Firstly I would like to say this forums really great
I found it by searching up information about different cities in the US and it seems like many active forum members have been providing some good insight.
Due to circumstances beyond my control, I didn't get the opportunity to start college or complete a university degree earlier on in life.
I have been working professionally in the IT field, so far I am a certified support analyst and certified help desk professional.
In my career I have hit some ceilings in progressing further due to the fact I don't have the required credentials that many expect to see in management etc
I have excelled in the professional arena but when competing with other individuals for advancement, I am failing due to lack of a proper degree and additionally it also is impacting other things or opportunities as well.
Originally I am from sunny Perth in Western Australia and I have been living in Canada for the last 8 years (Toronto), it has been quite often Brrrr too cold
I would eventually like to be hired by a company such as Sony, Google, EA Games, Blizzard, Microsoft or other well known organization and have the opportunities for advancement, regardless of which direction things go.
I plan to return to college/university, I have gotten used to and enjoy the North American lifestyle so returning back to Australia is not my ideal choice, however I am concerned about a couple of things in choosing a city and college in the USA and this is where I believe forum members could help me better than I am doing researching alone (even if I am pretty good at it)
1. Warm weather most of the year around (please no more snow in the direct area)
2. Tuition (for an international student)
3. Cost of living (either shared or independant)
4. Easy going (friendly) people
5. Higher levels of international and mature age students (of course most places will have younger students but would like to have some people around me I can relate to)
6. Diversity Tolerant
I had considered studying in Seattle (Seattle Central), some colleges there suggest cost per year all up is approximately 18,000 vs Los Angeles (SMC) is 21,000, some other colleges/cities have drastically different costs and or opportunities.
For Seattle I am afraid of the gloomy weather, for Los Angeles I am afraid of choosing a more 'popular' location, where I think the cost of living would be quite a bit higher than what is being suggested, however I know that SMC has quite a large international student population and San Francisco the cost of living is a little concerning also.
Other places I have been considering is potentially, somewhere in Texas like Dallas, Orlando/Miami in Florida, I have also been open to North Carolina or Georgia but not so sure of the weather in those places.
I have visited many of these places before but only for a short time and thought I would ask on here what everyone thinks would be a good choice to spending the next 4 years (and quite a bit of money) over this time.
This post is a bit long winded, but I thought I'd try be as detailed and honest and possible so I can make the best potential decision and hopefully find some good suggestions or others that may have already walked down this road.
Thanks in advance for your time =)
Jeremy
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