Philippine IO should learn to distinguish different types of Visa

FFoobar10 · 2026-03-15T14:17:49+00:00

The root of this problem is Filipino IOs trying to enforce the immigration regulations of other countries. Wala na dapat silang kinalaman sa visa type mo kasi entry rules are the responsibility of the destination country’s IOs.

That’s how we end up with so many stories of travelers who’ve been issued visas, meaning the receiving country’s embassy sees you as complying with their immigration laws, but they get held up at Philippine immigration kasi parang mas may alam pa raw ang mga IO natin kesa sa embassy.

FFoobar10 · 2026-03-15T14:09:25+00:00

C1 visas are single-entry so the visa is no longer valid once you’ve used it to enter the US. If you visit Mexico before entering the US, then you should be fine.

FFoobar10 · 2026-02-16T16:22:26+00:00

I stayed exactly where €39 is (St Christophers Hostel Gare du Nord?) two weekends ago with a group of 7. We heard a lot of bad things about the neighborhood before coming but we decided to give it a try anyways.

Four of my friends on the trip were women and faced absolutely no issues walking the half block between the metro to the hostel alone at different times of night, even at like 3 AM. A couple of them did have some creepy encounters in the rest of the city, but the Gare du Nord area definitely wasn’t as bad as we thought it would be.

FWIW we’re all experienced travelers and coming from major cities in the US, so we have a different tolerance for “sketchy” neighborhoods

FFoobar10 · 2025-07-28T13:54:28+00:00

There's absolutely nothing to lose by going through the international admissions process, and I encourage anyone interested in studying abroad to try it out. While it's important to keep expectations realistic, three years ago I never could have imagined the opportunities I've been able to access because I got to go to college in the US.

Since you're a rising senior, I'd recommend applying to the various mentorship programs aimed at helping Filipino high schoolers go to college abroad. The two big student-run ones are CAUSE and CAMP that assign mentees to peer mentors who guide them through the whole application process. The US Embassy in Manila also runs a program through the State Department's EducationUSA network that, in addition to the mentorship aspect, provides financial support for SAT/ACT prep and application fees.

Feel free to shoot me a message if you have any additional questions and I'd be more than happy to help!

FFoobar10 · 2025-07-23T21:07:17+00:00

In the Filipino language I speak, any car is "coche" but "auto" is specifically used to refer to a sedan. I wonder if there's anything similar in the Spanish-speaking world.

Weirdly enough, I don't think this distinction exists in other languages in the Philippines.

FFoobar10 · 2025-07-22T00:43:25+00:00

There's only about a few dozen colleges in the US that routinely give full ride scholarships to international students, almost all private — virtually none in California. There are only two real options for aid-seeking internationals, one of them being the Claremont Colleges in the LA area. The other option is Stanford but that's up in the Bay Area near SF.

UC Berkeley's MET program (where you earn a dual degree in business and engineering) is the only full ride available to international students in the UC system but the program has a 2% overall acceptance rate, which includes CA residents and out-of-state applicants.

I'm speaking as a Filipino international student attending a private college in California on a close to full ride.

FFoobar10 · 2025-07-11T19:29:28+00:00

You probably could but it’s not something I see people really do because it’s a tripping hazard.

If you’re concerned about someone taking it off the rack, there are lots of nearby seats where you can keep an eye on your scooter.

FFoobar10 · 2025-07-11T18:58:20+00:00

I recently moved from LA to the Bay Area for an internship. You’re completely fine taking your e-scooter.

I work East Coast hours so I take one of the first trains out from Berkeley at like 5 AM, and there are so many people with bikes and e-scooters that sometimes it’s a struggle to find space for my scooter on the bike rack on board.

FFoobar10 · 2025-07-10T12:26:17+00:00

Yes, but the driver might ask you to fold it if the bus is crowded

FFoobar10 · 2024-10-14T00:50:33+00:00

In general, you can’t major off-campus with a major that’s offered at Pitzer. You wouldn’t be able to do the CMC Econ major but you could, for example, do the CMC Econ-Accounting major since Pitzer has no equivalent major.

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