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.
