#start planning

mmm

For any folks out there with European ancestry who are sick of the United States, I encourage you to get a $40 subscription to Ancestry dot com and begin looking for paperwork on your ancestors going back to the old country. You might already be a citizen of that country and not even know it. There may not even be a limit for how many years have passed between you and your family's emigration. There are Jews with Spanish ancestry who have reclaimed themselves as citizens because of their documentation going back to the 15th century.

I'm talking all birth, marriage, divorce, naturalisation and military documentation between you and whoever in your family was born in Europe/citizen there. Unless your family formally renounced their old citizenships, look into it. HELL, even if they did, look into it. Citizenship laws over there change all the time.

For those of you who do not have ancestry, look into these options:

Latin Americans are eligible to apply for citizenship in Spain after 2 years because of the legacy of colonialism

Anyone under the age of 30 has the right to apply for 1 year long work away visas in other countries. You're not allowed to stay in that country specifically to work longer than 1 year, but if you can move there with your current employer and do well, someone might sponsor a visa if you're passionate about coming back to stay in the country

If you work in the service industry, go ahead and apply for a work away visa. You'll still be approved. While you're there bussing tables, think about grad school abroad and apply somewhere. It's often incredibly cheap compared to the US with discounts and social support for students depending on where you go, and FEDERAL US STUDENT LOANS CAN BE USED FOR ACCREDITED INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITIES

Grad school is free in Norway, even for foreigners, but you have to cover costs of living (2024 edit/update: grad school is no longer free for foreigners, but it is still cheaper than the US!)

Many international universities have programs offered in English

If you went to a university considered to churn out "High Potential Individuals" then the UK is offering 2 year visas to all students who have graduated within the past 5 years (think universities in the top 15 in the US)

If you are in a STEM field, you can apply for a visa to gain entry to the EU for 6 months to look for work

If you are an ARTIST, Berlin Germany offers a visa specifically for you

If you are in the medical field, check out Doctors without Borders and affiliated organizations that will take you abroad

Your medical licenses are good elsewhere in the world if you're willing to do residency abroad (sorry but I don't make the rules. They do tend to pay residents a fairer wage in the Scandinavian countries, though!)

If you are a contracted seasonal agricultural worker, there are farms in Iceland that are always hiring and will provide you with food and lodging

If you work in energy/nuclear, there are plants abroad looking for people

If you think flights+housing are too expensive to save for to live abroad, then may I remind you that flights abroad are cheaper than US flights right now for the rest of 2022 and the first quarter of 2023. You can try to get a remote job or a remote side gig/hustle and from there you can work abroad and try to make it work

If you are worried about taxes, please Google the 330-day rule and residency test concerning US taxes. If you live abroad for 330 days out of the year, then the US only collects taxes from you on income earned above ~$100K a year. You still have to file US taxes, but that number basically becomes your new standard deduction.

If you work in education and are willing to teach, please apply for Fulbrights abroad, or English teaching programs abroad. If you are skeeved out about teaching English, I get it, but please know that people who speak English earn more over their lifetimes, and you would significantly improve the long term career prospects of your students and give them new opportunities. (Update: Countries with notable programs: Japan, Korea, Spain, France)

Aziraphale: *throws the bouquet into the group of people attending*

Beelzebub: *accidentally catches it*

Gabriel: Oh good lord no.

The overwhelm is real.

For parents and students alike, the sense that college is both far on the distant horizon, and coming at you too close for comfort is all too real. In our experience, overwhelm dissipates when we have a plan, and have some comfort navigating the topic, whether that’s finances, college fit, activities, or academics.

Read on for our insights on when to start the planning process, and what it really means to plan for college at every stage without drama or stress–

When is it too soon to plan for college?

I am the parent of an elementary school child and a newly minted early middle schooler. This is far too soon to be making a college list, to be thinking about standardized testing or ‘resume building.’ That said, I talk to my girls about college. Let me tell you what I mean –

As college advisors, one of the most heartrending parts of our work is meeting students in junior and even senior year of high school who feel that they don’t know who they are, what they want, or where their interests lie. In short they are wildly overwhelmed with trying to examine these questions, choose colleges, select majors, and tell their story in a compressed timeline of months rather than years. I never want that for my kids or yours, so there are ways that we can disregard ‘strategy’ and support our kids in knowing themselves well, gaining exposure to the world of college, and feeling excited to pursue their interests and seek the experiences that empower them to thrive in middle school, high school, and beyond.

Just this week, when my seven year old brought up her worries about the climate, we talked about what small actions she can take in her life right now. I shared with her some of the accomplishments of teens who acted on their convictions. Will she study environmental science? Who knows! The point of this is not to shape her into a series of items on a resume, but to empower her, even now, with the developing confidence that her interests are valuable, and that they are connected to the ways she can have agency and impact in the broader world. A kid who grows up with that ideal just might feel empowered to take initiative and step into leadership in her high school years.

When my ten year old asks me questions about college, I answer them honestly. Even in 5th grade she is starting to understand the idea of a liberal arts college as a place where you study lots of different things, and she knows that some colleges have campuses, while others are integrated into the city. Does she need to memorize these facts or make a decision right now about the right fit for her? Absolutely not! But it will be way less daunting to have a vocabulary and some familiarity with the options when it’s time to check out colleges for herself.

This approach applies at every age and stage. As kids move into later middle school and especially early high school, our goal should not be checklists, but demystifying colleges and inviting curiosity about majors and careers. The more time is offered for exploration, the more confident high school juniors and seniors feel in making their choices.

The biggest gap we see in students’ readiness to develop strong college applications is that they have not clarified, explored, and engaged their interests in depth prior to starting the application process. Kids don’t have to have all of their career plans figured out in high school, but they have to have a sense of their strengths, interests, and contributions and where their curiosity is leading them as they look ahead to college. Plans can change, but knowing who they are, what they are curious about, and what they have to contribute is essential in moving to and through the college process journey with more joy than stress.

How late is too late?

It’s never too late. If your student is a senior right now, the timeline will be expedited, but the approach can still be intentional. Center the conversation on the essentials: what are three things you can identify together will be essential for your child to thrive in college? Name those things together and make those the center of the search. Right there, that’s the start of an intentional college list. What are three core values and a few examples of how they have embodied those values during their time in high school? That alone is the foundation for a strong personal essay.

It’s not too early or too late to engage the support of a TBU Advisor. We are experienced in supporting students to understand themselves, navigate their college choices and clarify their personal best fit; our passion is helping you make a plan that takes the overwhelm out of the process and empowers you to become your own best you.

If you’d like to explore working with a TBU Advisor from 8th grade through transfer admissions, get in touch here and we will look forward to connecting with you.