<p>I'm an international student. I just got accepted to Cornell as an engineering transfer this fall. At the same time I got accepted to some other schools in New York: politech in brooklyn, manhattan college in yonkers. Now I'm choosing between these 2 schools.:
-I know Cornell has good engineering depart. but they offer me 0 financial aid, which means I will have to go for a loan of > $100 thousands if I go there for 2 years.</p>
<p>-polytech offers me $ 20k, bringing their cost down to around 10k/ year, which means the cost for 2 years will be $20k only, affordable for me.</p>
<p>CAn you guys give me some advice so i can make my tough decision here. Cuz if i go for Cornell i will graduate with a huge debt, plus i'm not U.S citizen so it will be tough for me to get job here after graduation.</p>
<p>Cornell is a great school, it's up to you to decide if it's worth the expense.</p>
<p>I believe that the full cost (tuition/room/board) for 2 years is about $84,000. . . .(well it's better than > 100,000). If you take an on-campus job you can make about $2,000 per year, plus over summer you can make about another $2000/year. So that would bring it to $76,000. . . . .ehhh. . .maybe you could apply to some outside scholarships, or maybe there's a fund set aside somewhere! If you really want to go to Cornell, then I'm sure there is a way to make it happen.</p>
<p>just one thought came to my mind. Is it true that most of the people in this cornell room are Cornellian? Cuz if so then I will expect most of the advice favor cornell.</p>
<p>yes, it's true many of us are cornellians, but we're not just saying "cornell rocks." USNWR ranked cornell as having the best engineering department of any of the ivies. Go ask if you should go to harvard or cornell for engineering, ceteras paribus, on the harvard board and you should hear "pick cornell." It is a top notch engineering program, one of the best in the nation.</p>
<p>Actually, I don't think you should pick Cornell. From what I understand, since you're an international, you're not entitled to almost any of the cheapers loans out there. While I believe you will get a much, much better education at Cornell, I don't think its worthwhile to go into literal bankrupcy for it, especially if you're worried about post-graduation job prospects.</p>
<p>I'm considering these two loans: GATE student loan ( bank of america) and citiassist (citibank). The interest rate of citiassist is a bit higher. Do you have any experience on these?</p>
<p>Yes, I am very worried about post graduation job. I'm international student so my opportunities will be different than those of U.S citizens. I don't know if there is anybody here who is or was international student and has been in the same situation as I am. I really want to know what decision he/she made and what was the outcome.</p>
<p>Companies recruit cornell's engineers heavilly, but do they recruit international so heavilly as well?</p>
<p>Well...even if you DO get a decently high paying job after graduation, think about how long it will take to pay off those loans. If you make 60k post-grad, you'd net maybe 10k (these are just my estimates), so it would take at least 8 years to pay this off...and these are years where you aren't saving anything. If you are very frugal about everything, perhaps you'd be willing to make the sacrifice, but if I were in your situation, I would forego the Ivy league and a somewhat higher paying job initially and get a decent education at another school to not be burdened by heavy loans....but what do I know...</p>
<p>I see a lot of people doing this, however: coming to the US for grad school....in Engineering, this often does NOT involve loans or anything provided you are a good student and are willing to work for your professors as an RA or TA. If you get your Master's here at a university of similar calibur to Cornell, you should have no problem finding a high paying job and succeeding in the US. From my dad's experience, however (he's currently a chair professor at UCF), he only recruits students from the best unversities abroad. Depending on which school you are transferring from, this may be a better option.</p>
<p>If you choose not to go to Cornell for undergrad you could apply for grad school, in which case most highly ranked universities pay your tuition and provide you with a stipend. However, such programs can be very competitive.</p>
<p>A Cornell Engineering degree isn't some magical piece of paper that will net you any job you want. </p>
<p>towerpumpkin is correct on pretty much everything. As far as I know, the only companies that don't recruit internationals are government-sponsored organizations like defense labs and NASA. Don't take my word for it because I never went the job route. What do you plan on majoring in and do you intend to live here in the states after graduation? You'll undoubtedly have more job opportunities coming from Cornell, but is it worth an extra 80k$ in debt? That's A LOT of money. It's roughly an extra 800-1000$ a month you will have to repay over at least 10-15 years. If you were able to get into Cornell, you'll probably kick ass at the politech so that's something else to consider.</p>
<p>I am also an international student, however, not like your situation. I am planning to get into medical/pharmacy schools after two to four years of college work due to their competitive admission. If I don't even get into any of the pharmacy schools next year, I am transferring out of my current university. The curriculum offered at my university limits me from selecting electives and bio courses that are needed for admission to Pharm.D. schools. Besides, my school is one of the few univs. that doesn't even offer scholarships to internationals.
I am applying for over 35 pharm.D schools this year, and just in case, applying for "safeties" - Cornell, Brown, UT-Austin and UW-Mad. I am actually leaning toward UT-Austin, b/c of the cheapest tuition and easier(?) GPA raise.
But in a situation like yours, I would say NO WAY JOSE for Cornell. My friend's brother is an electrical engineer graduated from Penn State with a B.S. Since he does not even have U.S. residency, that is stressing him out. He can't even dare to be hired. My lack of U.S. residency is one of the reasons that I am not studying engineering. Hope this helps.</p>
<p>good points, i wasn't thinking from a really financial perspective. I was simply saying that cornell has a very top tier engineering program. education and degree-power wise, cornell would stand you in a better situation, but if you think international status will be an issue in paying off loans after, perhaps some of these other ideas might be good.</p>
<p>how much debt do you think is reasonable. I know plenty of kids who are taking out as much as 100-150,000 in college loans. I even know one reallly bright kid going to Vanderbilt, only got 5,000 grant, passed up a FULL Ride at Brandeis, was convinced that Vandy will serve him better in the long-run. Meanwhile, he is taking out a 100,000 loan to go to that school, worth it, HELL NO.</p>
<p>Conchaivn, if you have a choice between Cornell for $80,000 and Manhattan College for $20,000, I recommend Cornell. I realize $60,000 is a lot, but the difference in quality is significant. If you told me Cornell for $80,000 and Purdue or Georgia Tech for $20,000, I would have said go for Purdue or Georgia Tech. But Cornell and Manhattan are not even on the same planet!</p>
<p>Alexandre is exactly right. I think the whole argument that is going on is pretty much comparing apples and oranges. If you have "A" and "B", and they are equal in quality, with the only difference being location, people, etc., then of course go with the cheaper one. But if you ask, "Which is better: pay $80K for a good education or put $20K in a pile and light it on fire?", then I think it's a pretty silly argument. I don't know what country you are from, but unless it's Zimbabwe or something, there's probably a university in that country that is better than Manhattan College. What I am getting at is that going to school in a different country is a big deal and a huge committment. I say, do it right or don't do it at all. I don't think flying halfway around the world to attend a second-or-third-tier school that most people in THIS country haven't even heard of is going to be worth the trouble.</p>
<p>Good point Sparty...and dude, as a Wolverine, I find any reference to the Spartans highly incendiary. Do yourself a favor and change your handle! You do not want to be a constant thorn in my side do you? hehe</p>