What college to go to and how to apply? (international student)

[Roy]

Hi all

This will probably seem weird to a lot of you but just run with it.

I'm from Australia and have dropped out of my commerce course here to be a pro poker player. I'm doing very well for myself and see no reason to go back to uni/college to get a job to get money for the future.

I think it would be pretty fun to go to a college in the US because so many people I've spoken to tell me "college is the best time of my life". It's different in the US than it is in Australia because 99% of people don't stay on campus or live in dorms and the whole aspect of a 'college lifestyle' seems almost non-existant.

What I'm looking for is a place to go to college/live on campus so I can meet people, go out, get out of the house and be surrounded by people rather than sitting infront of a computer most of the day. I realize this is possible to do here but it seems a lot harder, there aren't a whole lot of ways to meet people outside of those that I already know - plus leaving Brisbane and going to another city would be a nice change of scenery.

I'd still be going to class enough to pass so as to not waste a whole crap of money - I would like to learn more about the business world and basically ways to make more money with the money I'm making through poker, so I don't think it would be a waste of my time going to college.

Aaaaaaaanyway, for those still with me, can anyone recommend a college to go to and have any idea how I would apply to get in? Obv there is 0% chance of me getting into the top colleges, but surely there must be a cut-off to some semi-decent places where one can apply, show them that you're not a total idiot, provide highschool records etc, be able to pay for it, and get in? I dunno, so any help at all would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Roy

cliffnotes: pro poker playing living in australia wanting to go to college in the US, where should I go and how should I apply?

p.s I'm not adamant about getting in/going to college, but this is one idea that I've had in my head for a while and I'm exploring the feasibility of it now - it may or may not be what I end up doing.

[dethgrind]

I recommend San Diego State University. They have a solid undergraduate international business program and more hot [censored] than you could possibly handle. Great weather, great parties, great women. Here's the link for incoming international students: http://www.isc.sdsu.edu/prospective/iwant_fresh.html

[DLKeeper1]

before you narrow things you have to take some tests (SAT/ACT) and also what were your grades like?

[Roy]

I got four As and a B+.

Thanks for the link to SDSU, I'll look into it more. I'm gonna be in cali for the next few months so i'll go to their office there and see if I can apply etc.

[Fedfan691]

Just to let you know being an international student is a HUGE plus at alot of schools. Being able to say that a large percentage of your student body comes from outside of the US is really important to colleges, as it translates to "our school is so desirable that people leave their country of origin to come here." Of course this doesn't say anything about the strength of the international students being admitted, but to the average perspective student these statistics sound attractive.

[Roy]

Bump, any more comments/input?

If I were to choose between UCSD and SDSU which would better suit what I am looking for?

[DLKeeper1]

Roy,

You might get a better idea of what each college is like by buying a book on all of the different colleges on amazon.com or something like that.

[sfgiants]

Try the forums at college confidential at http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/. Really a wealth of information, although it is filled with overachieving perfect students. Nonetheless it helped me a ton when I was applying to universities.

With regards to your question, UCSD is more of a commuter/studious school whereas SDSU is pretty much a party school.