So I’m an international student and want to study biochemistry/biotechnology and pursue a career in the research field but am seriously confused on where to go.
My choices are
UC Davis - but I haven’t heard about a scholarship yet and without one it’s too expensive
Rutgers New Brunswick - with scholarships
University of Toronto - St. George - no scholarship but it’s still somewhat affordable
NYU - Huge scholarship but for Spring 2021 and doing a Liberal Core foundation program for 2 years first
Every person I’ve asked has given me differing opinions on which school is the best for research and biology, which location has the best research facilities + opportunities in terms of internships and jobs later on.
Please help me out, any insight would be appreciated.
As an international, you would be unwise to expect a work permit from the US after finishing school. Toronto would be the best choice in this regard, and is also the highest ranked. Big, reasonably pleasant campus right in the middle of the city.
Seems like a no brainer, to me. UC is unlikely to give merit money.
I second the vote for U Toronto.
After that, I would go for Rutgers with the scholarships.
Davis will not give you much if anything in the way of merit aid and I would not risk the NYU 2+2 plan, as you may not be taking classes with the same cohort in your preferred major.
^^I don’t see teh NYU program as a risk, just different path as it has a 2-year core before moving into the Arts & Sciences college. Electives would be Calc, Gen Chem Bio and the like. That being said, International Stem majors are not usually interested in a core sequence of reading & writing.
So, if the price is right, NYU could work well. But as noted earlier who knows if the OP will be able to get a work visa in four years.
I know nothing about Toronto, so just chiming in that I’d put NYU over Rutgers. And yes, forget about Davis since they won’t be offering any money.
U of T is a powerhouse in biochemistry. There’s a lot of research internships available. There is a lot of biotech in the area. It would be easy to get a visa after graduation. Go with U of T.
The NYU option might work if the money is good enough. It is good that they haven’t offered you fall admission. Many colleges and universities in the US will only have online classes this fall. They might have in-person classes in the spring. It also is not clear yet which consulates will issue student visas for the fall or if travel to the US will even be possible then. You also need to know that you will not get a student visa to study in the US if the visa officer who interviews you thinks that you want to stay here after graduation or if the visa officer doesn’t believe that your financial information is enough to cover the cost of your studies.
Canada has much friendlier policies for work permission after university graduation, so if U of T is affordable for you, go there. When you communicate with U of T, find out what the situation is there. Are they projecting in-person classes for the fall, or just online classes? What is the likelihood that you will be able to get any visa that you need and be able to travel to Canada from where you live now?
I’ve had to choose between UofT over NYU. Tough choice given the reputation of both and the distinct advantages of each of them. I really did not like my NYU campus visit, pretty poor explanations from the guide, extremely noisy, hardly saw any of the inside of buildings, the admissions pitch was very (too) marketing vs providing facts. It’s too bad because I do love NY and have close family there. I finally decided for UofT for the possibilities of research in Artifical intelligence and the "livability " of the campus. I’m a US citizen living in Europe.