I am a graduate student from Russia. The first year
of school was very challenging for me, without proper knowledge of English it
was really hard to study, but I did my best. I also have a part time job on
campus (as an international student I’m not allowed to work anywhere else and
my maximum is 20 hours per week). I was hoping to get a teaching assistantship
position, but my department has a policy by which they don’t hire international
students for the first year. I took a loan to pay my first and second
semesters, my dad cosigned and I’ve been paying it off regularly. By the middle
of the spring I started to look for summer internship and got 3 really good
offers. I also got an offer to do teaching assistantship Fall 2007, which would
solve all of my problems…
Unfortunately it appeared that my GPA wasn’t high
enough to be allowed to work in Summer. It was 2.95 when supposed to be at
least 3.0. I got a C+ for one course (it was 79.3%, 80% would be already B-…).
So I got terminated and reinstated, I’m not allowed
to work, I’m not allowed to TA and I can’t get a student loan because my dad
refuses to cosign. I tried to apply for a loan, but no one would give it to an
international student without a cosigner. I’ve been working part time on
campus, babysitting, selling some things on e-bay, looking for long-term job, I
did anything I could to collect the needed amount. I could pay $1,000 out of
$11,000.
I don’t need money for anything, I don’t care what
to wear and what to eat, all I need is to pay my Fall tuition. If I lift my
GPA, which I’m already doing by taking a summer course, my grade is A so far, I
can apply for TA again, or for co-op job outside the campus. But I am not
allowed to do it right now, regardless of my success.
Please, help me if you can. I would be grateful for
any amount you can give.