Americans Abroad!

[geo717]

Hi! I'm from California, went to a state school for geosciences (M.S.). I've been working for a couple years, but missed research, so going back for a PhD. Currently applying to positions in Germany, Australia, and New Zealand. Grateful to have found GradCafe - it's at least keeping me slightly sane through this process!

Edited April 9, 2016 by geo717

[SeanORaff33]

I went to a small undergrad in West Virginia and am planning to apply to some MPA/MPP programs in my new home state of North Carolina. I have been considering it for a while and I think I am also going to explore the possibility of going to school in Ireland/UK or Australia as well. My biggest question right now is how early should I start my application process? On the American academic schedule I will be applying for admission for the fall 2017 semester.

[Revenant]

I went to University College Cork for my undergraduate junior year abroad in '07-'08. My then-boyfriend, now-husband has a fantastic job as a firefighter/EMT in his hometown, and therefore is unable to move - transfer may be possible, but he'd lose his pension, etc., and nothing abroad pays as well for first responders.

So for years I've been trying to get a graduate program off the ground in the state of New Jersey or just outside of it, all the while really hoping I could get back to Europe. Friends of mine studied in Iceland, England, Germany, Norway, and Denmark and I admit I was a little sick and jealous of them, even though I now have a family and husband and house and all the other nice things that staying here has wrought.

Well, with Trump and his cronies in office - and more importantly, millions of fellow Americans thinking that's a great idea - my husband and I agree on getting our kid out of the country by whatever means necessary. The easiest way, we decided, is for me to finally do my European post-graduate work, and that means, hopefully, returning to UCC or UCD (I still have many friends in Ireland, most of them in Cork but several in the Dublin area). 

I'll have to apply for a dependent visa for my son but I'm already in touch with INIS, and he's already on three waiting lists for daycare. My husband will stay in the States, sell the house and my car, and support us. It's not ideal but it's right for us. So I welcome any advice about bringing children abroad (he will be 2 in May), getting a derivative visa, accommodation (how am I supposed to have references when I own my own house?), and so on.

[International Learner]

Hi everyone!

I got accepted into Queen Mary University of London. I will be graduating with my BA in English this May. I really want to go, but I'm trying to understand the financial aspect of it. Any suggestions?

[Matthew3957]

Has anyone applied to an MA program in Germany as a US/Canadian? I am looking into the MA in English at FU Berlin, Humboldt, Heidelberg, or LMU (Munich). I sent them all messages about the application process but have gotten very little back. It seems almost too easy so I am a little freaked out.

I have a BA in Literature. 

[ptork66]

Hi everyone!

I'm ptork66. I'm originally from Texas (but also lived in OK and NC). I graduated from UNCW in 2008 with a BA in Sociology. I moved to the UK in 2009 to be with my now-husband of 7 years, completed in 2013 a PG Certificate with Merit in Child, Adolescent and Family Mental Health, and have now been accepted to study part-time the MSc Research Methods in Psychology at Anglia Ruskin. I currently work as a PA at Cambridge University and am also a part-time barista at Caffe Nero.

I hate the weather (it rains way too much - my Texas hometown gets more average yearly rainfall than London but it rains on less days there, and it's way too cold for far too long), have a number of gripes about certain aspects of the culture, and the cost of living is way too high (and my husband won't let us move somewhere cheaper, like Liverpool). But I'm here in the UK for the long haul. I haven't been back to the States since 2011 and don't really plan on going back (possibly ever, even for visits), certainly not to live long-term. The only reason I don't yet have British citizenship is because it's so expensive, but I do have permanent residency and plan on citizenship late next year or early 2019 - I need to be able to vote, it's driving me mad that I can't! I'd really love to move to another country for a little while, but I'm not sure my husband can be convinced.

[Grace Bones]

I see this thread is quite old lol. I got my acceptance letter very early.

I'm from WA and got my BA there. I'll be getting my MSc in Sheffield, UK. I've lived in Norway before so I kind of have an idea of what moving abroad will be like. Never lived in the UK though, only visited.

I'm really unfamiliar with actual British culture, other than what I see on tv. I don't know how people make friends there. I would have preferred Norway but Sheffield has the perfect program for me. 

[Lena_Regina]

On 1/29/2018 at 2:38 PM, Grace Bones said:

I see this thread is quite old lol. I got my acceptance letter very early.

tagging onto your post since I'm also from WA going to the UK for school! I'm getting my MA from the University of Manchester.

I have a couple friends in London, but I've never been to Manchester and I'd love any tips on what the area's like/ what to expect from a UK grad program.  

[Grace Bones]

On 2/5/2018 at 10:55 AM, Lena_Regina said:

tagging onto your post since I'm also from WA going to the UK for school! I'm getting my MA from the University of Manchester.

I have a couple friends in London, but I've never been to Manchester and I'd love any tips on what the area's like/ what to expect from a UK grad program.  

We're going to be neighbors lol. Sheffield is about an hour from Manchester. What are you studying?

I have 0 friends in the UK, but one especially loyal friend in Oslo.

[Lena_Regina]

@Grace Bones I'm going to be studying linguistics! The term doesn't start until late septemeber though, so I'll probably get there right as it starts to get cold.

[Vivalabetsy]

I won't be quite as international as you all, but I got an offer of acceptance with full funding to the University of Saskatchewan and will almost certainly be accepting.  I kind of wish I'd applied to schools abroad, but I'm really thrilled with my program--it honestly feels like it's tailor-made for me.  You may very well see me back here if I have questions.

Congratulations to everyone who got acceptances!

Edited February 27, 2018 by Vivalabetsy

[Indecisive Poet]

Hey all,

Not sure if any response can be garnered on this somewhat inactive thread, but figured I'd try anyway:

Does anyone have experience banking in the UK? I am looking at international postgraduate accounts for 1 year. It appears NatWest/Royal Bank of Scotland have a monthly account fee of £10 and it looks like Santander has a fee as well, though it's not clear. Not sure about HSBC, and Barclays appears to be free. Any suggestions? If it comes to paying a monthly fee for the account, I'd rather opt out and just use my credit cards the whole year, but that seems inconvenient in case I need cash for anything.

Also, I am looking at Vodafone's £5/month PAYG sim card. I've used Three in the past but I don't think I will need as much as their minimum package offers and I don't want to pay £10 a month if I can save on that. I used Vodafone a couple years back and didn't have any problems with it. Any other suggestions? I plan to be on WiFi the majority of the time and I'd really just like the card so I can make occasional calls if I need to. I'm thinking about going on a camping trip next summer and I may switch to a more data-friendly provider then in the event that that pans out.

[KTJ]

On 8/11/2018 at 12:25 PM, indecisivepoet said:

Does anyone have experience banking in the UK? I am looking at international postgraduate accounts for 1 year. It appears NatWest/Royal Bank of Scotland have a monthly account fee of £10 and it looks like Santander has a fee as well, though it's not clear. Not sure about HSBC, and Barclays appears to be free. Any suggestions? If it comes to paying a monthly fee for the account, I'd rather opt out and just use my credit cards the whole year, but that seems inconvenient in case I need cash for anything.

Also, I am looking at Vodafone's £5/month PAYG sim card. I've used Three in the past but I don't think I will need as much as their minimum package offers and I don't want to pay £10 a month if I can save on that. I used Vodafone a couple years back and didn't have any problems with it. Any other suggestions? I plan to be on WiFi the majority of the time and I'd really just like the card so I can make occasional calls if I need to. I'm thinking about going on a camping trip next summer and I may switch to a more data-friendly provider then in the event that that pans out.

Hi there! I have some limited experience. When I was in the UK previously (2 years ago), I set up an account with NatWest, and as far as I can remember/know there is no fee (this having had the account for around two years now). However, I also set up my account through my school during international student orientation, so I'm not sure if there was a deal between the banks/school that did away with any fees. I'm not sure where you're studying, but maybe reach out to someone at your school and see if they have any advice on this? I'm heading back to the UK this fall and while I won't need to set up a whole new account, I've noticed that my school (different from the previous one) is holding a session on banking during their international student orientation. 

As for the cell phones, I previously used giffgaff. Their plans are basically monthly or top-up things, and they were really easy to use. I picked a "goody bag" (basically their plan) that was around £10 a month that included 2 GB (or MB? I'm not sure the difference, whatever is bigger) and I think 500 minutes, but I also recall them offering a far more basic plan for around £5 (or maybe less?). I believe they run their network through O2, and as far as I remember the service was excellent wherever I was, even when I was sort of in the middle of the countryside. 

[placeinspace]

Bringing this thread back for the Fall 2019 app cycle. Any other Americans applying to Canadian PhD programs? I'm in English lit and applying to U of Toronto.

[lessthanepsilon]

Not Canadian programs, but applying to Physics Master's programs in Europe (Germany, Spain, Sweden, Netherlands, and Denmark).

My favorite thing is that European deadlines are so spread out (Dec all the way to July 2019 I will basically hear back from my top choices before the deadlines for other programs.

[RipCityBaby]

On 12/13/2018 at 12:14 PM, placeinspace said:

Bringing this thread back for the Fall 2019 app cycle. Any other Americans applying to Canadian PhD programs? I'm in English lit and applying to U of Toronto.

Applying to programs in Criminology and Sociology around Canada. Got my first acceptance to the Crim PhD at Simon Fraser today! Now...to figure out funding. SFU doesn't usually offer funding but there are a lot of scholarships to apply for. Unfortunately most are limited to Canadian citizens and permanent residents. So, hoping for a teaching position or research position to pay for it.

[placeinspace]

@RipCityBaby I had a similar issue with the humanities fellowships in Canada- they are all for people who already have residency, so I wouldn't be able to apply for them until the second year of my program, which isn't ideal!

[lmk94]

Hopefully we can get this thread going! I am an American applying to Canadian PhD programs for Psychology/Neuroscience. I applied to several Canadian MSc programs a few years ago, but the funding just wasn't there, so I decided to get a masters in America and reapply for PhD for this cycle. Working out a lot better this time around! 

[RipCityBaby]

On 1/29/2019 at 7:34 AM, placeinspace said:

@RipCityBaby I had a similar issue with the humanities fellowships in Canada- they are all for people who already have residency, so I wouldn't be able to apply for them until the second year of my program, which isn't ideal!

My husband and I are looking into applying for express entry, I believe all provinces have it except Quebec, which usually means within 6-12 months you get permanent residency. What I am not sure about is if you can hold a student visa at the same time. Otherwise, I think it takes more than a year to get residency if you are there on a student visa - you should be able to qualify by the time you hit year four. Again, not positive about this stuff. But I am hoping that I can go the express entry route, since ideally we want citizenship as soon as possible. 

[Demure]

Hi, all! I’m an American starting an MSc at UBC this fall. I love Canada, and I’m super grateful they gave me the opportunity to study there!

[Anette]

Do you have any views on cultural Au Pair? It is to go to a non-English-speaking country to teach English. In return, you can get the opportunity to learn the culture and language of the country, and of course you can make money.