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DV 2015 Oceania winners

cj27 said:
Does anyone know if the actual green card can be sent to the USPS postal service and then be forwarded onto Australia? The address I was going to use at the Poe has now become unreliable. I am starting to really worry unless anyone can advise if there is a postal service that would get my cards to aus. Or can the cards be sent directly to australia?
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USCIS will not send the GC to a foreign address, it must be mailed to a U.S. address. USPS also cannot and will not forward the GC to a different address, be it local or foreign. USPS is required to return the GC to USCIS if its undeliverable to the address listed on the envelope.
 
alwaysrose123 said:
I will be sending my children to private school to begin with. My youngest will most definitely begin in a Christian private kindergarten... high school... I wouldn't mind sending to a public school for high school. I teach at a private school here in Auckland and I have taught in public schools... I prefer private school- small class size, minimal (if not no) bullying ... would be few reasons for my choice... I don't care how much it cost... as a parent I will do the best I can for my children...
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You might want to do a bit more research into the schools. People have this idea that all public schools are the same, whereas they can be like chalk and cheese. Public schools in good areas are pretty indistinguishable from private schools, other than the cost. Of course if you are set on a religious education then you need to go private. That is actually the main reason people go private, that and those who want to pay less for property (live in a cheaper area but then the schools aren't that great so they send their kids to private schools.). The other side of the coin is that because people want a "religious" education, the paradox is that many of the private schools aren't actually as good as schools as the top public ones. So you need to be very careful about what you mean by the "best for your children". We did all the research and concluded, as have many others, that doing the best often means living in the right area for the top public schools.

Of course you first need to actually get selected.
 
SusieQQQ said:
You might want to do a bit more research into the schools. People have this idea that all public schools are the same, whereas they can be like chalk and cheese. Public schools in good areas are pretty indistinguishable from private schools, other than the cost. Of course if you are set on a religious education then you need to go private. That is actually the main reason people go private, that and those who want to pay less for property (live in a cheaper area but then the schools aren't that great so they send their kids to private schools.). The other side of the coin is that because people want a "religious" education, the paradox is that many of the private schools aren't actually as good as schools as the top public ones. So you need to be very careful about what you mean by the "best for your children". We did all the research and concluded, as have many others, that doing the best often means living in the right area for the top public schools.

Of course you first need to actually get selected.
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Exactly... I agree on your view in regards to public and private schools...I understand completely... I know about getting selected first... .

I have an understanding and a great deal of knowledge about American Schools, as we have family in the education sector in USA an canada... I will do an extensive research on schools before we relocate- I mean its common sense to do that... Thank you for your concern and suggestions... my kids will attend the same school as where I'll be teaching (if we choose to go). Our lives here in New Zealand is blissful, white sandy beaches are 5 minutes away, any direction from my house... whether we go or not is still on the table. If we did get selected... I'm not sure whether we'll go as we have a very comfortable lifestyle, however we will be open to moving... my husband and I will have to decide when the time is near...New Zealand is one of the most beautiful and safest place on earth.Yes, its a little expensive for some but not expensive for us as we have been brought up in this culture and society. The air is beautiful and water is refreshing... I am happy and satisfied with my life here in New Zealand. If we choose to migrate it will be for our children and opportunities for them. I'm happy here or USA... as long as I'm with my hubby and children...- to reside in USA- a privilege, blessing and adventure... :)-
 
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Lol, an hour and a half later I was still chuckling at the breeding prowess of a family which enabled someone to have "tons of relatives and immediate family members" in a different country, but I see the post has been edited to a somewhat more sedate "family" as well as taking out some of the more...judgemental aspect. No doubt you have your opinion , and no doubt the families in my town who earn millions of dollars a year and for whom private school fees are petty cash yet still live here to send their kids to the local public schools, see differently. For some people, it's more important to send kids to schools with good placement for ivy and elite colleges and national /Olympic sports teams than those that teach bible stories. But as you said, it's a personal choice. Fwiw, our kids were at religiously-affiliated private schools before we moved to the U.S., so we have nothing against them in principle - and they happened to be the best available schools where we used to live, so that's where we sent the kids. In any case, I think I shall take the suggestion of a PM and stop engaging with you and focus on people who have actually won and actually want to move.
 
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The school debate:eek: Oh boy! I tried really hard to hold my tongue and not get involved in this, considering the fact that I really, really, really, REALLY hate sharing person detail/info on the net. I finally conceded thinking maybe what I have to say could be useful to someone else, since I have a kid who is about to graduate from college in June and another going into college in August.

The decision to send a child to a private school viz a viz a public one is a personal choice IMO, and the reason(s) for wanting to send a child to a private school is best known to the people concerned. I happen to live in one of the most expensive part of the city where I'm based, my property tax is outrageous, which means the schools serving my area are well funded, the public high school is one of the top performers in terms of academic performance and sporting activities.

However for personal reasons (which I wouldn't go into :rolleyes:), I opted to send my kids to a private high school. When it comes to sports, especially basketball which my kids play and are quite good at, the public schools dust us every time we meet. Realizing not everyone will play in the NBA (although most kids dream of being drafted), heck most wouldn't even play in college, we've always encouraged our kids to be more focused on their academics and see sport as a past-time activity. Now in terms of academic performance, none of the public high schools come a close 2nd to the private high school when we take metrics based on SAT, ACT, AP exam performance and the ratio of college bound students.

Four years ago when my mostly honors student-son didn't get accepted into Stanford (yeah, my Ivy League dream school :cool:), I was completely crushed and devastated :eek:, thinking no other school was good enough. Of course I put those feelings behind as we carefully reviewed the offers we had on hand and made the choice as to the best school for him. Well, he's graduating in June, and as at January, he already has a firm job offer with a mouth watering salary from an international company based in Silicon Valley which he starts a week after graduation. I am certain same can't be said for many of those graduating with him (from his school, Stanford and other Ivy League colleges for that matter).

Now fast forward 4 years after the 'devastating' disappointment of not getting into Stanford, my other kid, an all-time straight A presidential honors student also didn't get into my Ivy League dream school! What??? :mad: Now, I'm beyond crushed and devastated! :p Of course I've since then applied the breaks, made the best decision based on the offers we have. The truth is Stanford isn't even the best fit for him based on what he wants to study, plus if he had gotten in, he probably would have been just another student, compared to this other school where he's been accepted into the presidential scholars' program with scholarships on top. In addition this school has the industry connection which will be very useful for internship programs and when he finally graduates which Stanford clearly doesn't have.

Now, bearing in mind that most of us are undertaking this immigration journey with the mind of opening the world up for our kids and giving them the best that we never had as kids, I said all that I said above with the purpose of saying:

If you feel a private school is what's best for your kid, go for it. If you feel your kid will thrive better in a public school even though you can afford the private fees, go for it!

While getting into an Ivy League school is a great accomplishment, not getting into one is not the end of the world. It doesn't mean your kid will not do well wherever they may end up attending, or that they will be limited in life. It all depends on what the kid makes of what he/she had.
​
Okay, I think I've said way too much :oops:, so I'm going to zip it up.

p.s. Not giving up on my Ivy League dream though, gonna make them apply for a Masters program some day :D:oops::p
 
NZLDNNY said:
Has anyone received their 2NL for a June interview yet? The suspense is killing me!
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Some have and someone broke the program that emails 2NLs.

However, anyone can check their CEAC to see either in Transit or Ready - which means June interview is certain. THat might help some relax....
 
Sm1smom said:
The school debate:eek: Oh boy! I tried really hard to hold my tongue and not get involved in this, considering the fact that I really, really, really, REALLY hate sharing person detail/info on the net. I finally conceded thinking maybe what I have to say could be useful to someone else, since I have a kid who is about to graduate from college in June and another going into college in August.

The decision to send a child to a private school viz a viz a public one is a personal choice IMO, and the reason(s) for wanting to send a child to a private school is best known to the people concerned. I happen to live in one of the most expensive part of the city where I'm based, my property tax is outrageous, which means the schools serving my area are well funded, the public high school is one of the top performers in terms of academic performance and sporting activities.

However for personal reasons (which I wouldn't go into :rolleyes:), I opted to send my kids to a private high school. When it comes to sports, especially basketball which my kids play and are quite good at, the public schools dust us every time we meet. Realizing not everyone will play in the NBA (although most kids dream of being drafted), heck most wouldn't even play in college, we've always encouraged our kids to be more focused on their academics and see sport as a past-time activity. Now in terms of academic performance, none of the public high schools come a close 2nd to the private high school when we take metrics based on SAT, ACT, AP exam performance and the ratio of college bound students.

Four years ago when my mostly honors student-son didn't get accepted into Stanford (yeah, my Ivy League dream school :cool:), I was completely crushed and devastated :eek:, thinking no other school was good enough. Of course I put those feelings behind as we carefully reviewed the offers we had on hand and made the choice as to the best school for him. Well, he's graduating in June, and as at January, he already has a firm job offer with a mouth watering salary from an international company based in Silicon Valley which he starts a week after graduation. I am certain same can't be said for many of those graduating with him (from his school, Stanford and other Ivy League colleges for that matter).

Now fast forward 4 years after the 'devastating' disappointment of not getting into Stanford, my other kid, an all-time straight A presidential honors student also didn't get into my Ivy League dream school! What??? :mad: Now, I'm beyond crushed and devastated! :p Of course I've since then applied the breaks, made the best decision based on the offers we have. The truth is Stanford isn't even the best fit for him based on what he wants to study, plus if he had gotten in, he probably would have been just another student, compared to this other school where he's been accepted into the presidential scholars' program with scholarships on top. In addition this school has the industry connection which will be very useful for internship programs and when he finally graduates which Stanford clearly doesn't have.

Now, bearing in mind that most of us are undertaking this immigration journey with the mind of opening the world up for our kids and giving them the best that we never had as kids, I said all that I said above with the purpose of saying:

If you feel a private school is what's best for your kid, go for it. If you feel your kid will thrive better in a public school even though you can afford the private fees, go for it!

While getting into an Ivy League school is a great accomplishment, not getting into one is not the end of the world. It doesn't mean your kid will not do well wherever they may end up attending, or that they will be limited in life. It all depends on what the kid makes of what he/she had.
​
Okay, I think I've said way too much :oops:, so I'm going to zip it up.

p.s. Not giving up on my Ivy League dream though, gonna make them apply for a Masters program some day :D:oops::p
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Awesome post mom.

My issue with rose (in this case) was the blanket assumption/statement that private is always better with no experience of the system here at all. I can understand this due to where I come from, but given some of her other posts ..I felt it needed a challenge.

Interestingly, my sister (who went to school on the east coast) went to a very highly regarded private school, and was saying even before she graduated that she regretted it and wished she had gone to the PS she was zoned for (also very good). She got into a "public ivy" (also rejected from Stanford...) and then a year or two in transferred to a "real ivy" (so that is maybe also an option you may want to think of?) and did exceedingly well. Currently doing a master's on a full scholarship. There are many ways to skin a cat.

The high school zoned for my daughter has excellent standing state wise in the sciences and this is what she wants to do, so... it seemed perfectly logical to send her there. I'm not a big sports person at all but the school is renowned for producing top athletes as well as its academics, and I know this is why some other people send their kids there, hence why I threw that into the pot. The town puts a lot of extra money into the school system, and obviously not all public school systems will have this benefit.

Like you say, people have reasons for deciding where to send their kids, but people who think they know everything because they teach on the other side of the world and just automatically slate public schools as a result, and do things like proclaim that religiously affiliated kindergartens are the only thing to do if you want the best for your kid, do need a wake up call.

And with that... any further opinion I have on schools and the system will only be in response to actual winners who are actually coming to the U.S. and ask about it. And for those, again, greatschools.org is a fantastic resource. For those who think you need a private school, just do your research - you may be pleasantly surprised.
 
Oh lol sorry just one more thing - as schools are different, so are children. My cousin has three children, and they each ended up going to different schools (with a nice mix of public, public charter and religiously affiliated private, haha) , because each was the best for the particular child. Something else to consider.
 
SusieQQQ said:
Awesome post mom.

My issue with rose (in this case) was the blanket assumption/statement that private is always better with no experience of the system here at all. I can understand this due to where I come from, but given some of her other posts ..I felt it needed a challenge.

Interestingly, my sister (who went to school on the east coast) went to a very highly regarded private school, and was saying even before she graduated that she regretted it and wished she had gone to the PS she was zoned for (also very good). She got into a "public ivy" (also rejected from Stanford...) and then a year or two in transferred to a "real ivy" (so that is maybe also an option you may want to think of?) and did exceedingly well. Currently doing a master's on a full scholarship. There are many ways to skin a cat.

The high school zoned for my daughter has excellent standing state wise in the sciences and this is what she wants to do, so... it seemed perfectly logical to send her there. I'm not a big sports person at all but the school is renowned for producing top athletes as well as its academics, and I know this is why some other people send their kids there, hence why I threw that into the pot. The town puts a lot of extra money into the school system, and obviously not all public school systems will have this benefit.

Like you say, people have reasons for deciding where to send their kids, but people who think they know everything because they teach on the other side of the world and just automatically slate public schools as a result, and do things like proclaim that religiously affiliated kindergartens are the only thing to do if you want the best for your kid, do need a wake up call.

And with that... any further opinion I have on schools and the system will only be in response to actual winners who are actually coming to the U.S. and ask about it. And for those, again, greatschools.org is a fantastic resource. For those who think you need a private school, just do your research - you may be pleasantly surprised.
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Thanks Susie :).

The thing is the 'do or do die' attitude regarding the Ivy League schools was really mine (and still unashamedly is :D). Long before we started the college application process, every time I asked my brainiac son to name his top choice college, his response was always "I really don't care as long as the school is a great one and it's able to prepare me to be one of the best in my chosen field" to which I always rolled my eyes and responded by saying 'you're going to Stanford' :D:D.

Yes, I'm aware of the option to transfer after his first year, but I know from experience the college application process can be quite stressful. There's no reason to subject him to the level of stress we just finished dealing with just to satisfy my personal desire to have my kid attend an Ivy League college, not worth it. He is looking forward to diving in and having a great time in Southern Cali (while I continue to drop more hints about attending Stanford, yes MY dream school, for his Masters :p)
 
Sm1smom said:
Thanks Susie :).

The thing is the 'do or do die' attitude regarding the Ivy League schools was really mine (and still unashamedly is :D). Long before we started the college application process, every time I asked my brainiac son to name his top choice college, his response was always "I really don't care as long as the school is a great one and it's able to prepare me to be one of the best in my chosen field" to which I always rolled my eyes and responded by saying 'you're going to Stanford' :D:D.

Yes, I'm aware of the option to transfer after his first year, but I know from experience the college application process can be quite stressful. There's no reason to subject him to the level of stress we just finished dealing with just to satisfy my personal desire to have my kid attend an Ivy League college, not worth it. He is looking forward to diving in and having a great time in Southern Cali (while I continue to drop more hints about attending Stanford, yes MY dream school, for his Masters :p)
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Oh, don't worry, I understand perfectly - my 6-year old daughter is already down for MIT ;)
 
Sm1smom said:
If you feel a private school is what's best for your kid, go for it. If you feel your kid will thrive better in a public school even though you can afford the private fees, go for it!
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I think you have to know your kids well enough to make those important decisions... like yourself! I am all for public schools and there are great ones out there but there are good private schools as well which costs a arm and a leg. I just prefer private Christian schools as I saw a huge difference in the kids that go to one. My daughters go to Kristin School here in Auckland and they brilliant.
 
SusieQQQ said:
The high school zoned for my daughter has excellent standing state wise in the sciences and this is what she wants to do, so... it seemed perfectly logical to send her there. I'm not a big sports person at all but the school is renowned for producing top athletes as well as its academics, and I know this is why some other people send their kids there, hence why I threw that into the pot. The town puts a lot of extra money into the school system, and obviously not all public school systems will have this benefit
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Susie, I m not saying that all private schools are best and public schools are bad. I think it depends on the area you live in and to go with whichever schools you find meet your needs. My daughter is a brilliant student and if there was a school that met her needs I'd send her there.

You shouldn't feel the need to challenge me- my feelings are neutral toward you... you're a member here... my opinions are my own... and they are a result of my life experiences... its all good Susie, we kiwis are relaxed and fun loving, people.
 
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