Travel Studying abroad

[dales.girl38]

First time anyone living on Long Island has ever said that.

Now now, Long Island can be a very expensive place to live!

Plus, I only spent about 3 weekends in Long Island

 

[Gough]

A friend of mine did a semester in Albuquerque New Mexico. I was so envious, she can in all honesty say that she did actually turn left at Albuquerque.
She had a blast too.

 

[Iason]

Now now, Long Island can be a very expensive place to live!

Plus, I only spent about 3 weekends in Long Island

Atta girl, you did it right.

 

[Iason]

A friend of mine did a semester in Albuquerque New Mexico. I was so envious, she can in all honesty say that she did actually turn left at Albuquerque.
She had a blast too.

Beautiful part of the country, the Southwest is a pretty magical place.

 

[OzBomber]

Currently on the last week of the best 5 months of my life (so far). I've talked a fair bit on here about how fantastic exchange is, so I'll just try and answer your questions a bit.

I'm doing business as well (plus an arts degree, but my psych subjects weren't compatible) so I did 3 business units and my 1 remaining arts elective. All are counting towards my degree. It was a little stressful getting subjects approved, and I was pretty much stuck with them by the time my home uni gave them final approval, but it all worked out. Try not to stress about your subjects, pick a uni that offers a decent number of business units and it'll work out.

I was lucky that I saved a fair bit before I left, but with the $6k loan from the government and $1k grant most universities give (or more at some uni's), you've got a good start before you touch your savings. If you don't go overboard you can do it quite cheaply and if you're lucky enough to get a scholarship you'd be insane not to take advantage of it. If you're concerned about expenses, the US is a better option than say the UK, purely for the cost of living/exchange rates.

I understand what you mean about feeling daunted, but the thing about exchange is that there are 100 (or more) other people going through exactly the same thing and keen to make friends quickly. Plus, everybody loves our accent, you'll be fine.

Thanks, I really appreciate your post.

US isn't really my thing for some reason, but I'll still keep all options open. How much did you save up on top of the loans and grants? Did you also still get youth allowance?

Yeah I've heard that about the accents, especially in the UK where they love to banter with us about sport.

 

[dales.girl38]

Thanks, I really appreciate your post.

US isn't really my thing for some reason, but I'll still keep all options open. How much did you save up on top of the loans and grants? Did you also still get youth allowance?

Yeah I've heard that about the accents, especially in the UK where they love to banter with us about sport.

No worries

My budget isn't a really good guide, I've spent a lot of money on shopping, broadway (will be 16 shows) and little trips, including 11 days in England, an expensive Chicago trip including a playoffs game, Montreal/Quebec, DC, Philadelphia, Upstate NY/Niagara Falls, many Manhattan weekends etc. I don't qualify for any youth allowance, but I saved around $17k of my own money from working. I will go home with about $6k left. It's cost a lot, but I've also done a lot with that. You can do it for much less.

I first looked at studying in the UK but none of them were compatible with my degree. I'm so glad I ended up in the US, campus life is incredible, just like the movies, and I apparently picked a 'low campus life' school.

During my 11 days in England nobody cared about my accent From my experience Americans make much more of a fuss about it.

 

[Smiling Buddha]

My budget isn't a really good guide, I've spent a lot of money on shopping, broadway (will be 16 shows) and little trips, including 11 days in England, an expensive Chicago trip including a playoffs game, Montreal/Quebec, DC, Philadelphia, Upstate NY/Niagara Falls, many Manhattan weekends etc. I don't qualify for any youth allowance, but I saved around $17k of my own money from working. I will go home with about $6k left.

Hold on, are you saying that you've done all of that, and paid for everything else, with $11k?

Or are you leaving out other monies you've collected such as OS-HELP?

 

[dales.girl38]

Hold on, are you saying that you've done all of that, and paid for everything else, with $11k?

Or are you leaving out other monies you've collected such as OS-HELP?

No I also had the $6000 loan from the government and $1000 grant from my uni that I talked about before. You'd be silly not to take the loan when it's interest free.

 

[Happy_Neale]

Looking into this as well (Deakin Uni) for the U.S. Currently in the process of getting subjects approved and completing the application. It's a massive pain but from what I'm reading, sounds like it is worth it...

 

[Iason]

Looking into this as well (Deakin Uni) for the U.S. Currently in the process of getting subjects approved and completing the application. It's a massive pain but from what I'm reading, sounds like it is worth it...

Which school are you looking to go to?

 

[Happy_Neale]

Which school are you looking to go to?

Oregon State University or Iowa State University. Studying sport science so the subjects have to be quite specific, luckily got a few electives up my sleeve.

Have you done it also?

 

[Iason]

Oregon State University or Iowa State University. Studying sport science so the subjects have to be quite specific, luckily got a few electives up my sleeve.

Have you done it also?

In reverse. I did a semester at Bond Uni, I'm from the States.

Those are two schools in big sports conferences (and with football season coming up, you'll be getting a very uniquely American experience on a Saturday game day and massive tailgating), but be warned, they are in very rural locations. If this is your first time coming to the States, my suggestion would be to pick a school in a city. If you're ok with going to school in a small town, then go for it.

 

[Happy_Neale]

In reverse. I did a semester at Bond Uni, I'm from the States.

Those are two schools in big sports conferences (and with football season coming up, you'll be getting a very uniquely American experience on a Saturday game day and massive tailgating), but be warned, they are in very rural locations. If this is your first time coming to the States, my suggestion would be to pick a school in a city. If you're ok with going to school in a small town, then go for it.

Nice, Bond is a decent uni in a nice part of the country. Sounds like it would be perfect for exchange.

Yeah there isn't a lot of variation in the available schools for my degree unfortunately. We have a prescribed list of reccommended schools which already have pre-approved subjects for most degrees so choosing one of them made my job a lot easier wrt applying and finding matching subjects. I've been the the US before too so not that fussed about being in a town, I'd much prefer to get the authentic college experience. Plus Oregon is only an hour or so from Portland too which is awesome. How rural are we talking for Iowa? I saw somewhere they have 30,000 odd students so that in itself is larger than a small town.

I really wanted to go to Michigan State (mainly for the football) but they didn't do spring semester exchange.

 

[Iason]

Nice, Bond is a decent uni in a nice part of the country. Sounds like it would be perfect for exchange.

Yeah there isn't a lot of variation in the available schools for my degree unfortunately. We have a prescribed list of reccommended schools which already have pre-approved subjects for most degrees so choosing one of them made my job a lot easier wrt applying and finding matching subjects. I've been the the US before too so not that fussed about being in a town, I'd much prefer to get the authentic college experience. Plus Oregon is only an hour or so from Portland too which is awesome. How rural are we talking for Iowa? I saw somewhere they have 30,000 odd students so that in itself is larger than a small town.

I really wanted to go to Michigan State (mainly for the football) but they didn't do spring semester exchange.

Corvallis and Ames are in two states that are predominantly rural and can't be towns with a population bigger than 70k, but you're right, you will get a big college experience at state schools like that. Just get ready for the rain in Oregon, and for the freezing cold in Iowa.

Its Iowa. I'm from New York. Everything is rural to me.

Also get ready for the hordes of girls that haven't been out of their state throwing themselves at you because of your accent. Start hitting the gym now-ish.

 

[Happy_Neale]

Corvallis and Ames are in two states that are predominantly rural and can't be towns with a population bigger than 70k, but you're right, you will get a big college experience at state schools like that. Just get ready for the rain in Oregon, and for the freezing cold in Iowa.

Its Iowa. I'm from New York. Everything is rural to me.

Fair call. 70k is pretty big for a small town to me! Being from Melbourne rain isn't too much of an issue. Being that it will most likely be spring semester I go in I should finish up sometime around the start of summer I assume, so should be able to hang around and see a bit of the country during the warmer months.

Also get ready for the hordes of girls that haven't been out of their state throwing themselves at you because of your accent. Start hitting the gym now-ish.

That's what I like to hear.

 

[Iason]

Fair call. 70k is pretty big for a small town to me! Being from Melbourne rain isn't too much of an issue. Being that it will most likely be spring semester I go in I should finish up sometime around the start of summer I assume, so should be able to hang around and see a bit of the country during the warmer months.



That's what I like to hear.

If I were you, I'd go to OSU. Oregon is a beautiful state, and you'd be close to Portland, which is a very cool city (although its citizens have a very high opinion of themselves, kind of like the new San Francisco in that regard). Iowa is just.......flat. The Pacific North West is a beautiful, weird and unique place.

 

[Happy_Neale]

Yeah that's my first choice for sure. Have heard similar things about Portland too.

 

[treefingers]

No I also had the $6000 loan from the government and $1000 grant from my uni that I talked about before. You'd be silly not to take the loan when it's interest free.

Yeah I'm looking at getting the OS help loan for next semester, does anyone know if it's means tested or do they hand it out to everyone who applies?

 

[dales.girl38]

Yeah I'm looking at getting the OS help loan for next semester, does anyone know if it's means tested or do they hand it out to everyone who applies?

It's not means tested. You don't need to be on centrelink, they don't check your bank statements etc. however, you need to have passed 8 units and have 4 units remaining to complete when you return home. One of my friends on exchange from my home university failed a subject in first year, so she only had 7 credits - she managed to get a spot on exchange which is trickier when you don't have 8 credits, but she couldn't get the loan, even for the second semester (she's staying for one year) when you'd assume she'd have 8 by then.

 

[treefingers]

It's not means tested. You don't need to be on centrelink, they don't check your bank statements etc. however, you need to have passed 8 units and have 4 units remaining to complete when you return home. One of my friends on exchange from my home university failed a subject in first year, so she only had 7 credits - she managed to get a spot on exchange which is trickier when you don't have 8 credits, but she couldn't get the loan, even for the second semester (she's staying for one year) when you'd assume she'd have 8 by then.

Thanks.

Luckily I haven't failed anything so looks like I'll be set