Schools in different states and job opportunities

College Search & Selection
1

Right now i’m attending university in my home country but i’m really considering starting over in a community college in the USA to eventually transfer to a 4 year university. I have been looking for “cheap” 4 year universities or universities that offer generous amounts of merit aid for non resident transfer students. Right now I have this list of schools:

All CSU’s in California
University of New Mexico
Texas Tech
University of Alabama
University of Oklahoma
Florida state university
University of southern Florida

Generally it looks like the schools in the southern states are very generous with their non resident transfer scholarships while the state universities in California (not the UC’s) and Florida are just cheap. The east coast and midwest are all pretty expensive from what I have seen. I want to major in engineering, more specifically electrical or computer science and engineering. The big question is, is it better to go to a school in a state with a booming tech industry like California instead for example New Mexico if you are majoring in a “tech subject”? If nothing changes I will be able to work on OPT after graduation for a couple of months. I understand that in a scenario where you really want to work in Alabama after graduation then you should probably go to a school in Alabama but if you go to school in Alabama and work for say one year in Alabama and then want to move to New Hampshire, would it be hard to find a job in NH because of the fact that you went to a not so recognized school by NH employers or wont it really matter because you already have job experience?

2

You will not “start over”. You will be a transfer applicant unless you are given a specific waiver yo apply as a freshman. You will need to send an official copy of your transcript from your current university even to apply at a community college. Check the websites carefully. Many will require for your foreign transcript to be evaluated formally by www.WES.org or another evaluation organization. Rather athan a two-step transfer process, you probably are better off applying for transfer to your target universities directly from your foreign university.

How much money do you need? Getting good aid as an international transfer (whether you start outside the US or inside the US) is the most difficult aid situation of all. It might make best sense to finish your current degree program, then apply to graduate programs in the US. They also come with OPT.

Before committing to any degree program here, communicate with the career center at that institution, and find out whether or not their international students are finding good OPT placements. Many students don’t. And after your OPT ends, you won’t be looking for a job elsewhere in the US (unless you’ve married a citizen and got a green card), you will almost certainly be leaving the US.

3

Cheap and California don’t often fit well in the same sentence.

For a CSU, plan on about $20k for tuition only. $35k-$40k all in, depending on the metro area. (SF is a LOT more expensive than Bakersfield).

There is also no aid available for OOS and international students.