lalalacereza

I have a credit card that charges no overseas cash withdrawal fee and no currency conversion fee (Wizard, for any Australians reading). I will load it up with $ and then take out the cash and deposit it in my bank account. No fees!

I did my honours year (like a pre-PhD year in Australian unis) in genocide studies, and almost went into a PhD in a similar field to what you're describing. Think about criminology departments. A friend of mine did a good bit of her doctoral research in criminology/genocide studies at Berkeley. Also check out Purdue, I believe that their PoliSci dept does lots around conflict, peace etc. Someone I know is doing his PhD in peacebuilding there.

That's good. I commented on this because an Afghan friend of mine recently had a 20 minute grilling and an Indonesian girl I'll be studying with had a similar experience. Of the ten or so people I know who've applied for visas to study in the US, there's been a pretty clear split between those of us from culturally western nations and those from developing countries.

They won't worry about the ties to home stuff. I think that's in place so they can weed out the ones who use some crappy tech certificate course to get into the country and then disappear. It's a horrible thing to say, but I'm sure that they look much less closely at those of us from western countries. When I went (UK citizen) they looked at my stuff, asked how I chose my uni, what expenses were covered by my scholarship, and told me they were approving the visa. One minute flat.

Berkeley's International and Area Studies might be worth a look. Seems like a pretty customisable program.

I worked my way through Sharon Weiner Green & Ira Wolf's How to Prepare for the GRE Test and it got me from 39th percentile in practice tests up to a 73rd percentile 710 in the real thing. That's not a very high score to most of you, but it was a major achievement for me -- I last did maths in year 10 in 1995! I spent about ten or twenty hours studying in the month before I took it. The best tip in it was to take your time with the first seven questions, as they determine most of what your final score will be.

The best IR school in Australia is the Australian National University. Hands down, tops for IR/policy/politics. I'm pretty sure they have an 18 month coursework + thesis MA. Also look into University of Melbourne, Monash University, Uni of Queensland, Uni of Sydney, Uni of New South Wales, Uni of Western Australia. These are the top seven Aus unis. Others worth considering are Macquarie, Swinburne, Deakin, LaTrobe. PM me if you have questions.

I have strugled for years with spellcheckers that try to Americanise my spelling. I am very fond of my own spellings, thank you, and I don't WANT to change them! So is this likely to be an issue in my Development Policy MA papers and thesis? I really, really, really don't want to change.

Yeah, I'[m wondering about licences too. I have an Australian provisional licence, and I wonder if they'll make me take the driving test...

Yeah, on my last Q practice test I was in the 53rd percentile, but the actual result the next day was 73rd. Luckily for me it can swing either way!

You sure that's possible?

Just got mine today. I hope that they put the right figure on the bit where they list my stipend amount, 'cos it's $2k more than I thought I was getting!

bump!

I'm Australian, experience in community development at home and overseas. My undergrad degree is in international relations, and I'm doing a development policy master's. Why? Because IR tends to be theoretical. I've had four years of discussing why things are the way they are and looking at issues from different perspectives, now I want to learn how to DO stuff. I suggest looking at your choices' curricula, and seeing which offer vocational courses like project management, evaluation, managing staff in a developing country. I decided to go to Duke because the PIDP is so clearly aimed at preparing workers rather than academics. I also think that your classmates are an important factor. Networking is the only way to get a foothold in this sector, and a diverse class with lots of foreign students will be valuable.

What are you guys doing about insuring yourself to get home in the event of illness? My school insurance covers my expenses while I'm at uni in teh US, but if I have an accident or get so sick I can't study anymore I'd like to know that my paren't won't be up for a $50,000 bill to get me home to our beloved universal healthcare system safely. I've been looking for policies that just cover this, with no luck. Any ideas? I'm Australian.

Nup, not yet. Was told to expect it within three weeks, four weeks ago...

The foundation that's sponsoring my grad studies has suggested that I contact my undergrad alumni associations to let them know that I've been granted this big-deal fellowship. I've tried to type out an email a couple of times, but it always looks so... wrong. Too narcissistic, or formal, or casual, depending on which attempt I look at! Has anyone else done this? What did you write?

I just got my stipend info from Duke and it's less than I expected -- $15k for the academic year. That's going to mean $1500 a month considering that I'll have to get there early to look for a place. Is that a doable budget? I have been working for a few years and am used to a proper wage! I hear that a car's essential, plus I have to fork out $3k a year for medical insurance, so I'm having a little freakout episode.

I don't think you're missing anything, thanks for your reply. It'd be more of a public policy focus, or even in international relations. Now I'm looking at social sector reform in developing countries, but have no idea what it'll morph into over the next couple of years. Things are very different here in Australia -- I could have walked straight out of undergrad into a 3 year PhD program, skipping the MA -- so I don't know how it all works over there. So it is theoretically possible to roll an MA from one uni into a PhD program at another?

I wasn't sure where to put this thread, so please move it if you can think of a better home for it! I have been accepted into an MA, and I'm very pleased. The selection committee prefers, but doesn't require, people with a background in economics. I didn't do any during my undergrad degree, but started a first year course this (Australian) semester, so it will be finished by the time I start in August. I mentioned this class on my application. I am a little panicky about it, and am scared that I'll fail. I've never had less than a B equivalent before, but this semester has been so full of work and illness and responsibilities over and above my normal life. Realistically, failing isn't likely, but I'd like to know if it would be the death knell for my admission. I suppose I might need a bit of a kick in the bum to get me studying harder! The offer letter says 'you are hereby granted admission to the Graduate School...', and makes no mention of conditional acceptance pending results from this one class. If it's not mentioned, does that mean they won't require proof of completion before I matriculate?

I'm starting a Master's in International Development this year. It's a terminal program, so there's no PhD to transfer into if I decide I want to do that at the end. I chose this degree because it came with a lovely fellowship and benefits (ie fully funded internship overseas). So what happens when you have an MA from one uni but want to do a relevant PhD at another? Is it generally possible to transfer over and not have to do a full 5 years, or do grad programs want you there for the whole time? I'd be looking at fairly high ranking programs, I think. My undergrad degree is solid and from the #1 ranked university in my major (in my country), the MA is at a top ten uni, and I have a lot of relevant work experience, good professional and academic references etc in case that makes a difference to your answers.

How hard is it for an international student to sign up for a phone plan? In no small part to make my dad jealous, I want to get an iPhone, but it seems they're only available with a 2 year plan from AT&T. Will they just want a security deposit, or is it an big hassle?

Thanks for the replies. I'll be in NC. I'm just going to have to get there 29 days before classes start!

I have a 10 year tourist visa (B2) for the US. I'm going to get an F1 before I leave. As far as I can tell, an F1 only allows you to enter up to 30 days before your course's start date. I'd like to give myself six weeks -- I suffer terribly from jetlag, and know that the housing market is tight by the middle/end of July. So I'd like to enter on my B2, and then switch over to the F1 while I'm there. Is this feasible? Possible? I haven't googled up anything about this. Another question is about expired passports. If I get a visa in my current one and it expires, do I need to get a new one in my renewed passport, or do I just carry them both? And for the bonus round, if I enter on passport A from country X and it expires while I'm there, could I travel in and out of the country on valid passport B from country Y, presenting the valid visa in expired passport A? This last question may be too much of a stretch for anyone to understand, let alone answer!

It didn't matter in the end