Massey! Introduction and advice :)

[phaedraeos]

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Hey Everyone,

I've been lurking for, literally, months now, so introductions are more than a little overdue!

I'm a non-traditional applicant living in Boston, MA and I just got my first acceptance (to Massey) after being rejected by CSU and Purdue. I'm married, with 2 dogs (Great Dane X and Staffie), 3 cats, a loverbird, a bearded dragon, and a 90 gallon fish tank. It's been our dream to go to NZ for years, but now that I've been accepted I need to start thinking about realistic questions in addition to gorgeous coastline and the most amazing wildlife I've ever seen.

I'm in the process of browsing through websites now, but I'm wondering in the meantime if anyone has experience with emigrating to NZ on a student visa with a spouse or a very large dog (or both? heh) My husband doesn't have a bachelors or many other certified skills, so I don't think he'd be able to enter on an independent visa.

I haven't made the decision yet whether to accept because I have another 7 schools to hear from - eek! But I'd love to hear any and all thoughts. Thanks guys, and thanks for letting me read all your posts in secret up till now!

 

[alabastertree]

I'm in the same boat you are (but with fewer schools). I'm also curious about logistics of moving house and animals that far- and what to do with an SO (he needs a job, preferably in his field- usability testing/psychology). Now to wait for the other schools *sigh*.

 

[phaedraeos]

Hi, welcome to my boat! 🙂

I've been looking up costs and logistics of moving the herd - we'd probably only take one cat and one dog (the big one, of course 🙄) Pitts and crosses thereof can't be imported to NZ.

This page has some basic costs analyses of animal importation. I figure about $2000 for the cat and $4000 for the 100lb dog.

Our other question is whether my husband could apply as an undergraduate to Massey while he's in NZ with me on a partner's visa. That might be our best option. Massey has a page with student loan information for US students here. I calculated the costs of the entire program to equate to roughly $32,000 USD per year, excluding living expenses, and that's compressing the total costs into 4 years versus 4.5 to make it more comparable to a US education. That info is here

Obviously, this is a good day to be snowed in up to my eyeballs 🙂

 

[laurafinn]

Importing pets usually isn't a problem, just lots of money, paperwork and a 7-month lead time. Lots of my classmates did it, so did I.

Just a quick note -- the NZ$ is very changeable, so I would conservatively peg it at US$0.85 so you don't get into any financial trouble. It's been between $0.50 and $0.83 when I've been here, mostly on the higher end. My US loans, including living expenses, came to US$201,000 total and that was with a grandfathered tuition of $40,000/year. Food and gas prices have gone up considerably (50%) in the last 5 years as well.

Regarding your husband becoming an undergrad at Massey, I don't know specifics, but I expect its very doable. There are not a lot of jobs for spouses in Palmerston North in any case.

All the best,

Laura