I am currently a first-year student from Europe who would like to transfer to a US university in fall 2015. After I studied almost 5 months here, I realized that it is not really what I was looking for. Firstly, I’d like to speak more English. While I had English as a core course in school, I am missing it now. Secondly, there isn’t any real “college experience” over here. The students go to their lectures and go home (unis don’t have real dorms over here and the rooms they offer are not on campus) after they end, so there is no real chance to socialize much with my fellow students, even though I became friends with many of them. The result is that most students use to drive home on thursday evenings (and do not visit classes on friday of course).
And what disturbs me the most is the fact that the uni and most profs don’t really seem to care about teaching, the most important thing for them is doing their research in order to keep their ranking position. Our drop-out-rate is higher than 50% :(.
–> Enough said. Is somebody able to suggest some affordable universities for me?
I did some research on the internet and found out that I could still apply as a freshman for many universities if I don’t have more than 10 credits (West Texas A&M)/24 credits (Minot State University), which would be better because of scholarship opportunities (if I qualify for any).
There is, however, one problem: My parents can pay up to 4,000$ a year and I would be willing to borrow additional 7,500-10,000$ (max., I think it’s more likely to be 7,500$ if I’d have to spend 4 years studying) from a bank. If it is allowed, I would also like to work on campus.
SAT scores: CR+M: 1050. My school GPA should be around 3.0; we didn’t receive any grades in uni yet, but I expect my GPA to be also around 3.0.
I do not necessarily want to continue my major (Engineering), I think I would change to something I’m interested in more.
So are there any universities which are within that price range (tuition+room/board) and do you think there is a real chance for me to fulfil that dream?
You have too low SAT score and HS GPA. GPA can’t be fixed. If you had money, then you have lots of options. If you don’t, then you are out of luck.
There aren’t many schools in US that offer enough need based FA(that is, you get however much the university thinks you need) and many merit based scholarships are based on SAT and GPA, and your GPA/SAT are far from being competitive at all.
You are better off studying in your own country. Besides, why bother borrowing money when you can get virtually free college education in Europe?
Thank you @paul2752 :), even though it’s not the reply I hoped for haha.
The GPA is only an estimate. If I use another conversation table it should be around 3.5.
Btw, I have to borrow money here, too (3,500$ a year).
I found two unis, which seem to be very cheap: Chadron State College and Peru State College for about 10,000$ a year. This is the same I’m paying here. Are those unis worth it?
These schools are almost unknown outside of Nebraska. They’re in remote rural areas of a rural state. I can’t imagine a European would be thrilled with their experience there.
@aqzman
No. Those are not worth your money at all. Use your common sense…how do you expect good education from a college that cost only 10k per year?
Again, your SAT is very low. In fact, even with the merit scholarship after you get math+cr 1400, you still will have to pay more than you can afford.
Also, going to the US colleges because you want more socialization is not really a good reason to come to US;There are many students in US colleges that have problem making friends as well. It’s up to you to hang out with people. And, your professors are busy with their researches and you shouldn’t expect them to pay attention to every single student. It’s same for many large universities in US.
Ok, thanks to both of you:). Another reason I why I wanted to go there was changing my major to Industrial Engineering from real Engineering. This major is not offered in my country. But since there is no real chance financing it, I will look for another interesting major. And maybe I can study a year abroad going through a partner program.
If your #1 priority is to study in the US, you could probably get a full tuition, room and board scholarship
somewhere if you study hard and improve your SAT scores. That being said, I don’t think you would enjoy the academic environment at those universities.
Have you considered transferring to a university in the UK instead? Scottish universities don’t seem to charge tuition fees to EU students, and universities in Northern Ireland are comparatively cheap as well.
Thanks @b@r!um for your reply :). I’d love to study Industrial Engineering in the US, because this major isn’t offered anywhere over here. At least not the real major, we do only have a mix of business and engineering.
To which universities should I apply then and which SAT score would I need? Is it even possible to do all these things until August this year?
I applied to a Scottish university, but didn’t receive a reply yet. It’d be amazing if I was offered admission :).
Unfortunately not, at least not to my knowledge. Most scholarship deadlines have already passed, and you’d need more time to re-take the SAT.
What exactly is it that you mean with “industrial engineering”? It can mean a few different things in the US. Many industrial engineering majors are general engineering majors, with a mix of math, science, programming and engineering courses, with one or two manufacturing courses thrown in to justify the name “industrial engineering.” Other industrial engineering programs would be more aptly titled “engineering management.”
Either way, I wouldn’t spend a lot of money on an “industrial engineering” degree cause most of it is general engineering or engineering management. If the industrial manufacturing courses is what you’re after, you might be better off finishing your degree in Germany and visiting the US for just one semester.
By the way, what’s wrong with German majors like “Produktionstechnik” or “Systemtechnik” or even “Maschinenbau”? Isn’t that exactly the technical side of industrial engineering?
Ok, thanks. Yes, it’s this "genereal engineering " degree that I want, because it doesn’t go very much in depth.
I find my engineering major very difficult, that’s why I don’t dare to change to another pure engineering major.
And regarding Produktionstechnik: The “Arbeitsamt”(federal employment agency) said that job prospects are not good in this specific area of study. They even said most jobs in Mechanical Engineering depend on foreign countries.
Well, I’m looking for a few majors in the upcoming weeks then and will make a decision. And if I receive an offer from a Scottish uni, I’m definitely going there. Students who went there said that they really do care about teaching. Even though the uni is not ranked as well as mine, I think it’s more important to really learn something than receiving a prestigious degree.
Which begs the question why you’d want to study this exact major in the US. You do realize that you wouldn’t be able to work in the US afterwards (for visa reasons), don’t you?
Ditto for a general engineering degree. Can’t work in the US and it’s useless in Europe. What then?
I have the utmost respect for your honesty and I sympathize with your motivations, but it doesn’t sound like you thought this plan all the way through.
Sure, I know I’d have to leave the country after I have finished.
The women from the Arbeitsamt said to me that with an Industrial Engineering degree I would have good chances to find a job afterwards. While Mechanical Engineers work on how to build a machine, IE work on how to improve a machine. As far as I know this doesn’t have much in common with “Produktionstechnik” - or the women doesn’t know what she is talking about.
@b@r!um and the others who helped me, I received an offer to study Business at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland (I don’t really want to continue Engineering anymore).
Would you choose the University of Strathclyde or the University of Frankfurt in Germany? (I wouldn’t have to pay any tuition to both institutions)
My thoughts:
Strathclyde>Frankfurt
-their Business School is triple accredited (they say only 1% of the business schools worldwide are triple accredited) and respected worldwide (#1 in Scotland; #9 in the UK)
-course shouldn’t be overcrowded
-it’s a campus university, so halls are exactly next to the campus
-only heard good things about the student union
-student satisfication rate is 4.4/5 (satisfication rate isn’t published in Germany)
-most important aspect: I have the possibility to improve my English skills
Frankfurt>Strathclyde
-near to my home, so I could even commute if I wanted to
-university is also recognized well (#5 in Germany), even though they have only one accreditation
-beautiful campus
-I could study a second undergraduate degree (law) at the same time
Congratulations!
Since you want to study abroad and in English, there doesn’t seem to be a huge downside to Strathclyde for free.
What happens if you go and don’t like it - will your Frankfurt offer still be on the table or will it be lost?
@MYOS1634
Thank you!
I could change to Frankfurt after one semester, but I would probably loose the state-loan I receive and then it’d be extremely difficult to finance my studies.
They have invited me to an Applicants Day in Strathclyde, but I don’t think it’s worth it to pay the flight only to stay one day. @b@r!um
So do you think Frankfurt is the better option? I don’t know how to compare them academically.
I’d personally go to Scotland just for the experience, regardless of whether one university “ranks” a bit higher or lower than the other. Who cares? (Have you even looked at the methodology of the rankings? What are they ranking universities or programs based on? The number of research publications? Starting salaries of recent graduates? The number of clicks on the university website? Selectivity? How many students who enter finish their degree? Faculty salaries? Alumni donations?)
I only brought up accreditation because I think that it has no place on your pro and con list, unless you have a specific reason to care about every single one of these accreditations. Do you?
Try to distinguish between things you care about and random marketing messages thrown your way.
FWIW, I grew up in Germany. I decided to study at Bryn Mawr College in the US because I really wanted to go abroad and they gave me a scholarship, even though German universities would have arguably been “better” academically. Originally I planned to major in economics, but my first college econ class bored me to sleep and my math professor was one of the most inspiring people I have met to date. 3-and-a-half years later, I had my pick of math PhD offers from the most prestigious universities in the world. I chose to go to Stanford and then decided that I didn’t care much for academia, so I quit with a Master’s degree. I worked with foster kids for a while and came to the conclusion that I didn’t have the patience for a social services job, even though I really cared about their cause. Now I work on the policy side of things - I do big data analytics for different government agencies at the state and federal level.
Point is, your life and your career will probably turn out different from what you expect right now, and that’s okay. You have several good options to choose from - pick the one that makes you happy!
