Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with university and student

Help my American girlfriend become a Mrs. McCluskey (UK teacher)!

almostwitty — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:52:36 -0800

My (American) girlfriend is looking to come over to London to study to become a teacher. She already has a certificate substitute teacher licence ... but that's not much use in the UK. Or is it ... ?

Anyway, are there any recommendations for good/cheap universities that offer a teacher training course? Or any way of doing it?

French-speaking university for a student from the U.S.?

non-kneebiter — Tue, 19 May 2009 21:36:49 -0800

What are some universities which teach in French that a student from the U.S. should consider? (Especially in Quebec.) I'm a high school student in the U.S. currently trying to figure out where I would like to go for college. I'm interested in going to a school in a French-speaking location and at a school where classes are taught in French. I would greatly appreciate any suggestions for places to consider, especially in Quebec (or New Brunswick?), from anyone who has attended one or knew someone who has.

Thanks!

Jumping into the deepend again

Knigel — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 19:41:37 -0800

KOREA FILTER: Help me decide if I should leave my current Korean university and move to Seoul to focus on Korean language learning. I have come upon a fork in the road and would greatly appreciate any advice. I am Canadian exchange student trying to decide if I should stay a third semester at my country-side Korean university or move to a Seoul university/academy. I am a bit atypical since I am in Korea as a student and not as a teacher; therefore, I need to be a little bit more money cautious and careful with my choices. I actually have it pretty well now where I am so want to make sure I do things right if I’m going to change.

I am on my second semester here at Soon Chun Hyang University which is in Asan and quite far away from everything. The biggest problem is that there are many cultural exchange courses that I feel to be a waste of time for my own goals and would like to focus entirely on Korean language courses. At this time my university looks after me quite well with free tuition and many other perks. They also help me with my student visa.

This has all been fine; however, I believe I have gained as much as I can and feel that I should move on. If I leave my university I will have to apply for a new visa and I do not know exactly how this works. Does any body know how many extensions one can get on a visa and how easy it is to switch between student and tourist visas and perhaps back again? Currently my student visa is for one year but I’d like to stay two years total (or more). What might be the best way to do this? I don’t know if I should enroll in a university language program and get a student visa or get a tourist visa and find other kinds of classes.

If I move to Seoul I would like to find good Korean language courses. Does anyone have any recommendations of universities or academies? Also, does anyone know how many hours one needs to be enrolled in classes for a student visa or what the other restrictions are? Do academies count or only universities?

I will also need a place to stay if I move to Seoul; therefore, I am curious as to how easy it is to find an apartment and where and how to look. Does anyone have any experience with this? I was thinking around Hong-dae area; however, I am fully open. As it is now, I spend at least three hours travelling one way to Seoul once or twice a weekend, so I won’t mind travelling a bit in the future to work or wherever.

Although I am here as a student I would like to be able to teach in the future so if anyone knows of any reputable TESOL or similar courses that are of high quality and that I can do online I would love to know of them. I suspect that I won’t find anything too good since these types of classes would seem to need classroom and hands-on experience to be successful; however, I’d like know if my notion is correct or not.

Lastly, if I am to move to Seoul I will have to deal with this cough that has been hounding me since I got here. The pollution is killing me and I really need to find a good doctor how will help me find out what is wrong and won’t just throw medication at me. Anyone know where I might find a good doctor who can also speak English?

This is all hard to put into words, but I thank everyone for taking the time to help me. I appreciate it~

University of Salamanca Housing

PaulingL — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 12:56:48 -0800

Help me choose living accomodations while studying abroad in Spain! Starting at the end of August, I will be studying abroad at the University of Salamanca.

This involves a one month "intensive month" and the Fall Trimester and Winter Trimester.

As of now, I have planned to live with a host family for the first month and the Fall Trimester, and then switch to the Residencia for the Winter Trimester to get the best of both worlds.

What do you think? Any suggestions? Any experiences with anything similar?

The Bank of Mum and Dad

Wilder — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 10:41:21 -0800

How do we best finance our daughter's Irish University career (we're in the UK)? We're Irish, 8 years resident in UK. Daughter started a university course in Ireland last September.

Problem: we had saved enough for year 1 and Grandmother always offered to finance the rest. (Daughter contributes 20% through a summer job) But she very recently changed her mind as our daughter's focus has gone more towards the language and linguistics part of her degree course, as opposed to the Psychology part which Grannie favours.
We're very happy that she has discovered something in her first year that makes her passionate, so we support her choice and her results speak for themselves.
Daughter perfectly happy to get student loan but she has been turned down here in the UK as the course she accepted is in the Republic of Ireland. There is no student loan system in Ireland that we can identify.

So, as we had not planned on being in this position, we hadn't researched it enough, (and we are too ignorant of the tax system here. We are both PAYE workers) so Mefites, what are our best options?
We have good equity in our home and presently have a mortgage for about 50% of the current market value. Should we remortgage at these historically low rates and give her a loan from the Bank of Mum & Dad?
Do we gift her some money which might have tax advantages for us?
She will need approx 10,000 Euros a year as she gets a summer job that earns her a 2,000 euro surplus to put towards the costs

Help with student loan

Black_Umbrella — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 20:17:05 -0800

I am looking for the best general student loan company. What are your experienes with specific student loan companies? So I have managed to pay for the first 4 years of my 5 year program. But now I am completely broke so I need a student loan.

I have talked to a financial officer at my school who more or less said "most are good". What I would like from the hive are some of your experiences with specific loan providers.

Perhaps you may even know the "best of the best" loan providers if you have recently spent time researching this.

My permenent address is considered to be Maryland and my school is located in New Jersey.

I already recieve federal perkins and direct loans.

Misc. Information:
I NEED the loan to cover everything...i.e.: food, housing, books, tuition, etc

I just put myself into credit card debt by flying back to my school from Australia (study abroad). Can I increase my loan to pay off this debt and consolidate it under a better APR?

Am I allowed to increase my loan by a few grand, 3K - 4K, for my own personal use during my last year? Most will be spent on drinks, concerts and the occasional weekend trip - so not exactly a school expense, just a little NECESSARY relaxation.

How to motivate myself to make school a priority?

clearly — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 08:30:29 -0800

I used to be a model student. This semester was truly humbling. Do you have any suggestions to help me hone my study habits, regain motivation, and minimize distractions in the final three semesters before graduation? I am studying Biochemistry. I have about ten classes remaining. I could have knocked out four of those ten this semester, but have relegated myself to taking the classes over again in the upcoming semesters. I basically failed three of them due to a combination of not studying enough, not showing up to class, and various distractions.

In the past I have been able to study four or five hours before the tests and ace them. I know I can't get away with this anymore. I work about 20 hours a week, have an active social life, and enjoy the challenge and material of my major.

I can stay up until morning playing video games and studying doesn't even cross my mind. I'll sleep in while telling myself that missing class isn't a big deal. I'll go out all weekend and put off studying until Sunday night.

With a new semester and a fresh slate rapidly approaching, how can I minimize distractions, regain motivation, and actually study?

“When the student is ready, the teacher will appear”

Liosliath — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 21:24:14 -0800

How can an older college student integrate with younger classmates? This Wednesday, I'm going back to college for a second bachelor's. (Islamic Studies) I'm in my early 30s, and while I'm prepared for the academic part, I'm a little nervous about looking like the "old bag" of the class - particularly after reading an article in the local newspaper about the clash between older and younger students.

What I got from the article :

1. Don't monopolize the class with personal anecdotes about my extensive work/life history.
2. Don't roll my eyes/argue when another student complains that a test question wasn't specifically mentioned in the study guide, though it was part of the reading material.

Does anyone have any experience with this situation? I'm not great at making friends, in fact, I'm a little bit shy - so asking people out after class for coffee or whatever is outside my comfort zone. I don't want to be popular or anything - I'd just like to feel like I fit in, and not absolutely dread "group work." All suggestions/advice will be greatly appreciated.

Help a man persue education

verisimilitude — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 15:54:56 -0800

I need a very specific type of self help... I need suggestions for time management/motivational systems. I'm thinking along the lines of a bastard child of GTD and Seven Secrets...

-I'm looking for GTD tweaks for use as a political philosophy post grad.

-Time management systems, prefreable realistic but still with integration with MicroSoft Office (or convincing alternative software)

-Task management system, likewise.

-A general student note taking system. I'm familiar with mind mapping and curious to know whether it is feasible in a mature environment.

-It has been 5 years since I have sat in seminars and lectures, how has technology changed the way things are done? For example, I imagine I could use my PDA to record lectures -- mp3 recordings of lectures must have completely changed the way studying is done, how does this impact on successful studying?

-Most importantly, tips on keeping oneself motivated to achieve targets and goals. I've spent too long being cynical about the motivational writing that gets published to bother reading it. Surely by now there must be some genuinely interesting ideas that have filtered through the chaff. I have been impressed with GTD, but often find I just cant be arsed. September represents a new leaf hence quest for new a perspective.

Normally I'm wary of this sort of personal dogma, but for the next few months I'm prepared to strap myself in for one of them, so hive mind help me not waste the rest of the year! Thanks. Your attention is appreciated.

Misfortune of a fortunate job?

Anonymous — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 22:16:50 -0800

Help analyze my terrible work situation! I REALLY apologize for such a lengthy question, but it has been developing over some time now and I finally gave in to ask the great collective knowledge here..

I got a job in a department located in a fast-developing portion of my university's campus roughly a year ago. The position I was accepted for is basically a building IT guy-- fix computers, run cable, respond to general tech emergencies-- but I also was responsible for some general graphic design and print work. I work under a supervisor, manager, senior IT manager, event coordinator and a building coordinator.

So initially (up to 4 months) the job was great. I had great equipment to work on, the assignments I was given were right at my skill level, I had a great coworker who was hired at the same time as me, and there was just a nice collaborative vibe in the office. On random occasion when working with my higher ups, I'd be told that I could have a chance at a full time position after graduating, which encouraged me to really put 110% into my job.

So I'm working my butt off to please everyone in the office, doing random things like designing vibrant brochures to advertise our building, picking up the trash after large events, helping move furniture and boxes around, and I start to get a knack for graphic design. At some point one of my flyer designs catches the eye of people in other buildings who frequent the one I’m in. As a result, the event coordinator starts getting more requests to hold events in the building, and naturally I am asked to produce graphic media for nearly every event that is booked. So I did—and I was unstoppable because years of NOT doing this sort of work had built up a pile of creative ideas in my brain that would flood out into Adobe Illustrator. Did I mention I was still doing every other task the other higher ups assigned to me? How about cleaning up a room after an autoclave explodes?

Around this time I am at home one evening when I receive a call from my manager who had consulted with the building coordinator about offering me a full time position. I kindly declined because my first priority is school (I wouldn’t even be in this situation if it wasn’t). So life went on, and things kept going at a fast pace, until one day there’s a big announcement that most of the full time employees in the office are moving to another building as part of a multi-phase plan to create a central management point for the entire area of the campus where I work. Oddly enough, I’m told that I am also going to move and be given my own cubicle and filing cabinets and all things great about office jobs—keep in mind that I’m just a student employee who had been sharing a desk with a coworker.

Since I’ll be moving and the building still needs tech support, a new guy is hired who I will refer to as BG. The thing about BG is that he’s really eccentric, introverted, and he sorta smells like body odor, but I don’t worry because I’ll be moving to a new office in a week or two (or three or four). Well, the day before the official move was supposed to happen, the building coordinator announces that plans have changed and nobody is moving anywhere, but we’re still going to manage the surrounding area as well as the current building using all the current staff but the same office space (remember I was sharing a desk?). And this is where the trouble starts…

Since me and my coworker from the beginning are pretty cozy with each other, I figure that BG will be let go since he was hired on the assumption that he’d have an actual place to work when most people left. Nope. Turns out my boss has some policy where she considers student employees to be on a contract so the only time they’re let go is at the end of a term. At this point in time I’m bummed about not getting my own work area, but the office vibe is still good and I want to be welcoming to the new guy. I offer to share my machine with him since our shifts bump up against each other… possibly the worst idea I could have ever had. BG turns out to be incredibly messy and disorganized, and he apparently thinks its okay to leave pirated games, movies, and music on my work machine. I bring it to the attention of my supervisor who ends up not doing anything, so I tell the senior IT manager who doesn’t do anything, and then I tell the building coordinator who doesn’t do anything but tells my supervisor to do something, but he doesn’t do anything. I finally take it upon myself to pull BG into a private conference to tell him to not leave a mess and to not put “that” stuff on my machine.

Because we are the tech support guys, we occasionally get spare machines that aren’t new but still are fully functional, and BG gets one so that he can finally have his own computer to use. The machine isn’t working, so BG attempts to get it working, but fails and decides to leave it alone and just use the other guy’s machine. About a week later, the senior IT manager comes in asking if he can have my computer for a project he’s working on and offers to buy me a brand spanking new computer. I gladly oblige and get to configuring it the way I like, and my supervisor ends up ordering another one just like it for us to use. The computers come in after a few days and I’m giddy because I feel like I really earned mine and I could use the extra GHz/RAM for when I do graphic design. I begin to unpack mine when BG jumps out of his chair and begins unpacking the other box while mentioning “alright it’ll be great to not have to use this piece of crap anymore (referring to the spare machine that came in)”. I have an issue with this, but I’ll skip to the next chapter of the story and let you figure out what my problem is.

In my best efforts to remain professional in my behavior at work, I just deal with the fact that BG is probably staying around. I try talking to him to get some goodwill going, but he only gives quick responses to questions and never initiates conversation (he still hasn’t to this day). I continue on as the graphic design guy, doing whatever I need to so I can keep up the 110% effort, and things are going well. Somewhere around this time the senior IT manager and the building coordinator decided they’d do something for me and nominate me for an award, but they didn’t consult with me at ALL and failed to tell me that the nomination committee would be checking my GPA. I wasn’t exactly thrilled when I got a letter in the mail saying I failed to receive an award that I wasn’t aware of, and that my current GPA didn’t meet the requirements for said award that I was unaware of. Ever relapse into clinical depression? Not fun.

So forward on a month or two later and I get an offer to be sent off to a training seminar along with the event coordinator and my supervisor (not all at the same time). I get hyped up about going and book my flight and hotel and wait until the day to arrive. Well a few weeks before I’m supposed to go, I’m pulled aside by the senior IT manager who is relaying a message from the building coordinator that maybe I need to not go to training yet (I had gradually started burning out on graphic design and the BG situation wasn’t helping either, so I was still civil and sociable, but I was in a “bad week” mood). I had no choice but to cancel my trip and hotel and try to get myself back on track, although I’m not sure I was ever off?

Well, I hope I’m not alone in saying it doesn’t make me want to be a superstar employee when I keep receiving offers for really great opportunities, only to have them snatched back a few weeks later for no concrete reasons. Currently, I’ve just been working on some low-key work doing SQL and website development, and some occasional graphic design on the side. I feel fed up with my higher ups who I originally thought were great people, but now work feels like drama. I guess the popular thing as of late has been to treat me like an imbecile and ignore me whenever possible. (I honestly have NO idea why they’re doing this to me)

I suppose the good thing is that I picked up a lot of experience that I have been using to apply to other jobs at the university. Unfortunately, some of these jobs pay at a lower rate and offer less hours (the nice thing about my current work is that the pay is pretty well for part time and I can work up to part time max hours).

So my big question is, should I stay at my current job where I’m making decent pay and have top-of-the-line equipment to work on but have to deal with a stinky, eccentric coworker, unfaithful bosses, and more drama than daytime network television, or take on a new job where I could get a pay cut and less hours, but have a chance to start over in my work ethic when it comes to working at a university and hopefully know where to draw the line so I can stay as neutral as possible until I graduate school (not to mention it would be nice to get away from the people I work with now and [this is just horrible], but I think it would be really fun if they ended up trying to talk me into staying).

Also, any sort of analysis and criticism against me is appreciated. If I’m just acting like a jackass, then I need to know.

To Exchange or Not To Exchange

divabat — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 06:31:08 -0800

Should I go on exchange next year? I am an international student (Bangladeshi passport, Malaysian PR, considered Malaysian for all purposes except immigration) studying in QUT in Brisbane, Australia. Currently I am doing a Bachelors in Creative Industries (Interdisplinary), submajoring in Creative Writing and Creative Industries Management.

My university offers students an opportunity to go on an exchange for a semester-a year with their partner universities worldwide. I'm thinking about taking up the opportunity, but I'm not entirely sure if I should.

Now I'm an exchange nut. I've always wanted to be an exchange student in some fashion. One and a half years ago I travelled around the world on a global education program and had the time of my life. I should be jumping for joy at this opportunity, but there are some things that are making me second-guess it.

PROS:
1. It's exchange! Travel! Learning! New experiences! Just my thing!
2. I can obtain an "International Exchange" minor from this, which may actually help with my career goals.
3. I don't have to pay the overseas uni; I just pay my usual uni fees. I'm on a scholarship (which covers half my usual fees) so that helps.
4. There is a system in place and I will get credit transferred.
5. It fits with my visa guidelines (as long as I am here for my final semester I'm fine - I'm planning to go in early 2008).
6. I have a semester full of electives, which I can use to study just about anything - I'm hoping to do something related to education or social work.

CONS:
1. The partner universities don't seem very appealing. I'm quite the "alternative nontraditional education" girl (think Hampshire or Semester at Sea) and the unis they have there are more on the traditional side. (It was telling when I asked people for recommendations, listing my preferences and the unis available, and I got so many recs for UC Berkeley - which is NOT a partner uni.)
2. The more interesting countries have a language requirement, which I can't fulfill. Or they don't quite have the courses I want. Which leaves me with UK, USA, Ireland, or Canada. There is one uni in the US (The College of New Jersey) that has piqued my interest, HOWEVER...
3. ...the US is weird in that I have to go back to Malaysia to get a student visa (I already have a tourist visa). Other countries let me get visas at the Australian embassy. I don't know if I'll have the time or resources for that.
4. I'm not sure I'll be able to support myself or be supported financially. I still depend on my parents to a large extent (my part-time job doesn't pay all that much) and they already paid for my round-the-world trip, so this would be a hard sell.
5. I have a boyfriend, whom I loathe to leave behind. He's actually encouraging me to go on exchange, he thinks it'll be good for me. But it'll still be hard. We spent 3 months apart for hols and it was still hard!

One complicating factor is that my friends are adamant about going to South America during the summer/end-year holidays - fun idea, but between getting the visas for everywhere and getting my paperwork sorted, it is a logistics nightmare.

Mainly, though, it's the lack of any super-interesting partner universities that's bumming me out. There's none there that make me go "OH I MUST GO". I would much rather travel on a program like The Scholarship or Semester at Sea or wherever, or do an internship for a semester, but that involves taking a Leave of Absence, which can be really iffy on my credit transfer and with my student visa. Also, I'll have to pay full fee, which could suck.

What should I do? Any suggestions? There's gonna be an exchange fair in the next couple of days, but what other options do I have?

What are the key culture changes between UK and US Universities?

philsi — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 03:56:56 -0800

I've got the opportunity to do an American Exchange next Autumn from my UK University for about 15 weeks. What are the key culture changes that I'll experience? Of course, there's This will be only my second time out of the UK, and am wondering what the key changes between UK and US universities are. I'll most probably be going to Southern Oregon, or a small chance of the University of Wisconsin Eau-Claire or Southern Maine.

I know that it's quite likely that I'll have a room mate (which I don't have at the moment) and have to share other facailities, but what other changes will I find? Will it be more restrictive than UK University? I know I won't be able to drink (not the biggest catastrophe ever) but any other key changes?

Finally, any comments about the usefullness of an exchange? I'm thinking it'll be a great thing for employers when I get a career on the basis I can survive in a foreign country for an extended period of time.

Anecdotes are especially welcome, and any university specific comments are welcome too!

Thanks for your input guys.

Books to make me a better student

mjao — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 05:55:07 -0800

This summer I want to do some self-improvement in terms of writing skills (essays for university), study techniques, etc. Basically I want to maximise my abilities and develop the best possible studying routine. What books did you find helpful when you were an undergrad? Or what books do you wish you had read early on? I've been having a look round on the 'interweb' but there seems to be so much, I can't tell what will actually be worth my while. Obviously "Elements of Style" would be a good place to start. I see a lot of books with titles like: "How To Get Straight A's" -- are these books stuffed full of obviousness?

I'm interested in things like the Cornell method, and also particularly interested in anything that might be helpful in preparing me for med school -- although I won't be applying for another two years or so.

I'll keep having a look around amazon. But I just thought I'd ask in case you guys have come across some gems. Money is no object! My aim is to have a healthy looking amazon wishlist, and to purchase these all for my birthday (my gift to myself).

PS Would "Getting Things Done" be helpful in learning how to become a more productive, happier student?

Useful University moving in tips?

philsi — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 09:53:09 -0800

Any useful tips for settling in to first week in college / university? Any funny anecdotes of your first week in college / university? Next Tuesday I'm off to university (Winchester in the UK if it makes any difference), and it's going to be my first time living away from home, with new people, and wondered if people have any useful tips for settling in, living in shared accomodation for the first time (there will be 6 or 8 bedrooms going onto an adjoining kitchen area)? Social tips for those of us who aren't big drinkers?

Any key hints / tips that you found helpful / were told were important but not?

Have any internship ideas?

k8t — Sun, 04 Dec 2005 07:37:32 -0800

[Internship filter] Any ideas for a summer internship for a college student? Here are her stats: not a U.S. citizen, but can work in the U.S.; native speaker of Russian and Turkmen, fluent speaker of English and Turkish, moderate speaker of Spanish; business major; very personable; college sophomore. Paid internship would be best, but any place that could lead to a future job would be good.

best major for international student future visa

k8t — Fri, 24 Jun 2005 10:13:47 -0800

A young woman that I am helping has recently left her home country (a totalitarian regime by any account) and is going to be attending undergraduate university in the U.S. in the fall. The school has given her a full ride as her family lives in extreme poverty. After she is done with school, she'll probably want to stay in the U.S., what sort of major should she choose so that she'll have the best chance of getting a job after that will provide her with a visa? I know some will say to choose what she loves, but she needs to be strategic.

Should this Canadian pursue a philosophy degree in Belgium?

ori — Sun, 23 Jan 2005 21:09:29 -0800

I am currently a philosophy student at the University of British Columbia (Canada). I've applied to transfer to the Institute of Philosophy at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven for their strong involvement with continental philosophy, and because I want to live in Europe. Will getting a Belgian degree significantly complicate things for me if I choose the pursue a graduate degree in North America? Will it be detrimental to getting in to a good school?