Better 2 bla bla OR bla bla <U-SAY>

Briexpat seems well aware of the statistics. Yes the statictics may be right. Please notice one thing if they are right, see the location of the IV league unviersities. They are located into the heart of the major famous cities or the most cherished lcoations in the USA. If you are living in california for example then your renting cost and even taxes are 40% higher than if you are living in Idaho, Texas, Montana etc. Event he fuel costs are different in a same country within differnt states by as much as more than a 1 dollar a gallon.

Usually the people who graduate from IV league or any other universties find jobs in the same locations because the company prefers it to induct a person from the same unviersity near by. They will have to offer them higher salary so that it can be considered equivalent to salary in other location (cheaper ones) in terms of net saving (after taxes and accomdoation costs).

Let me come to second cocern. In USA for a foreigner to have a job or to be graduated from there is lot diffcult than the locals, even to have an excellent grade a foreigner has to device something extraordinary in some instances.

If you have a green card then no problem but if not then expect any thing happening against your plans, it no more a dream place where you will find each and every thing easily.

Ask your parents if they trust you, ask them to look deep in your eyes, and if they do tell them the U.S is where you need to go to fulfill a dream and ask them to trust you in the way they should know you are no going there to break tradition...

It is always hard to go against your family, they are the most important people in your life, but sometimes you have to follow your heart to do whats right...

Just when all of us are cutting back on everything from groceries to college tuition, we find out our kids really will land better jobs if they graduate from an Ivy League school.

According to The Wall Street Journal, where you go to school can make a significant difference in your starting pay. And that difference continues into your mid-career years.

PayScale Inc., an online provider of global compensation data, studied 1.2 million graduates with bachelor's degrees for a year. All the subjects had at least 10 years' work experience, with a median of 15.5 years earning.

The company surveyed graduates of more than 300 schools in the United States, from state universities to Ivy League colleges. The company excluded graduates with master's and other advanced degrees such as M.D.s and J.D.s. The results suggested that the specific college major has little correlation with what you earn.

They also revealed that the median beginning salary for a graduate of an Ivy is 32 percent higher than that of a graduate of a liberal arts college. Ten years after graduation, the gap is 34 percent.

The Journal suggests that one reason why Ivy League grads pass their non-Ivy peers is that the former often pick roles in which they manage or provide advice.

Well Alexa you may be right or wrong i dont know. I do not have any desire to prove my self here but the only intent it to introduce myself better so that i can say how i know the things if i claim something that i know .

Regarding the employment offers or salaries, in USA at least in engineering this is not so, the salary offers depends on the state in which the employment is offered and experience.

They (top 15-20 unviersities in respective discipline) all are considered same .IV league unversities have smaller faculty and therefore can offer limited no of subjects (again please no offense) so when the student comes to a design work he lacks boarder spectrum required. If you dont believe me then compare their faculty size with any other good unviersity in USA nto in IV league.

Please do not think i am against them but i have already said that IV league unviersities are better as you have to see the things at other angle as well not just academics.

I did not fully recover even after a year of my degree becasue of so much tension i had faced for 2 years.I ran the other day from the campus after my thesis approval and my advisor (Professor) kept calling me in my office for two months :-) and also inquired how i got the car?.

It is not just getting employed...Research has shown that employers will favour graduates from tier 1 universities and offer tham much higher starting salaries..

This is true all over the world..

Actually in USA it hardly makes any difference in employment even. You can get employed in engineering field if you have a degree from ABET accredated university there (in Engineering field). It is twice as difficult for foreigners to have a job there becasue compnaies dont want to process theirr visas, so they have to be very good to get job.

Now every one of you will be surprised that within US MIT is not ABET accredated becasue they dont fulfill their strict requirements. Their students cannot appear in the licensing exams with in US directly without having their degrees evaluated by the accredation boards like any foreign country degree. Another example you courted regarding IV league universities , yes you are right the faculty there is sympathetic and humane to students and treat them humanly but if you see the other aspects this thing does not produce an excellent lot although the suffering is much lesser.

Another thing that i was in contact with the top brass of the fauclty because every thing is linked up so much linked up there, for example i carried the work forward of another university students and profesor (which included high ranking as well like UIUC,North Western at evansten IL,MIT) that came to my professor who was a student of another very senior professor in other very good institution. After this if you are very good then your work gets published in research journal after many approvals from outside unviersity professors then this thing introduces you to all.

This is the basic mechanism.

It is true that different universities excel at different things.. Harvard is ranked high for its business school , law and even medicine.. CalTech and MIT are ranked higher for sciences.. Yale and Berkeley also have high marks for social sciences etc..

However, the fact remains, that graduating from an ivy league university, no matter what your subject gives you a higher standing amongst employers.

Lastly, university is not just about getting a degree. It's about learning, experiences, making friends etc...

Some of you have a zeal with in and that is good, i used to have the same when i was first admitted in the highest ranking unviersities as i had very good scores and got admitted in four of them in USA , one ranked #1, other ranked #4, third ranked #7 and last one ranked # 13 in civil engineering.

I have already seen and interacted with the top most brass in my respective subject of study in USA during research (Fracture Mechanics) and some of the faculty knows me and many of their students as well.

I am already done with MS engineering in Structures from one of the highest rated university of USA in Civil Engineering (and can have admission any where in any instituion for PhD if i want )and this is it,but i am employed with the seventh largest US based firm here i am better off.

So in genenral i do not have any motive once i say that there is no difference at all between the highest rated universites within USA. It is naive to say such a thing that they are different if you want to see for yourself you will learn with time in case you go there and see for yourself.

Harvard in Engineering is although very far behind but it is better in LAW and Menagement studies.

I am only trying to let you realise the fact no offense but a reality if you are not aware of the typical university environment in USA. No motive behind it, try youeself.

Adnan, it's not very difficult to look up to see what the qualifications of professors teaching at Harvard are, the the one's teaching at QU. Anyone who thinks that QU and Harvard can even be classed as the same thing is fooling themselves.

Visit www.qatarhappening.com

Anyone with half a brain knows Harvard and its reputation, I am sure classes in a world ranking, it would probably be tops.

Go for it QP, trust me, you will never regret the life education you get, not only Harvard's input.

With your father's blessing? What are you waiting for girl?

"if you don't like the heat... get out of the kitchen... but stop trying to fan the flames before you leave... it will burn you on the a** as you go through the doorway...." ME

visit www.qatarpets.org

adnam...there may not be world wide ranking but there is world wide reputation...and that's what helps in the job market later.

QP...may I assume by your asking here that you are already leaning to travel to study and are just looking for conformation within yourself. I guess you already know what you want so don't second guess or analyse too deeply.

May your future be simple

 I may be blonde but I am wise

smile lots laugh more

Please stay aware that there is no world wide rankings of the unviersities. World ranking is not there no specific system is there forumulated.

USA has rankings within itself and first 20 ones are all good for their respective descipline. The foeigners sitting here think that there is a difference there between their good unviersities but there is hardly any.

First have GRE ot GMAT , get very good score and then get selcted after that think about the clearance and speak loud if you want to impress someone before your tour or adventure. It is itself a big process.

Good luck

Thanks Gypsy..really clearded it up..i loved the way ur straight forward..not a hint of irony!!

Well basically universities for very wealthy people and more famous than some others are not that tough in USA, they are having a softer attitude towards edcuation meant for the softer lott, that does not mean that they should not be chosen for this reason.

If you see the best research journals from US unviersities in Engineering they are unsually from the universities in USA who are not among even top twenty(althouhg mine one was at 13th no then in civil Engineering:-)) but this is a fact.

Hmmmm, let's see, doing your major at one of the best Universities in the world, which will basically give your your choice of career, allow you to travel and experience a new culture.

Or do your major at a second-rate University that wouldn't even be ranked a university anywhere else in the world. Get married, pop out 3 kids by the time your 24, Travel to the same places Qatari's travel all the time and NEVER have a real career.

Tough choice. :P

Visit www.qatarhappening.com

If you are a muslim girl, you should not ask this question here on this forum. You should ask it on your sajadah. Do an istighara & Allah will give you the right answer.

Aisha-Taweela

thanks...i'll consider all ur suggestions...

trust me it isn't easy!

Go to freaking Harvard....

You can't teach experience

Well you have a lot of zeal to go to USA for studies, some people have this fever.

Let me tell you from my experience as far as the Engineering is concerned at the masters level study it in a genuine branch of study it is very very difficult (from a good insitution)even for very good students.

Even local Americans cannot make it who have their Bsc from there from their insitituions. When i went there i lost so much weight becasue of lot of study (for 2 years) that my parents did not recognise me once they reached there to visit me in Denver, my mother got too much worried about me.

Well anyways it depends, i qualified as the highest merit graduate student from there and did the research work that published in one of the top research journals so it paid me and that is why i am highly paid here and was so in in USA. I never went for Phd although it is less harder than MS in USA but i had found a good job there.

So it pays at the end generally. Think about yourself and judge your abilities in advance.

Live for yourself.... you come in this world alone and leave the world alone.. so what matters most is what you want....seize the opportunity

You're lucky to have found your major here in Doha, why not go for it locally?. In the summer get a boost with some training courses/programs (in the same field) in the US or the UK to taste the flavor of life you're dreaming of, or imagining it's what's best for you.

If you liked it, you'd still have the choice to travel abroad, after you've matured for a post-graduate degree.

Just a suggestion from someone who had similar dreams as yours, and I got the best of it by combining education locally, career advancement outside, wrapped with my traditions and very solid family bonds and ties. Made everyone happy, myself included..:)

Rabena yehfazek.

Salam

If u think u can make it in Harvard, go fot it. But just keep in mind that u must be very strong all the way. And PLEASE don't even consider the rich possible husband when thinking about ur future. After ur happy with who u are and what u've acomplished in ur life, only then think about marriage and don't let money blind u, I know it's cliche but it will not bring u happiness, trust me, I know what I'm saying. And try to break the traditions and marry a guy only after u know him very well. Wish u all the best!

http://www.worldvision.org/

I fully encourage you to go study in the US. You can get your major there in Qatar, but the experiences you will get in a foreign country, mixing with people with different backgrounds and ways of thinking will be priceless. That's why I, as an American, have loved living in Qatar. I have had experiences most Americans will never have. And I also get to come back to my own country and experience the huge diversity here as well.

I'm a Muslim from the US and I say go for it and wear your hijab proudly and you will have great experiences to bring back to your family and share with your future husband and children and colleagues too! And, why not have one of your family members come with you and live with you here if they are concerned for you? I'm sure you could find someone in your family that would be happy to do that with you!

Pray istikhara and inshallah you will find your answers :)

A muslim colleague's dauyghter who wears a scarf, studied at Harvard and really enjoyed it.. It has nothing to do with religion, scarves, abayas etc..

If you have tghe will and the desire, you can do it. GO FOR IT!

YOU GO GIRL! you can have both! You must insist to your family that your choice to go to harvard is the best thing for you and your future, that this is what will make you happy and prosper, that your values will not be diminished to those of the american values! no offense to the americans we have some good values too! lol

What does it matter? You have your own identity. You were born with your brain, which was bestowed on you to reason. All other factors like religion, your nationality and your culture, your family are not yours to choose.

But now you have got a chance to make a decision which could change your life and probably change a few other girls who may be in the same predicament, look up to you for being independent and making the right choice.

Bo it for the girls of your country show them the light.

Ahoy Im Harvard bound ... want to follow.

Follow your dreams. You never know if your far relative will ever propose. Do you know how many Qatari girls waited in vain over a compliment given on a wedding...all mothers uses the " i want you for my son" phrase

your dad is with you? Well, that's enough. Who more do you need support from??

If this future husband is not supportive of your dream, he's not worth marrying. What husband would want his wife to turn down Harvard????

tra la la

dont let others hold you back because they are selfish and have made plans for you in their minds.

If you have been accepted to Harvard fell lucky and go for it. That is a very rare opprotunity.

This relative does not have your best interests at heart...only her own.

You will grow into yourself in school and when you come home you and your family will be proud of all you have accomplished.

tra la la

QP..Are you worried you might miss out on marrying a rich man or being an outcast?

My advice to you is please yourself, do what you want and dont worry about others. It doesnt matter how hard you try you cant please everyone, especially if its a descision that will affect you for the rest of your life..

Yes, the major I want is here in Qatar, but don't u guys think that it's worth actually going to Boston to Harvard and study...

Trying a new life 4 a change...

but if i do go there, i'll sort of be an outcomer when i come home..

One of my relatives or say very far relatives loves me so much and some how has large expectations 4 me, she is incredibly rich and wants me for her son, (also rich) and my mother wants me to stay here at home...

ARRRRGGGHHHH..

what am i suppose to do???

Qatari-princess - I can understand your dilemma. Maybe there's a compromise. Is the major for which you've applied (and presumably been accepted, at Harvard), offered here in Doha (Carnegie-Mellon, Texas A&M)? Just a thought.... Good Luck in making the right choice and success in your studies ... wherever you decide to go.

yes QP follow your dream, you may live to regret it otherwise, always wondering what you may have done :)

Thanx guys, but i don't know what to do, i think i'm going for it...

1,2 and 3...i'll b on my way;

any other suggestions??

just listen to your inner instinc. think deep what you really want and follow the lead. i know your family might againts you but you have to keep in mind that this is your life and you the one in charged. so live free and be fears. I wish you all the best in any decision you made.

Everybody is right everybody is wrong, it depend where you stand

I feel u should follow YOUR dreams rather than what others dream for you. nuff said :)

Good Fortune always comes knocking at your door...when you are sh*tting in the toilet!! :)

_[]~SMoKE~[]_

Gulf needs women like you who are moderate as well as respect their culture. The taboo around women of the Arabia can only be minimised if you girls like you would stand up and do things every one can be proud of.Whcih is full filling your ambitions as well as keeping and respecting your culture.

Good Luck

HE WHO DARES WINS

always follow your dream, unless it's the one where you're at work in your underwear.

follow your dream so you wont have any regrets later on in life.

Go for it!!!

tra la la

We do not get unlimited chances to have the things we want. Nothing is worse than missing opportunity that could have changed your life.