I need your help please (=*,*=)

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Aisha
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Joined: Mon Nov 24, 2008 6:38 pm

I need your help please (=*,*=)

Post by Aisha » Tue Nov 25, 2008 7:01 am

i am a woman from kuwait and i want to countiue my study BA in USA but i dont know which state i choice :(
iam 25 & divorced & i have 3 children
some people told me Minnesota state but they said its too cold,does it?
i want your advise
thanks for your Cooperation :)

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secander2!
Posts: 264
Joined: Mon Oct 27, 2008 12:25 pm

Re: I need your help please (=*,*=)

Post by secander2! » Tue Nov 25, 2008 9:33 am

What sort of things are you looking for in a school and a state? Climate? People? Quality of education? Anyways, I've never been to Kuwait, but I lived in Texas for many years and it's probably pretty similar climate-wise. UT Austin is a very good school and it has a strong physics department. Also, it's a fairly open minded campus, so hopefully you wouldn't have to deal with as much racism or sexism as you might find at some other southern/Texan schools. It might be a good place to consider!

pqortic
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Joined: Fri Aug 29, 2008 9:24 am

Re: I need your help please (=*,*=)

Post by pqortic » Tue Nov 25, 2008 11:26 am

California Universities are also full of International students and cities have many Arab residents.

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gliese876d
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Re: I need your help please (=*,*=)

Post by gliese876d » Tue Nov 25, 2008 5:12 pm

I'm a divorced mom of 2, so I sympathize, and though I was born in the US and don't have much insight into what's best coming from overseas, I can answer some of your questions.

1. Climate: from what I've quickly looked at online, Kuwait seems to be a pretty warm climate. Minnesota is about as opposite a climate as you can imagine. It is cold there--really damn cold if you're used to a climate like what I assume Kuwait is like. Don't let anyone convince you it's not cold there. I live in Pittsburgh, PA and the winters are awful here, but Minnesota is even worse. Yet I'll hear people who grew up in cold climates constantly claiming it's "temperate" or "not so bad." They are full of it. It's bad. It's snowing right now here in November and this is not our first snow this year (that came in October). Now the summers can get hot here and in Minnesota, but the warm season is short-lived. I would say you need some sort of jacket for at least half the year, and for at least a quarter of the year, you'll be wearing mittens and hats and scarfs and shoveling snow. If you're looking for a warm climate, Southern California, Arizona, Texas or Florida are probably where you want to be.

2. Cost of living. Now, balancing cost of living with climate in the US can be tricky. The thing Minnesota and Pittsburgh have going for them is they are really cheap to live, which can be a big consideration for a single mom. California is expensive. I'm not sure about Arizona or Texas, but I'm pretty certain they are more expensive than Minnesota or Pittsburgh but probably not as expensive as California. That kind of narrows the list down to Florida. Florida has a warm but humid climate, but cost of living is pretty affordable. If I were you I would check into the University of Florida. The cost of living there in Gainesville, FL is comparable to Minnesota, the climate is pretty warm but not as oppressively hot as southern FL. I lived in FL for a year before I had kids, and more recently I've visited Gainesville, FL and it seems like it would be a good place to raise kids. Also state schools in FL are extremely affordable. To give a comparison, California schools are nearly free once you establish residency (which normally takes a year), but housing costs and food and utility costs are really high, so it's still probably cheaper overall to get your bachelor's in FL.

Just my opinion...

kaosgrace
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Joined: Sat Nov 01, 2008 4:19 am

Re: I need your help please (=*,*=)

Post by kaosgrace » Wed Jan 14, 2009 10:28 pm

Do you think you can get a scholarship? Or will you receive aid from sources in Kuwait? If not, if you come to the US on a student visa, you may struggle a great deal with balancing the extraordinarily high cost of attendance for international students with the likelihood that you will not be allowed to work or will be restricted to a very limited number of hours. It's probable that you won't even be able to earn enough in a year to pay for your tuition.

However, if you are able to obtain a visa that allows you to immigrate and work in the U.S., you have more options. You will not be able to start school right away, but you will also not be stuck attending a school you don't like in a location you don't enjoy at a cost you can't afford.

If you are able to immigrate, I would suggest starting in a state in approximately the southern half of the country (look for the northern border of Maryland on the East Coast of the U.S. and draw a line due west. Consider states south of that line). When you get here, try to talk to some people, strengthen your conversational English skills, and find out as much as you can about the country and the colleges and universities here.

After a few months of adjustment and learning, choose the state where you want to attend school, find a job there, move, and stay for a year. You will then qualify for in-state tuition which is considerably lower and you may qualify for scholarship programs for state residents or single parents. Apply to the schools in that state and enjoy!



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