<p>Hi,</p>
<p>Where should I apply via the ED Plan, Computer Science major.
I am from India and I do not require financial aid .</p>
<p>What would you recommend and where are my chances best.</p>
<p>I am fairly bright if not the brightest . Top 5 % of class. EC's are good- not great. I will do my best on the essay.</p>
<p>Preferences-
1) Somewhere warm .( not necessary )
2) Great career opportunities.
3) On a side note, I want to start my own company. So great industry relations.</p>
<p>Appreciated !</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>It is difficult to recommend a program without knowing your grades, test scores, ECs and personal preferences. Assuming you have perfect academic credentials, CMU and Cornell are both excellent options.</p>
<p>Thank you for your reply, I have updated my post.</p>
<p>Have you taken your SATs? You will need high scores to be admitted to the more selective schools. Remember, you’re not competing against Americans, you’re competing against the top students from India.</p>
<p>You mention “great career opportunities” - but are you aware that you will not be able to stay in the US to work, unless you find an employer willing to sponsor you for a temporary work visa (time consuming, expensive, under scrutiny by the government.)</p>
<p>That said, as a full pay student, there are literally hundreds of universities that would welcome you. You could consider Berkeley, UCLA, USC, Harvey Mudd, Santa Clara - all in California. Another “warm climate” school to look into is Rice University in Texas, University of Texas, Austin, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.</p>
<p>I will be giving my SAT’s in October as well as November. ( Hopefully 2100 + ) . Should I only apply to need-aware colleges ?. Where do I have the best chance ?</p>
<p>Thank You Sir.</p>
<p>You indicated that you don’t require financial aid so it doesn’t matter whether you apply to need-aware colleges. In any case, public schools (such as Berkeley, UCLA, Austin, North Carolina) don’t give aid to international students, but do like them due to the extra tuition money. </p>
<p>Your biggest advantage over other international applicants is the fact that you’re a full-pay student with great stats. So apply to schools where your SATs and other stats place you in the upper percentiles of incoming freshmen. (That information is available on individual school websites and search engines such as collegeboard.com or princetonreview.com) Those are the schools where you have the best chance. </p>
<p>If you DO require financial aid – that’s a whole other discussion, and a much, much harder challenge.</p>
<p>Thank You for your reply . I intend on applying via the early decision/action plan .</p>
<p>Out of the following which is the best option</p>
<p>1) University of Pennsylvania
2) Columbia University
3) Cornell University
4) NYU</p>
<p>Thank You Again !</p>
<p>It depends what you’re looking for. All of these are selective schools, and hard to get into, but of these four NYU is the lowest ranked in computer science, and therefore may have fewer top-ranked applicants to compete against.</p>
<p>By the way, you do realize none of these schools is in a warm climate, right? Brace for long, cold winters, particularly at Cornell</p>
<p>Well, I could handle long winters if I am in Cornell .
Sometimes you just have to do things .</p>
<p>Very true, and good for you to understand that. Good luck. But something tells me you’ll do OK :)</p>
<p>Thank You Sir, for your kind words . I appreciate them .</p>