Weird life, I need advice from all-knowing parents

Parents Forum
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<p>I hate the chances forum! that felt good to get off my chest. </p>

<p>To the point: I need the advice of you, the parents. Excuse me for the long-winded, life story-esque post.</p>

<p>At high school I was a mediocre student in a good school (B+ average), generally sticking to tennis as a release. In the tenth grade I took a career test that came back with my ideal careers: </p>

<p>1.Architect;
2.Stuntman;
3.Plumber.</p>

<p>It made me have even less of a clue what I wanted to do, so I took some weird and wonderful subjects. (Visual Art, Applied Math, Ancient History, Literature, Chemistry and French). It was fun but not exactly productive.</p>

<p>After taking my tertiary entrance exams, I decided to take a year off to clear my head. It was an extraordinary year - I became a ski instructor, achieved fluency in french, worked as an intern in the British parliament as well as in a non-governmental organization that worked on governance in Africa. How it happened was a blur, however, I developed a passion for economics and international relations, with an emphasis on the third world. </p>

<p>With reluctance I returned to the Australian city in which I grew up, known as the most isolated and second-windiest city in the world, to study a double degree of Arts and Economics. (Majors - Politics, Economics and French). Unfortunately I burst right into the middle of an ongoing domestic dispute - my stepfather had gone a tad loopy (I understate to the point of ridiculousness) - so my mother and I were homeless for a month. (Long story, apparently locksmiths can come round within 3 hours...). We got by sleeping at people's places until we could get rent money (Mum's a PhD student..)</p>

<p>Then, when things started to look slightly better, tolerable even, I was diagnosed with a specific type of cancer that was both aggressive, rare and difficult to treat. For the final two months of my first semester, I was in and out of hospital for testing and planning for a very short future. You know it's bad when you get told to do things you always wanted to do but never had the chance. </p>

<p>Somehow, I got lucky. Two days before my last semester exam, I got a call from my very elated doctor. Amazingly, he had made a massive mistake - I wasn't dying. Needless to say, I was a very happy man. The "miracle" was in a couple of newspapers and life began to be better for me. Despite my circumstances, I managed to get a B average in that semester. Now, as this semester ends, I'm on an A average. </p>

<p>The whole experience helped me realize exactly what I wanted to do, and that I was wasting my time in Australia. I don't try to think that I've had a hard life, I've been to some of the poorest nations on earth. Please don't think of me as a pity seeker, I would hate that. </p>

<p>Anyway, I have begun preparations to transfer to the US, since I feel I am wasted here. I've been researching constantly exactly where I want to go, which coincidentally represents much of the top 25 list. Unfortunately, my circumstances, as well as a past laziness that seems to haunt me more than two years on, is my massive barrier.</p>

<p>My questions are numerous, probably irritating, yet hopefully directed to the right people.</p>

<p>Firstly, should I even mention what I have said above?
Am I on the right track to a good university?
Say if I decided to stay for an extra year at my university, taking tough courses getting As etc, would I have a better chance?</p>

<p>And should I even bother? Do any of you have sons or daughters who decided to stay where they were, only to do postgraduate studies at their dream college?</p>

<p>I think I had more, but I guess that's it. For the record, my dream school is Brown, major: Development studies. :D</p>

<p>I thank any of you who have the time to respond.</p>

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<p>Just exactly how do you propose to pay for your education in the US? It is very difficult for transfer students to get financial aid. It is very difficult for international students to get financial aid. This means that it will be very nearly impossible for you to get financial aid.</p>

<p>Your best bet is to finish your first degree in Australia. Then, you can pursue post-graduate work in the US or elsewhere if you wish. A good first degree in Economics or Politics should prepare you well for post-graduate studies in Development.</p>

<p>If you have not yet done so, read through the material at [EducationUSA</a> | Study Abroad, Student Visa, University Fairs, College Applications and Study in the U.S. / America](<a href=“http://www.educationusa.info/]EducationUSA”>http://www.educationusa.info/) then pay a visit to the advising center closest to you. There are several in Australia [EducationUSA</a> - Find an Advising Center](<a href=“http://www.educationusa.info/Australia]EducationUSA”>http://www.educationusa.info/Australia) The counselors there are expert at helping students from your country find good places to study in the US.</p>

<p>Wishing you all the best.</p>

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<p>I think you should give the admissions office at Brown a call. You’d be applying as a transfer, you’re the kind of quirky student Brown likes, who knows? I agree financial aid might be a huge challenge, but it’s only a phone call. Ask them, not us.</p>

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<p>Thank you very much for your responses. </p>

<p>@happymomof1 - I will not be applying for financial aid - sorry I should have mentioned that in my post. And yes, I acknowledge that studying in the US will be at great expense. I am finding the decision between staying and finishing my two degrees here and going to study in the US very difficult. There are great reasons either way, but I am most concerned with maximizing the quality of my education. At my current university, classes are huge, teacher-student interaction is difficult and generally unheard of, whilst slashes in state funding ravish entire departments. I have good friends here and I am involved in university life, but it’s not enough.</p>

<p>@dmd77 - So you think i should mention the stuff I said above? Or does it sound like I’m just trying to find reasons for my lack of performance in the past? And sorry to sound like an idiot, but what would a call to the admissions center achieve? Or did you mean in terms of financial aid? </p>

<p>Does anyone else have any advice?</p>

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<p>Your life story sounds compelling and if you can describe it well in your essays, you might get into an excellent school. If you are interested in development, your practical, on-the-ground experience during your gap year ought to count in your favor. The private, elite schools also strive for geographical diversity. Still, is it possible to transfer some place more suitable within Australia? You will not only likely have to pay a lot to attend Brown, but traveling back and forth will be very costly. It seems more sensible, as a previous poster said, to get your BA in Australia and then go to your “dream school” for a graduate degree–which you’ll need in this field in any case.</p>

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<p>“Your life story sounds compelling and if you can describe it well in your essays, you might get into an excellent school. If you are interested in development, your practical, on-the-ground experience during your gap year ought to count in your favor. The private, elite schools also strive for geographical diversity.” </p>

<p>This is good to know. I’m a good essay writer when I give it a go. I feel the main problem will be putting it all in - there’s a lot of detail some of it seemingly conflicting. Would this go in the section where I explain my reasons for transferring, or why i took a break from my studies? (I think the latter is in the main part of the common app.)</p>

<p>In respect to transferring elsewhere in Australia - when I left high school I applied for some of the universities on the east coast. Australian National University has a good development studies major - something I did not know at the time. However, I really would love to go to a university with a small community, college atmosphere, and most of all small and dynamic classes. I did not get good vibes from ANU, but I still might apply. It would be a whole lot cheaper - and I acknowledge this. With flights - it’s not too bad - my dad lives in London and studying in the US would actually mean I’d be able to spend some time with him :slight_smile: </p>

<p>Is it not more difficult to enter into postgraduate studies in the US than transferring as an undergraduate? And wouldn’t I have to do tests like the GMAT?</p>

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<p>Also, does anyone know if you can put in additional references - ie from one of my internships?</p>

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<p>I think that it is hard to transfer into a top school and it is hard to gain admission to graduate school in a top school.</p>

<p>I would advise you to finish your bachelor’s degree in Australia. It it not difficult to enter postgraduate studies in the U.S. if you are not aiming for a top graduate program. Many, many schools offer masters degrees in, say, economics, with minimal entrance criteria - or have slightly harder entrance criteria but allow “conditional admittance.” </p>

<p>I googled: Here is an example of entrance criteria at a not-difficult-to-enter program
<a href=“http://www.umkc.edu/catalog/Master_of_Arts__Economics.html[/url]”>http://www.umkc.edu/catalog/Master_of_Arts__Economics.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>For many schools you will need to take the GRE but for a good student, the GRE is not a difficult test, and, of course, students from Australia don’t need to take the TOEFL.</p>

<p>(If you really want to transfer to a school in the U.S. to finish your bachelor’s degree, I think you will need to find an inexpensive school, preferably in a location with an inexpensive cost of living.)</p>

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<p>The reason for my transferring is purely to go to a much better university where I will receive quality education and a career path. Here, the economics and language departments have had their funding slashed - is that a good environment for further education? I hope not.</p>

<p>And to reiterate, funding is not an issue.</p>

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<p>

If money is no object, search cc (here’s one old post <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/3189530-post13.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/3189530-post13.html&lt;/a&gt;) and look at the US News list of Top 100 National Universities and Top 100 LACs as a place to start. </p>

<p>For those that appeal to you, check their transfer admission rate, and if it looks reasonable, apply. Your life story is compelling and you are clearly a smart student. I think you could be admitted to a top school as a transfer student.</p>

<p>Good luck and keep us posted!</p>

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<p>reading your first post, it sounds like the family had some financial issues in the past.
You realize that it will cost you $55K or more a year at a top private college in US, do you? Even at a state university, you will have to pay quite a premium since you are not an in-state resident as an international student. For instance, Berkeley tuition for international student is almost on part with that of a private school. </p>

<p>Even if you somehow manage to find the funding, I would suggest you finish the study in Australia and save the money for graduate study in USA. The “elusive” better education in USA is not worth $200K extra. Even if your current school does not give you the best kind of undergrad experience you are looking for, you can still read/study on your own as much as you cant/want. In this day and age of MIT lectures available on Internet, your insistence that you HAVE TO be in USA to get the kind of education you want sounds a bit childish and immature, when it comes at a cost of $200K. That’s a hell of a luxury shopping that cannot be justified easily when you can easily make up for whatever it is you are missing in the graduate school.</p>

<p>I have many many colleagues who finished their undergraduate study in some obscure international locations, excelled there, got great GRE scores, went to a top US graduate school, thrived, and settled down very nicely in USA with their spiffy graduate degree. In many cases, Ph.D. program at a top graduate school in USA is fully funded, so they don’t even need a lot of their own money to do it.</p>

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<p>Wow, I just looked at the views for this thread. There’s a lot of people on the parents forum…</p>

<p>Thank you MidwestMom, you’ve helped me clarify a lot regarding my transfer application. Firstly - I think I’m going to wait another two semesters until i transfer, so I can boost my averages and research thoroughly into the schools I want to get into. </p>

<p>At the moment my list is as follows:</p>

<p>Brown (1)
UChicago (2)
Northwestern (3)</p>

<p>Wesleyan
NYU
Vanderbilt
Cornell
WUSTL
UPenn</p>

<p>It’s seriously top heavy, but hopefully my essay is good enough to get me into at least one of them! Give it a go and see what happens :)</p>