<p>I am an international student who has been admitted to Macalester, Colby and Reed.
Due to the huge expense and the limited aid I have been offered in the US I am also
thinking of attending Australia.</p>
<p>Are any of these three colleges worth $40000-$50000 (minus FA) per year? And are they great colleges or only average ones? It is very hard to get an impression having never been to the US.</p>
<p>just in regards to your (minus FA) comment.</p>
<p>you’re not going to get any US FA, they don’t give out aid to internationals.</p>
<p>you would have to take out loans from your home country.</p>
<p>In reply to stephenn the FA has already been recieved</p>
<p>if you’re looking at 40-50, then i’d say just straight out no to those 3</p>
<p>What are you looking to get out of it? US colleges offer a lot, but the value is in the eye of the beholder.</p>
<p>These three schools are very good. However, you are quite right to consider your costs. You need to calculate what each school would cost for you to attend for four years after subtracting the financial aid. Then you need to consider how much the Australian universities that you are looking at would cost for a full degree (would it be three years or four?).</p>
<p>Where do you expect to work after graduation? Is a US degree much more highly favored in that market even coming from a college or university that not many people there have heard of? How long would it take you working there to re-coup the difference in cost?</p>
<p>I would expect that the Australian degree would be significantly less expensive for you than a US degree. In Australia, students are eligible to work more hours and in more places than they are in the US on a student visa. It also is generally easier to find work in Australia that will permit you to stay there after graduation if you so desire. It is not easy at all to get a work visa for the US.</p>
<p>I don’t think they are worth the money. The top schools in your country will provide a terrific education along with better work opportunities after graduation.</p>
<p>I know less about the other two, but Reed is generally considered a great LAC, very rigorous.</p>
<p>What it’s worth depends on your situation, your other options, your plans after college, etc. Someone who plans to go into a career where the average starting salary is $100K is in a different situation than someone whose intended future career starts at $25K, for instance.</p>
<p>O.P., what country are you from? What schools in Australia were you accepted to and what will your costs be? </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Only if cheaper options that can’t get them to the same grad schools aren’t available. If he or she plans to go directly into the work force, schools in countries where he is a citizen or has a work visa are the way to go.</p>
<p>They all are considered above average. </p>
<p>Among all US colleges and universities, Reed graduates are among the most likely to go on to earn a Ph.D., on a per capita basis. It is considered a very intellectual place, a place that might be chosen by someone who loves to learn but who is not too interested in social prestige. I believe it is the only college in the country with its own nuclear reactor.</p>
<p>They are all good schools, but aren’t that well known outside of their regions of the U.S. I don’t know why you’d choose to go to any of them if you plan to return to Australia. Hard for me to imagine that getting a degree from one of those schools – which isn’t likely to be known in your home country – would help you with post graduate opportunities more than would going to a good school in your own country.</p>