after reading the thread http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...d.php?t=108651, i noticed a few posts about studying abroad and whatnot. After quite a bit of thought recently, I have decided that is what i want to do.

I graduated high school in 2006 from a public high school, in a small town (35k'ish) 60 miles north of houston, tx. i graduated in like the top 15% (bleh i know), but i knew that i would attend shsu. Both of my parents graduated from there and both my brother and sister recently did. Sam Houston State University isnt exactly prestigious. Little to no academic requirements meant me not caring in HS.

I also was really into soccer in HS. When i was a junior, my HS went to 5A ( the biggest in TX). Our team got rocked for the most part, but I ended up with several individual awards. Senior year I was first team all-state. relevence later...

I took every Advanced Placement courses that my HS offered and did enough to make a B. Fast Forward to college. College life is fun, but thats about all i can say positive about it lol. As a freshmen, i followed my same attitude as in HS, doing just enough to make a B or maybe A. I think i came out with a 3.1 after one year. The classes were awful, the teachers uninspiring, and the students in class were disruptive.

Im finishing my sophomore year now. The past semester i made a 3.2 and i have a 3.6 now. Again I find the attitude of doing Just enough to get w/e grade im wanting. I havent played poker in several months (save a home game i play at on sundays) and have dropped soccer (almost) completely. The school team sucks and is unbearable to play/practice with. Im more worried about partying/gf (ex [pre-emptive disclaimer: not offering pics]) than anything now.

Anyway, after a week of sleeping through class (dropping GPA .2 pts), i had a semi-revelation (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/79/edf/changing-your-life-787/ being the catalyst ofc). I decided that something should/had to change. I know that i am done with shsu after a week, but i dont know what comes after that. I def. want to stay in uni., but i dont know where.

I think i want to study in England (idk y but at this point i dont care y i think that/ dont know another lang. fluently), but i dont know where to start. I do have a few things goin my way though. Full support from parents, $ not really big concern, and I have lived on my own for six months (not long i know but im 19).

So i guess what i need to know from SL is this, where should a 19y/o econ major who has never lived outside of Texas, study? I want to attend the best Uni i can get into. Also must be able to find a soccer team to play with (imo that is an extremely important part of my life that has recently been forgotten) lol.

*if you think that i should find a better domestic Uni, say so while stating reasons.

**Im completely serious and hope this thread can start/guide my course.

hmmm....I only specialize in students from Louisiana studying abroad.


You can get by with English in most countries afaik. I think America is the center of the universe though.

the blonde in ur ava was one of my best buddies prom date in hs /derail

Phreak, I dig the post. I wish I could help you out more. I'm seriously starting to realize that I might need a jump start of some kind by moving. I've had a few strong recommendations that I need to make it an overseas excursion. So I'll follow your progress probably and be sure that if I come up with any hits on some program or something that I ship it your way.

I'll be looking into teaching overseas though, so not quite the same as what you're doing. Nonetheless, I think we're in some similar spots.

why not just study abroad for a semester/year, then come back and resume school home... or if your really burned out from school, just take a year off to work and figure things out

Hey

I don't know how the american grade average works, as I live in England.

If you're looking for soccer then pretty much every uni here has at least 1 team

If you're looking for poker, a fair few uni's have societies + all have home games (i suspect.)

pm me if you want my view on any you're looking at in particular, I am also doing an economics degree / run our poker society so i hopefully can be of some help.

Gl

hey SL,

sending detailed pm when i get off of work

this is def. a possibility, depending on how it goes. still reading up on whether or not the classes transfer directly.

taking a year off is def. not an option right now. im like the opposite of burned out lol

I'm studying abroad in Rome/Paris/Dublin for the 08 Fall Semester. Don't know Italian or French, and I will be paying off the loans until I'm 60, but it's ****ING EUROPE!!!

very cool. is there a program that enabled u to do that or was it mostly independent? (personally enrolling to each Uni., where u take care of all accomodations)

My school has a global studies department, and they offer programs to Europre, Latin America and other countries. I go to St. John's U, and they have a campus in Rome, which is where we will be dorming for our time there. But as of right now I have no idea if we will be dorming in Uni's while in Dublin and Paris.

what makes you think studying abroad will rejuvenate you if college never did?

btw i came into this thread because i am a texan who studied abroad last semester but then i realized what you were actually asking about had nothing to do with my situation.

hmm i guess i didnt make it clear in op how i feel about study/education right now. I am at a point now where i am rejuvenated and extremely anxious for a challenge mentally, as well as experience some culture change. This is not meant to inspire me to make good grades or anything like that.

Phreak there are a bunch of good/fun universities in the UK, and I'd definitely encourage you to think about coming here. It won't (at least I assume it won't) be a massive culture shock, but it sounds like it might be on the right level to give you the fresh direction you need.

As for the 'best uni you can get into', I personally have no idea what the numbers in your OP mean or how UK universities would view them so it's quite hard to give specific advice. You can probably find this out quite easily by doing a bit of research. It sounds like your current uni isn't massively prestigious but then if you were applying to start an undergrad degree they'd probably mainly be going off the strength of your high school results.

A few probably quite obvious things that come to mind:

- As a non-EU student, doing a degree here is going to cost you loads unless you have a scholarship or something. Idk if that's a problem

- You have to pick one or two subjects for the whole thing, there's no minor/major/whatever stuff. So it sounds like you could apply to do economics, but you aren't going to be able to splash around in lots of disciplines while (re)discovering your intellectual joie de vivre

- I think you'll have missed most of the deadlines for applying for this autumn, so you'd have to apply later this year for starting in 2009. (So far this is all if you want to do a whole undergraduate course here, I don't know what one year exchanges might be out there.)

- There is going to be soccer anywhere you go... but you might want to start calling it 'football'

GL

thx for the reply.

i did do a bit of research on admissions requirements for diff. schools and i think i can pretty much cancel the top 4-5 schools off the list.

I did miss the deadlines for autumn lol so my superplan will have to wait a few months i guess