Is this realistically achievable?

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I've made a couple of major and impulse decisions lately and, as usual, they are at funny times of the year. It will become clear why later on. First, I made the decision to quit my last job about two months ago and have been unemployed for a month now. I left this job as I was living in an area I'd never been to before and there was a culture of bullying in that workplace. I had no friends or family in that area and I'm not the type of person to go along with the type of behaviour that was going on there simply to lead a quiet life or not become a target as it was very corrupt, hence I became a target. So I said goodbye to those shower of nasties and to the job.

My second decision is a mixture of two things. I want to do a Masters at University but I also want to leave England and go to either Australia, USA or New Zealand. In my wisdom (don't really have much of that) I thought why not mix the two and have decided I want to do a Masters abroad. My friends and family all approve of the idea but don't know whether I'll be able to do it realistically as I'm aiming to go on a Masters program this year. I have to apply for them, get three letters of recommendation saying why I'd be suitable (these have to be sent off with the applications) (I have about a month or so to do this), I need to find a job asap so that I have some money to start me off and pay off my debt of £600 and I owe my dad £200 so I'm looking to work pretty much anywhere where I'm qualified to work. I'm living at home so I don't have to pay bills or anything, I will only have to put £100 a month to the rent. I also have to apply for a loan to help me with my studies and this process can take up to 6 weeks and I can't do it until I have been accepted by a university normally. I also have to apply for a student visa so that I will be accepted into the country I'm studying in, bearing in mind I have about 3 months at the most to do all this in as I have to then book a flight etc etc. I don't do things by halves and those who know me know that I usually make life difficult for myself. I managed to organise my degree at the last minute but I wasn't planning on moving to another country and the acceptance guidelines aren't so strict.

Is what I'm doing achievable? I would just like to hear others' views on this, or am I just crazy?

I say why not. I live in the United States. If worse comes to worst, you can sleep on my couch.

Why not look at the European mainland countries for doing a masters in?

USA is expensive and their higher education is not on a comparable level to our higher education. Austrialia is fine but there record on aspergers is atrocious, there 10 years behind us in services compared to their mainstream general health care system which is probably 10 years ahead

New Zealand is a fantastic country but you would be quite lucky to get into a masters course at a university there.

Somewhere I would look would be Hungary. They have an entire chunk of their higher education system devoted to english speaking foriegn students because they have a world wide reputation for the quality of their higher education (there degree's are 5 year courses not 3) Also being that they have joined the EU you've got alot of law and regulations that could protect you. Plus hungary is a lovely country alot less densly populated then the UK lovely countryside and culture why stick with a former British EMpire colony with english speaking types when you can go somewhere that challenges you

If it's Yale University you choose,I have an extra room

I recommend studying in Israel. It's a truly unique and incredible place: 2,000-year-old buildings, gorgeous land scenery, friendly people, European-style cities, and tons of things to do during free time. In other words, it doesn't even remotely resemble the images the CNN is feeding us. Israel is especially good to study in if you're doing engineering or politics. It's also aspie-friendly. Given Israel's religious significance, everyone is expected to be a little eccentric. This is especially true in Jerusalem.

Its also the ONLY place in the world where you can mention knowing someone from Prestwich and they will have a remote clue what you're on about

Prestwich is THE biggest concentration of Jews in Europe...

Interesting, I live in the US and I have heard that the US has the best universities.... we just have horrible public education... well, I got a very good education at my public school but others might not. Yeah, our universities are probably expensive though.

The first link looks like the best for measuring the school quality and America dominates at the top. The other 2 are based more on popularity.
http://ed.sjtu.edu.cn/rank/2005/ARWU2005_Top100.htm
http://www.4icu.org/top200/index.htm
http://www.webometrics.info/top3000.asp.htm

There is also this article in the Economist which lauds the American system of higher education and comments on how it thinks that European higher education is inferior.
http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=4339960
There are a bunch of articles after that one that are about American colleges too and they are all favorable and they are also anti-Europe and this is a London based magazine too.

oooooh come to NZ then we can both move to the USA!

It depends what university you go to. Don't go to waikato.

Don't forget Canada. We have some very respectable universities here, and the cost of living isn't too bad (much cheaper than Europe).

It's the peice of paper you get out of it the other end which is important

Alot cheaper then the UK. Though I think the tuiton fee's would be very expensive in comparison

Univeristy of sheffield is 34th in europe aye? Well I know its 3rd for nursing in the UK

Fiz -
and anyone who'd like to study abroad:

it's a great idea. A great opportunity to stretch your horizons.

Why not really stretch them and study somewhere outside English-speaking culture? As a European, you might consider the EU < Erasmus > student exchange scheme. You can study pretty much anywhere in Europe up to doctoral level for a year, tuition and up to 8-week intensive language course paid for by the EU. You even get a cash study grant! All you have to pay is the Easyjet and your living expense, which is likely to be cheaper than in UK. The condition is that you must complete a year of your course in your home country first. If you want to take advantage of this great offer, best to do it soon: thanks to the UK, apparently, the grant has been < frozen > for the next six years, so the longer you leave it, the less it will be worth. Go for it!
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