Were/are you an international student?

[Amethyst Rose]

If so, I need your help.

I am trying to go to school in the States, but I'm Canadian. The process to become an international student seems very difficult. I think that the most difficult part will be in proving that I can afford my entire program. I won't be getting any financial assistance from my government, but we won't have any money saved by the time I start school, because my husband will have just started a new job.

Anyway, all that asside....I was wondering if anyone here had any experiences as an international student and can offer me some advice, or tell me what exactly you had to do to become accepted.
Thanks :)

[Stacy]

OK, I'm still an International Student (although I'm waiting for a green card applied by my relatives in here).

First of all I needed to finish TOEFL (I don't think that would be requirement for you, unless your primary language is French?).

Than I had to fill out the application for the specific school. I also needed a sponsor (in my case my dad) to guarantee that he will be responsible for ALL my expenses while living in here.

Also, I had to send the statement from his bank that he has enough money to cover my school expenses for all years (initially I applied in community college, so it costed less than a University) and an additional sum of money for living.

And that's about it.. Can't think of anything right now, but if I do, I'll let you know..

Also, let me know if you have more questions..

[Mnemosyne]

I studied in the UK for a year. It was super easy to get into, since I just went through an exchange program through my university in the US.
Have you looked at school websites? Go to the admission page of a school, and it will have a section for international students. For example, here is the site for UCD. http://why.ucdavis.edu/admissions/intl_requirements.cfm

[Sukie]

HI I'm also an Int.Student
Things you need to do:
TOEFL
SAT
Ask your bank to give you a letter talking about your credit
write an essay
and I think that's all you need plus your highschool scores...
Well, at least that's what they asked me to send

[Amethyst Rose]

Well, I'm going to get my Masters and/or PHd, so I don't have to worry about my SAT's, but I do have to take GREs. I also don't have to worry about highschool marks, thank goodness.

I think what I'm more interested in is how the whole visa thing works. Basically, I don't think I'll be able to go to school under a student visa, because I have to prove the ability to pay for my entire program, either through personal savings or through a sponsor. I can't do this -- I don't know anyone who could sponsor me, and I don't have that money saved. What I was planning on doing was paying monthly, like I did my first time in university.

What I really have to figure out is the whole Visa situation. My husband thinks that if we move there and he gets a work visa, then that visa also covers his dependents. If this is so, then I won't be applying with a student visa and everything is a whole lot easier.

Anyway, thanks for your experiences and suggestions everyone :)

[Mnemosyne]

Good Luck with the visa thing. I honestly think that it is not too hard for students to get a student visa. Is it your embassy who you can talk to about your situation?

Amethyst, have you studied for the GREs before? I found the test to be kind of hard. That test frustrated me, since you can only take it on the computer here. Once you hit enter on a question, you can't go back and check your answer. Agggghhhh!!!

[Amethyst Rose]

I have started studying for the GRE's, by taking practice tests and such, which I downloaded from the website http://www.gre.org. So for they're quite helpful, but I don't remember half of my highschool math, so I've also bought some books from Amazon.com specifically for studying for the GREs.... hopefully they'll get my scores up. I'll be taking the test in St. Croix most likely, and all they do is the computer test there...hopefully it won't be too bad.....

As for the Visa....I'm still looking into that. What I get out of what I've read so far is that international students have to prove they can afford the education. (I don't think the embassy could help me out with that :)) I was planning on getting a graduate assistantship anyway (which pays for tuition), but in most schools only 2nd years can do that, so it seems....

We have plenty of time to look into it and figure things out, it's just nice to know what to expect.....