I am an international student finishing high school this May and intend studying engineering - preferably Computer Science or Engineering. Having applied to several US colleges - a mix of Safe, Match and Reach schools, I eventually ended up getting admitted into all of them, with scholarships from few.
Below is the list of important schools that I have been admitted along with NET cost (TOTAL cost of attendance per year - net of all scholarship money) they entail - with those marked in asterisk denoting places where I have a scholarship:
Penn State-Main Campus 47.5k
Texas A&M-College Station 47.4k
Purdue-Main Campus 46.1k
Stony Brook 35.7k
Iowa State 32.8k
Buffalo* 31.0k
IUPUI* 25.0k
Mississippi State* 22.5k
West Virginia* 22,4k
Texas Tech* 22.1k (waitlisted for Honors)
U Houston-Main campus* 20.0k
U Texas-Arlington* 17.3k
As can be seen, the total cost of attendance per year varies greatly from USD17.3k to USD47.5k, and better known/higher ranked schools are more expensive.
Now my dilemma is this…! Do I pay more money to attend a higher ranked school or go to one of the cheaper options…?
Briefly, here are some pointers to my own thought process:
I will certainly go to graduate school after under-graduation. So it is my understanding that getting into a higher ranked graduate school is MORE important that getting into a higher ranked UG school.
In principle my dad can afford the more expensive schools, but.. I would not want to use that money unless getting into those schools is going to provide me a clear, distinct and tangible advantage which I should NOT pass at any cost.
Personally I am inclined to go with Texas Tech or Houston or UTA - 'cos they entail less expenses and I believe they are pretty decent schools for engineering.
Would welcome feedback so that I can make an informed decision soon.
There’s not really any tangible benefit to going to a higher ranked school for undergrad. It’s much better to go to a school that you will do well in/has specific characteristics that are important to you.
^^^ Exactly. Go to the cheap school for your undergrad, get good grades there, and then move on to the grad program that is best for your long-range career goals.
Houston is a very large city with a diverse population. I think an international student could really enjoy time there (I’m a Houston native.) You will probably want a car, though, as the immediate area around UH is not the best. Flying home would be easy from Houston. I think UH at $20k is a very good option.
If you want more of a traditional college experience and campus, then go to TXTech. Take a look at the state of Texas on google maps. Driving distances can be hard to fathom for people who don’t live here.
Well… I’m not an expert about TXTech but TxTech is a residential college (UH has dorms but many students commute from all over Houston). Tech students really turn out for football games and other sports, and there is a lot of school spirit. Greek life is popular at Tech. (The UH football team had a great season this past year so that has brought out fans.)
If you want to live in a dorm and have a traditional American college experience, then TXTech would provide that. UH is in a major city and has all of the opportunities that go with a big city. Both schools have good engineering schools.
Read student comments on Niche and go to the school specific forums on this site.
I would say go with UH. Academics are very good. There is a large, diverse population including many international students. As someone said above, many students do commute, however there are a lot of students who live on campus. Houston is a very lively, so you may like that. Texas Tech is in Lubbock, which is a dull part of west Texas. At Texas Tech, you would have more of a traditional college experience.
Also check whether you are directly admitted to the CS major. If so, check if there are any grade or GPA requirements to stay in the major. If not, check if there are grade, GPA, or competitive admission requirements to enter the major.
@ucbalumnus Some of the schools admit directly to the major while some have given a preferred major which needs to be firmed up after a couple of sems.
Purdue has a very strong coop program in which students work with companies rather than go to school certain semesters. It looks great on resumes. I don’t know how that would work for international students. Call them (or e-mail) and ask
You’ve got a number or responses suggesting the Texas options, which are your least expensive. When I was going down your list, the one that jumped out to me as a good value was Iowa State – it’s almost as good as some of your top choices, yet quite a bit cheaper. I know that many people have gone there from my state (Illinois), due to it being a quality option that often costs less than our state flagship. All that said, you have to decide if the extra $10K or so is doable and worth it.
I am meeting with a Purdue representative visiting my region next week-end, so I should be able to get some more info on options to lower my expenses at Purdue. So let’s see…