I am an international student applying to many universities for aid. I still wanted to have a backup choice as a university which I could at least barely afford on no aid at all.
I want to do bachelors in computer science and below are some of the relatively affordable options. My priorities are the quality of teaching for C.S, social life and well paying internship/job opportunities. I have mentioned the tuition and fees with each of the following:
Truman State Uni ($15,000) [sub par social life as isolated location + low repute]
Eastern Michigan Uni ($17,000) [low repute and average reviews by students]
Brigham Young Uni ($18,000) [Literally no social life - Honor]
San Jose State Uni ($22,000) [Course quality is avg at best, employ.stats =bcz of location]
University of Central Florida($23,000) [Great social life, slightly abv.avg reviews for course]
Georgia state university ($24,000) [bel.avg social life, avg.course]
Texas tech university ($24,000) [bad comp.sci dept. reviews. Not considering this for now]
Purdue university ($31,000) [could attend a top uni for $3k more]
These all universities have great things about them. I have just listed reasons along them that me not want to finalize them. If the tuition fee is $12,000, and the cost of living is around $15,000, I would graduate debt free. With tuition anything above that, I’ll have to take debts.
Please guide on what would be the best option towards a great career in C.S for a passionate but fun loving student. If you have any suggestions other than the ones in the list, feel free to let me know. Thank you
It’s a California State University which is funded by taxpayers and cannot afford to offer financial aid to non-residents. It also happens to be in one of the most expensive rental and housing markets in the country.
Freshman are required to live on campus for the first year.
Plus SJSU is impacted for CS. That means there are too many students and not enough seats in that department.
Yes, there are plenty of internships, in that area, however job opportunities for non-citizens require work visas which are very, very difficult and almost impossible for international students. After you graduate you’re expected to return to your home country. US immigration is very strict. The US universities will educate you but they don’t guarantee to provide a job/work visa for you.
Some of your other schools are public schools which may or may not have scholarships. Please investigate nonresident fees, and health insurance fee requirements, because it all adds up And is extremely expensive.
As for loans, you won’t receive US federal loans because the government can’t fund non-citizens, so any loans would have to come from your country.
The $22k that I mentioned was for the tuition only. The brochure in fact quotes the tuition and fee to be $17.5k which is even less.
As for the internships, why are there so many internationals working part time then, is this visa difficulty just in california? because many of my seniors are working and do internships in the US during their bachelors
The loans I am aware will have to come from home or I’ll have to take them private in the US.
With these figures, what would be your choice out of these 9 universities if you were me
You also need to include room and board into your college budget estimates unless you have family you can stay with and commute to the colleges listed. You are looking around $16-18K/year for living expenses, books costs, transportation costs, personal expenses on top of the tuition costs.
Below is the 2021-2022 of attendance for SJSU. You need to add $396/unit for non-resident tuition to the totals listed. Most students take an average of 15 units so an additional $5535.
As a student,at an American university you are allowed to gain work experiences through internships. It’s called Optional Practical Training or OPT. Once you graduate and completed the OPT, those companies are not obligated to hire you.
The companies get you as temporary labor and once you complete your hours, you can try to find someone who will hire you and sponsor you for a work visa. The visa, and the paperwork, costs the company time and money. It’s easier for them to hire a candidate that doesn’t have those issues.
There are more CS graduates that are citizens than international students that the companies are more than happy to hire, because the companies don’t have to deal with sponsorship issues.
The reason I know this is that neither my husband’s, nor my daughter’s companies will hire non-citizens. My husband’s national company has it posted on their website that US citizenship is required for all new applicants.
It’s not just in California, it’s a US immigration issue.
Choosing schools is going to be a moot point for you because you don’t know if you’ll be accepted to any schools, nor if you can afford to go. Right now your issue is funding.
You require funding. The schools are still going through the pandemic; they’ve lost millions of dollars in income, such that, funding students is an issue for all of the universities. Funding international students is even worse.
Your best options would be schools in the Midwest and schools in the South that have scholarship opportunities for students that are diverse. These are not in some of the best locations in the country, but they may have openings with funding. Some are very rural and some are very small and some have extremes in weather conditions. Those are the types of schools that may have some scholarships for international students.
edited to add: You also need to double check about their CS departments. A number of schools are impacted in CS. That means competition will be fierce.
The Cal states do not require that a student has to purchase health insurance like the UC’s, however health insurance should be purchased by any student for emergency and hospital care.
From the SJSU website: Health insurance is not required to visit the Student Wellness Center if you are enrolled as a student at SJSU. The Mandatory Health Fee (included with your tuition payment) includes unlimited primary care visits at no additional charge. Some additional services may require a nominal fee, which can be paid online.
As for the internships, why are there so many internationals working part time then, is this visa difficulty just in California?
I hire students at the college where I work. We’re on the East Coast, but the federal regulations apply to all the states. Students can work 10 hours/week (if they can find a job) and the pay is $11.80 hour. The jobs don’t start until a couple weeks after the beginning of the semester, they’re paused over breaks, and they end before finals, so students who do work only get about ~12 weeks worth of work per semester. And they have to apply for jobs every semester. It’s not easy. There are more applicants than there are jobs.