Help me to decide the best option.. among these ten universities. (UCs, UW, UIUC, UMN, ASU, NEU).

College Search & Selection
1

Hi,

I am a foreign national currently studying in a community college in Washington. My intended major is chemical engineering. I plan to transfer this Fall 2016.
These are university that I have applied:

  • UC Berkeley, LA, Davis, Irvine, SB, SD.
  • UW Seattle

I am also planning to apply to:

  • UIUC.
  • Northeastern U.
  • Arizona State
  • U of Minnesota.

At first UCs were my first choice, but I kept hearing about how California was a financial mess. Jobs are hard to come by after graduation makes them unappealing to me. The OOS tuition is also kind of expensive. Unless I get accepted to Berkeley or maybe UCLA, which is almost impossible (a lot harder for OOS transfers to be accepted), it is more likely that I won’t go to a UC, I might have to think twice about UCSB though, it is near the beach and I heard their ChemE program is solid as well.

I’d love to go to UW. It is prestigious. The campus is beautiful and huge, but their ChemE only accept students in spring quarter (around late march which I applied to anyway), and the Seattle itself is lovely. But to be honest after living here for 1-2 years, my personality does not fit with Seattlelites. “Seattle Freeze” that we keep hearing is definitely a real social phenomenon, and it has been proven. Check on google.

UIUC, the location, my professor who went there told me, it is in the middle of massive and never-ending corn fields. But solid engineering education.

Northeastern U, it is not that prestigious but I just heard about the integrated engineering co-op program there and I think that is interesting. The tuition is definitely the most expensive out of these all. But I could cover at least some of them with my co-op money. And I heard a lot of good things about Boston. Anyone know how competitive their engineering transfer admission is?

U of Minnesota. Cheap tuition. In the middle of metropolitan. But their chemical engineering program is super selective. It is just as selective as Berkeley’s. Other engineering not so much. I plan to check biomedical as my second choice major.

Arizona State. Thinking of applying to Barrett honors college but the deadline is like next Feb and there is a lot of stuffs to be completed (recommendation letter, etc). The ASU deadline itself is around May, which is good for a backup school, that is when most universities have released their decisions. Do you guys think Barrett is worth a shot?

It is more likely that I am going to apply for all these universities I haven’t applied to, but I just want to know if I do get accepted to some of them. Which one should I lean forward more?

Feel free to correct my thinking and help me decide. Any thoughtful input will be highly appreciated guys! Thank you! :slight_smile:

2

bump

3

If money is an issue, then I think most of these out-of-state public universities are not good choices for you. Then again, if you are a foreign national, you are maybe not a Washington resident anyway. Either way, Washington State University has a chemical engineering major, too. (And although I dispute the validity of “Seattle freeze,” attending a large public university with a built-in source of friends is quite different from being plopped in the middle of Seattle knowing no one. You can make friends.)

If you are a Washington state resident, WSU and UW are your cheapest options, but you also may want to consider more heavily schools covered under the Western Undergraduate Exchange. Some of those with a chemical engineering major, that honor the WUE agreement for transfers too, are New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Colorado State University, New Mexico State, University of Idaho, University of New Mexico, and University of North Dakota. NM Institute is well-reputed as a science and engineering school.

I think it’s probably better to wait until you have some acceptances before you decide which one to lean to, because the answer is moot if you don’t get in. All of these places have good engineering programs. It also kind of depends on the money factor. Where can you afford?

4

As a foreign national, you can’t assume that you are employable in the US.

Immigration rules have become very strict so, getting sponsored by a US company is not to be assumed. Assume that you will return to your home country after graduation.

Chemical engineering jobs are hard to come by for US residents, let alone international candidates. Check out the link to the Bureau of Labor Statistics: http://www.bls.gov/ooh/architecture-and-engineering/chemical-engineers.htm

My BIL has a doctorate in Chemical Engineering and had a really tough time finding a stable job. He has finally settled in the northeast.

So, you really should look at your options and see which universities fit your areas of study, as well as your budget.