Considering Graduate School Abroad

[whitwhit]

Hello,

 

I am at a crossroads.

 

I am an American living in Japan, dating a Japanese medical student. I want to go back to school to get my master's and am considering the means to do so. My BF will not finish his schooling until late 2015-2016. While I love living in Japan, it is very expensive and my job here requires that I work full time- not leaving much leigh-way for my schooling. I have recently taken a trip to China, which has opened up some desire in my to consider coming here for graduate school.

 

Pros to Grad School in China:

1. Cheap Tuition

2. Gov't Funded Scholarships for Int'l students are easy to get. China really wants foreign students.

3. My best friend lives in the city where I would be living.

4. New Culture

5. Free Mandarin Lessons- Chinese is gold on a resume.

 

My options are;

 

1. Do graduate school online and continue to live in Japan. Take on less hours, and be very poor.

2. Do graduate school in China, where the tuition is dirt cheap and I can live very comfortably. Upper middle class even.

3. Continue living in Japan and do graduate school another year.

4. Do graduate school in Japan/or online and continue working full time. Possibly making myself exhausted and unhappy.

 

 

Our relationship is very strong. And while I love him very much, I do not get to spend a lot of time with him. He's still a student now and its not going to get much better once he starts working... I am only 26- and am afraid of not exploring life to the fullest while I have the energy and the desire to do so.

 

I have also recently had discussions with him about our future. He loves me, but he isn't at a point in his life where he is thinking about marriage yet... He lives life thinking about what he has to do today.

 

I haven't talked to him about doing school in China. I know its going to break his heart if I go. It will hurt me too... but Japan is a really expensive place to live. It would be way easier improve my career options by doing the degree here.

 

Should I set him and myself free from each other, do LDR or continue living normally in Japan and try to make it all work?

[Boughtandpaidfor]

Sounds like you know what you want to do and you need someone to agree with you.

 

If you put your life on hold for a relationship then the resentment will destroy the relationship. I can tell you that from experience (5 years in Japan, 2 years LDR that held us both back).

 

Good luck.

[Snny]

What field do you plan to pursue?

What benefits will you gain from having the master's degree?

Where do you plan to live when you finish your master's degree?

Is there growth in the field in which you plan to study for?

 

Those are the three essential questions you need to have an answer for before enrolling. Otherwise, you are wasting time going to graduate school.