<p>Hello everyone! So I'm in a complete split right now. I want to do chemical engineering. Minnesota, ranked 3rd in the US is a good option, but NUS is ranked 10th in the world. Minnesota is a 3 year course whereas NUS will be a 4 year course. However, I sort of prefer NUS since it is closer to India, where I live, but I will have to work for 3 years after graduation in Singapore and cannot further my education till the 3 years are over. Do you guys think that Minnesota will provide me with a better education overall than Singapore? Thanks for your help! :)</p>
<p>First of all, congratulations! Those are two amazing choices for your intended major. </p>
<p>If I were in your situation, I’d go for UMinn in a heart beat. It’s much less limiting. I can’t imagine having to be forced to work a job for 3 years just because I went to college in a particular country. As for NUS being closer to India, I think that’s a drawback too. College, in my opinion, is a time where you should live as independently as possible. Don’t let distance from home decide where you want to go. </p>
<p>Good luck with your decision! :)</p>
<p>[ quote=] Minnesota is a 3 year course
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<p>I didn’t know that. Is that for all engineering majors?</p>
<p>Are you a transfer student or a graduate student? Normally, undergraduate degrees in the US are four year programs, and engineering in particular is one that often takes five years to complete.</p>
<p>Thank you for your replies. @1jupiter: no, minnesota engineering is not a three-year course usually. But they give up to 30 credits for students completing the IB diploma, which translates to a year off basically, as you need 120 to graduate. So I can complete the undergraduate course in three years.</p>
<p>@princetondreams: Do you think the job scenario in the US will be good for international students by the time I graduate, what with people saying that US nationals will be given preference and all? And secondly, I may have to work after I complete my undergraduate education anyway, for a couple of years at least, to save up some money for my graduate education, depending on what we actually spend on Minnesota given price rises for tuition each year, etc. Also, I will be getting financial aid from NUS, which I will not be getting from Minnesota, even though I did get the global excellence scholarship from there. But 20k per year is what Minnesota comes to, and that’s pretty much at the limit of what we can afford, and add to that the cost of travelling back to India at least once a year. Do you think the benefits a Minnesota education will provide are worth these costs?</p>
<p>tintin1992 -</p>
<p>Even if you enroll with 30 credits, that doesn’t automatically mean that you will finish in only three years. Some of the courses that you will take will be in rather strict sequences, and you will need to take them in order starting with the very first one. Look up the curriculum for the engineering program that you want, and look up which courses your IB exams can replace. If you were going to major in English Lit. or World Civ. it would be a whole different story. With Engineering, your IB credits may just mean that you never have to take any elective courses but that you will still be there for a full four years.</p>
<p>Students with a degree in an STEM field have a few more months of OPT time, but you won’t be able to remain in the US after that is used up if you don’t find a sponsor for an H-1B working visa. To be perfectly honest with you, the only people I know who have H-1B visas have Ph.D.s and multiple years of research positions in their home countries and the US. You should ask your department and the Career Center at U Minn about the success rate of internationals finding H-1B sponsors. They would have the most up-to-date figures.</p>
<p>Here is a calculator that is designed to compare financial aid packages for US students, try running your numbers through it with the adjustments that you need to take into account for your situation: [FinAid</a> | Calculators | Award Letter Comparison Tool](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Award Letter Requirements - Finaid)</p>
<p>Wishing you all the best.</p>
<p>hello happymomof1 
I re-checked the U of Minn website and it specifically says: “Those who earn the full IB diploma with 30 or more diploma points receive eight semester credits for each higher level subject with grades of five or higher, and up to two semester credits for each standard level subject with grades of five or higher. In other words, the diploma program amounts to about one full year of University work!” on [International</a> Baccalaureate](<a href=“http://admissions.tc.umn.edu/academics/ib.html]International”>International Baccalaureate Course Awards | Office of Admissions)</p>
<p>I will still ask them for confirmation whether I do get a year off. And I shall also ask them about the H-1 B visas. Thank you so much for your help!</p>
<p>Yes, it will give you advanced standing, but that doesn’t mean that it will be any faster to finish. Print out the list of specific IB Course equivalences, and compare it to the course requirements for the Chem Eng. Major: <a href=“https://webapps-prd.oit.umn.edu/programCatalog/viewCatalogProgram.do?programID=24&strm=1109&campus=UMNTC[/url]”>https://webapps-prd.oit.umn.edu/programCatalog/viewCatalogProgram.do?programID=24&strm=1109&campus=UMNTC</a>
You also need to compare it to the list of liberal education requirements for graduation at: [Fall</a> 2010 liberal education requirements](<a href=“http://onestop.umn.edu/degree_planning/lib_eds/fall_2010_requirements/index.html]Fall”>Liberal education requirements | Twin Cities One Stop Student Services) You need to know exactly which courses your IB credits will allow you to skip.</p>
<p>You also should contact the Chem. Eng. department and ask them specifically about your situation. They will be able to help you determine whether or not you can finish as quickly as you want to.</p>