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<p>The GRE is the graduate version of the undergraduate SAT. Don't take the SAT if you are a graduate student.</p>

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<p>Downloading Powerprep now...</p>