Thank you so much for the response. I have my other 2 children who are in California having done their Masters. Now we are planning to send my younger son for undergraduation as he has made up his mind to pursue his studies in US only. My son wants to study only in ranked universities. My husband wants to balance all the parameters, cost of attendance/ future prospects as for our Indians it would cost us a lot. As of now my son got scholarship in ASU (10K per year), UMass Amherst (12K per year). At the age of 17 entering into a new country adjusting to the new climate, new environment, food habits (we are pure vegetarians), new school life (we are from a conservative family …not used to any partying), , to be on his own… is going to be a herculean task for the first 6 months. We are more or less of the opinion to decide between UMass Amherst (where we don’t have anyone known), TAMU (have few friends in Austin) Rutgers (where we don’t have anyone known) and Univ of Florida and FSU Tallahassee (where my brother lives). We are confused between the first 3. If someone can throw light regarding future prospects, life for an international student for the 4 years of undergrad I would be grateful. Please don’t laugh if I sounded stupid in putting forth my views
@vijayavadrevu When our son went to school 5 hours from home he had a hard time, like most kids. Yea they don’t tell parents that in the admissions office but they struggle being away from home for the first semester, at least. Especially if they are at a school where they don’t know anyone. I can’t imagine what it would be like to go half way around the world.
I would say that if your son applied to a school that has family nearby I would send them to that school. It doesn’t matter the name of the school or the reputation of the program if they can’t get through the year because they are home sick, scared, insecure, facing culture shock, not fitting in, etc. etc. You want them to be successful. Having an uncle nearby to check on him from time to time, go out to dinner, see the sights, go to church, whatever, will be invaluable.
@vijayavadrevu Kids exp your 17 year old is more aware than you prob give him credit for. Parents worry thats what parents do. You already have 2 sons in CA so its only a flight away. YO uwill be surprised, he might meet a bunch of kids from his school on the airport itself. these days the amount of international undergrad students is huge. the trend has moved to undergrad now than grad only like it used to be . no matter where hs goes base it on school and academia, food culture and safety. freinds become family in a very short time of being here so dont worry abt whos closer. it willall work out…
@vijayavadrevu you might wanna cut him some slack. I hear the same things at my home from my parents. We are in the same situation as you are. Your son will struggle regardless of wherever he goes. Even though he goes to places where he has relatives, they wont be there always, but it dies make it easier. Please send him where he wants to go as where you can afford it. My parents were also looking for unis near our relatives but please dont let that be a limiting factor. Do inform me if he goes to UMass as I might attempt too so we can have someone we know before we enter. PM me for more info and keep me posted.
Hi, i have a question. I’m an OOS student and UMass Amherst is my top choice, but financially, going to my state school (UConn) is a better option according to my parents. I was thinking of writing an appeal letter to UMass detailing how much I love the school and how badly I want to attend to see if they can give me any extra financial support bc I only get the minimum loan amount from Fafsa ($5500). Do you think this would work? I read somewhere that UMass meets 86% of all demonstrated need so I wanted some input if writing a letter/calling them would be worth it.
@comom25: Thank you. Praying that he will end up in good company where-ever he goes. I have observed that kids are looking only for ranked universities against parents for whom parameters to be considered are (1)Safety (2)School life (3)Academics (4)Budget.
@k41500: Except for UCs (UC Merced decisions are released) and few other universities (GeorgiaTech … on March 10th) UW, Seattle… almost for all others, the regular decisions have come in. Regarding University of Maryland Iam in dark. You need to regularly monitor the admission portal, as email notifications may follow later. This is from our experience for the universities for which we have applied
Good luck
I applied regular decision as an undecided major… does anyone have any idea as to when I will hear back? I heard it’s possible to hear in April, but I’m hoping some of you have heard otherwise…
Does anyone have any idea how in the hell they decide whose decisions are going to be released when. because not knowing is killing me. im desperate to know