tonrob

You can stick your kookaburra up yer flaming billabong, mate.

MoshiMoshi

Do you know what your path to a good degree from a good university might be? I don't know how it works, especially with Foundation years etc, but I'm sure it'd be good to map out your possibilities and make sure you don't end up exchanging stagnation at home for drifting overseas. Not that there's anything wrong with drifting, but if you have an end goal then you need to keep it in mind.

Is it feasible for you first to work in the UK while a) saving money and b) putting in university applications, and then go overseas, combining working (somewhere WHV-friendly like Oz) and plain travelling (somewhere more restrictive like the US)?

And, p.s., almost EVERYONE I know worries about stagnation and their peers moving forward faster. I had to drop out of my PhD 4 years ago and it's bittersweet seeing my friends now finishing their doctorates. My husband is grumpy that someone who finished their PhD at the same time as him has already got a permanent academic job. It goes on and on! Feeling concerned you're falling behind is good motivation, but don't let it dictate your choices or get you down.

Bob

Don't discount the language...people have and do find it easier integrating into some other countries where there is a language barrier because they are forced into integrating more, than have a preconceived idea of life, which turns out to be very wrong.

ian-mstm

The same is true for both Canada and Australia.


With respect, you have no idea how different it actually is. Don't confuse the media hype with reality.


Canada is equally far... Australia even more so!


If that's the case, then make the US your long-term plan... and make Canada your short-term plan. Contrary to the media you so enjoy, Canada isn't all frozen tundra and caribou. Besides, the culture is much closer to that of the US, but retains the UK parliamentary and law structure.


University of Guelph, Ontario - the #1 university for biology in the country.

Ian

Duncan Roberts

You're assuming that the whole country speaks English and that won't change. There is no official language of the US and in certain areas English speakers are in the minority. Spanish especially is becoming more and more common everywhere.

N1cky

I have had more people in LA say 'huh?' at me when I have asked for something than I have in France, and I don't speak French

penguinsix

Bad news, good news.

Bad news, as you have likely gathered, is that the United States doesn't want or need you. Nor do they care about what you want. That basically sums up the immigration official's attitudes to your abilities and dreams.

Now the good news.

You are young. You have a lot of chances to change this in the next few years. You are also studying a science, which is something of value to US employers and appreciated by immigration (H1 visas).

School is a very easy way to get over to the US, relatively speaking. You should investigate with your university whether they have an exchange program with a US school. Basically you would pay tuition to your school in the UK but attend classes for a semester or so in the United States, as sort of an 'exchange student'. This will not only give you a dose of American culture (which is so far and away from TV that your head will spin) but also give you some connections in the US and contacts for when you want to start looking for a job. There is also the BUNAC system to get you over for a short period of time, but read the fine print carefully as some of the requirements might mean you have to return to the UK for a certain number of years before moving to the US (it's complicated).

The other option for university is to do a 1 year masters program over here, after you have your degree from the UK. During that year you can look for work post-college and / or look for a potential spouse with citizenship. After you graduate you have about a year to do "Practical Work Training" which lets you work with a US business, which is you wow them might sponsor you for a 3-6 year H1 visa (which can then become a stepping stone to permanent residence via a green card).

We get a post like yours pretty much every day, though most are further along in their lives (married with kids) and without as many qualifications (retail sales, hair dresser, etc). You are still young and have a chance to add some qualifications that are valued and have fewer strings to tie you down.

So for right now, it's a big no basically. But don't take the instant rejection as a permanent one. Just a temporary roadblock that you'll need to find a way to cross.

Good luck.

SamG

I would echo the advice of others and head for Australia/New Zealand/Canada. I've lived in both Australia and the US (Sydney and Seattle) and I think you'll be more likely to find people in similar circumstances to your own if you go and tread a more well worn backpacker route. I know you're not necessarily looking to share your adventure but these countries are well set up for travellers and you'll benefit from other people's experience.

Good luck with your decisions and research - I absolutely applaud your determination to get out of your area and go after the world. There's so much of it and I don't think there's any time like the present, especially if you're at a loose end right now.

Jerseygirl

Hmmmm...I think the best advice given to me when we moved to the US 15 years ago was from an Australian lady. She said in her opinion it would have been easier to have moved to a non English speaking country and I agree with her. Brits come to the US having seen US TV programs and movies...perhaps a few holidays in the US thrown in...and we think it's just like the UK only bigger and better. That is not so...living in the US is a million miles away from life in the UK. The language maybe more or less the same...but culturally it is very, very different...not better....not worse...just very, very different.

IanH88

[QUOTE=Lahhdra;9140299]Thanks for the kind words! People keep telling me that I have time but I feel as though the longer I wait to do something, the less likely I am ever to do it.


I know that this is tough to hear, but I'd like to give you some encouragement.

I've just turned 40 and for as long as I can remember, I've wanted to live in either, the US, Canada or Australia.

However, for various reasons and due to certain decisions in my life, the opportunity to relocate never came along, something always got in the way.

Now I'm on the verge of relocating to Los Angeles, it's a city that I've been to maybe 50 times and it's fair to say that I have a love/hate relationship with it, it certainly wasn't in my top 50 places that I wanted to live...but I couldn't be more excited about the prospect.

My point is that life has a funny way of not delivering exactly what you want or expect and never in the time frame that you want, but I do believe that you can pretty much make anything happen if you try hard enough.

Yes, at the moment, the US does not want nor need you, but you can make it happen if you really want it to. However, without wishing to sound condescending, you have a LOT of time to make this happen and the path to making it happen will probably be very different to what you imagine, that's certainly the case for me.

The other thing I would say, and I'm sure many on here will echo these sentiments, is that the biggest problem between the UK and the USA is the language barrier.....we speak the same words, but mean VERY different things. I'm glad I was able to figure this out before relocation, as I believe it will stand me in good stead.

Good luck, I hope it works out for you

ian-mstm

It's at this point that I usually turn people towards Robert Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken". It has served me well over the years... and I passed 40 a while ago! I keep a copy on my office wall.

Ian

hd44

I'm a scientist (with a Bsc, Masters and PhD) in the US on a L1 visa. I'm actually planning on moving back after only being here 1.5 years but that's due to my situation wanting to be back near family.

You said you chose the wrong subjects for 6th form (I'm assuming not the right science subjects?). I suggest going to college (possibly night classes) and doing your A-levels again in subjects like biology, chemistry and maths. You could do them in a year if you work hard enough. Try and get as high marks (As hopefully) as you can and get into your chosen uni course.

You need at least a Masters under your belt (phd even better) and some work experience and then definitely try for the bio jobs for pharma companies over here (if thats what you are interested in) or post-doc positions at unis. I see jobs in the US New Scientist all the time but you need to sort out degrees and experience first.

With some hard work and time you will definitely get here - good luck.

MadRad

At 19, time really is on your side. So don't worry about that.

I do think however, that you have unrealistic expectations about being able to integrate. That makes me think that you're not really prepared for such a move. The only cultural similarities are that some of the language is the same, really. Attitudes, expectations, values, perceptions, etc all vary enormously from one part of the US to another, and from what you find in the UK. For example, even though I can't speak French, culturally the parts of France I've experienced are much more familiar and comparable to what I knew in the UK, than anywhere I've encountered in the US. Often you can't quite put your finger on the differences but you are aware of them. In fact, I've found that discovering common ground is often more of a shock than finding a difference.

Not trying to put a dampener on your dreams, but I think you need to be realistic. America isn't the utopia people often believe it to be. I think too that your problems don't go away just because you've moved a few thousand miles. If something made your life difficult at home, chances are it'll make your life difficult out here too.

Sally Redux

Excellent points.

What concerned me about Lahhdra's original post was her (or him) saying something about wanting to be far enough away that she couldn't run back home, but I think this is putting an artificial obstacle in the way of making a gradual series of moves which will still get her the independence and change she wants.

MoshiMoshi

Although I guess this un/familiarity isn't really the OP's biggest concern in moving/travelling, I have to say to MadRad: ditto for me in Germany, and I never expected I'd think that!

Ditto again, but perhaps not quite as applicable to a 19-year-old trying to work things out and travel as it is to a married-with-3-kids-'immigrants ruining the UK so I want to move to Florida' poster with a username along the lines of BULLDOG-IN-EXILE.

OP, should you have made it down this far (dear lord I get over-enthusiastic giving 19-year-olds life advice -- no wonder younger family members avoid me) then I really recommend the books 'Work Your Way Around The World' and 'Taking A Gap Year', by Susan Griffith, for inspiration and information. Good luck!
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