University search

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I am an international student whose grades aren't good. I have an average of B- mainly because a dip in grades during grade 11 and then my grade rose a bit in grade 12 . </p>

<p>My major is Mechanical/Electrical engineering (confused between them ) </p>

<p>My main aim is to get a degree from a top university as I will be getting a job after my undergrad (and then save money and go to grad school . I have read about top companies which pay their employees to go to grad school . SO a good undergrad engineering teaching/career placement is required . </p>

<p>SAT 1 - first try 1400 , second try 1570 , third try in October (hopefully above 1800) </p>

<p>So here is the deal :-
I want to go a university from which i can transfer to UC-Berkley or UMichigan (I did some research and found out that these universities have good transfer admission rates and I plan to transfer after the second year). SO can some one recommend which university will be apt for my case (I don't want to go to a university such as Drexel - as I don't want o pay 45-50K and still receive and OKish undergrad experience) . </p>

<p>Main aim - Good-Excellent undergrad , easy to transfer to UC-Berkley/UMichigan (no problem in transferring credits - good credits system ) , not so expensive . </p>

<p>All i want to do Is get good grades and get the hell out the university (UC-Berkley and UMichigan are not the only two schools for transfer ! , I have a long list of 15 schools that i will plan to transfer to) </p>

<p>Can someone help me out ? </p>

<p>P.S- I read about the California community colleges , but it is way to risky .</p>

2

<p>If yourSATs are barely over 1800 without great grades/GPA to compensate, looks like community college is still the best shot. I’ve heard a lot about it as well-- a guy I know did it, and he was offered a way into UC Berkley.</p>

3

<p>If you truly plan on sticking with engineering, remember: what you do in school matters a lot less than what you do in the workplace. If you want to go into industry, the biggest thing to do is to get your undergraduate degree. True, going to a better school may open up doors at first. But after your first job, it really matters what you did on the job rather than what school you went to. And one way to mitigate the fact that you’re not going to a top school is to do an internship at Boeing, GE, etc. while still in school. That’ll start creating a network of people who know you and know what you’re capable of.</p>

<p>EDIT: This is what my dad, who is an engineer at a large corporation, told me when I was considering where to go to school. Would have chosen ASU had I truly wanted to be an engineer.</p>

4

<p>Oh, there’s an option for you: Arizona State or University of Arizona. They only consider your SAT on a 1600 scale (Math + Reading only, so your writing score doesn’t matter… and there are quite a few state schools that do this). I think right now you should look at state schools that aren’t necessarily on the coasts. Use collegeboard.com to do searches for a school that matches your stats. Oh, and an added bonus: ASU may (not sure, but you could look into it) allow you to take the TOEFL test (Test of English as a foreign Language) in lieu of the SAT, as you’re international.</p>

5

<p>The transfer rate to Berkeley is only good from California community colleges. Don’t know about Michigan, but they might have the same kind of transfer agreements with CCs.</p>

<p>There is no private school that will give you easy access to Berkeley engineering.</p>

6

<p>Hey! </p>

<p>Firstly thanks a lot for the suggestions :- </p>

<p>I will apply to ASU . The only reason i wish to go to a prestigious university (I am a prestige whore) is because with prestige comes a lot of oppurtunities . An average student a Berkley will have better job.reasearh oppurtunities than an average student at some university that is lowly ranked. </p>

<p>I want better job universities mainly due to the work permit/visa problem . If I am employed by an MNC , they ususually will transfer me to some other branch if the visa stuff doesn’t work out (this is the case with my elder brother , he did his undergrad from georgetown and now he is currently in germany) . So I want to initially go to a cheap (in terms of cost/international fees) with good academics and good credit system (similar to Berkley/Michigan) {I read about drexel having a quarter system whivh is different from the other universities … so peple end up loosing credits ) . </p>

<p>I am open to a million suggestions , so give me as much of advice you can. </p>

<p>Thanks a lot for guiding me through this journey of college selection .</p>

7

<p>Thanks and bump</p>

8

<p>In engineering, school doesn’t matter that much. You can go to a school like San Jose state that will cost you $25,000/yr and get fine engineering jobs with Silicon Valley firms. Glad you know staying in the US will be hard–most don’t–but you’ll have access to the world’s top technology firms.</p>

9

<p>Between this and your other thread, I have a few more ideas. My assumptions are (all other things being equal) you would like a more urban or suburban location (internationals generally prefer this); a larger, more diverse student body; and lower costs (unless there’s enough “prestige” to warrant paying more).</p>

<p>Since you’d rather not go the California CC route, I think UC-Berkeley is highly unlikely. A California school to consider instead is Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo. To get into Michigan, you could look at UM-Dearborn as a backdoor to transfer from, but you’d be one of just a handful of internationals.</p>

<p>With somewhat better grades and test scores, you could consider Wisconsin, which is a great choice for internationals. The backdoor schools there are UW-Milwaukee (urban) and UW-Platteville (middle of nowhere). A small bit down the food chain are Maryland, Florida, Pittsburgh, Ohio State, North Carolina State, and Washington (another great location for internationals). These schools will run about 20-25K in tuition. Minnesota is about the same caliber, but is much less expensive (about 15K).</p>

<p>Colleges I think you’d have a good shot at now include Alabama, Arizona and Arizona State, Cincinnati, Purdue, Rutgers, and Temple. These are also in the 20-25K range.</p>

<p>My not completely arbitrary suggestions? Shoot for the two UWs, Minnesota, Cal Poly-SLO, ASU, Purdue, and Temple. It’s always hazardous to put opinions out there, but I’d rank these seven (relative to each other) in the following categories (engineering quality, international appropriateness, costs, and weather:)) as follows:</p>

<p>Wisconsin 2 2 5 6
Washington 5 1 6 3
Minnesota 4 3 1 7
Cal Poly-SLO 3 7 2 2
Arizona State 7 5 3 1
Purdue 1 4 7 5
Temple 6 6 4 4</p>

<p>My two cents. You’ll need to explore these and other ideas to see what fits YOU.</p>

10

<p>Putting Temple 6th out of those for ‘international appropriateness’ is one of the most laughable things I’ve ever read on this site.</p>

11

<p>^^^</p>

<p>Somehow, you can always count on certain people to come to the defense of their schools.;)</p>

<p>While Philly is a good city for internationals (which is why it made my arbitrary first cut), Temple engineering had a TOTAL of 34 international engineering students in all four undergrad classes (705 students). That’s better than Cal Poly - SLO, but behind the other five I put ahead of it. In addition, in the overall school, Washington and Wisconsin have very large foreign contingents relative to most other colleges.</p>

<p>So, there’s a rationale behind my statement. Not what I’d call laughable.</p>

12

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<p>Ummm so does Temple. That was my point…</p>

13

<p>According to the 2008 Temple Common Data Set, there were 707 international undergrads, or 2.7%. That’s even lower than the engineering percentages! Again, compared to the other schools I listed, Temple is a laggard.</p>

<p>OP, forget I even mentioned Temple. I don’t think you’d be happy there, as the engineering students don’t appear to be very analytical, but rather confrontational about every perceived slight.:p</p>

14

<p>Well that’s definitely off, but even so, we have 30,000 students, so it’s not going to be a large percentage anyway.</p>

<p>And um, I’m not an engineering student…</p>

15

<p>Berkeley - Start at either a california community college, San Jose State, or even a CSU. all are relatively inexpensive options. it’s near impossible to get in to Berkeley from outside of California, so you need to start at a California school if Berkeley is truly your goal. but of course, you should also apply for transfer to other UC’s like UCLA and UCSD. </p>

<p>Michigan - try Michigan State or a branch campus of U-Michigan like Dearborn or Flint. </p>

<p>Also, I disagree that the california CC route is too risky. if you get a high enough gpa then you’re guaranteed to get in to a UC. there’s a risk of a low gpa, but that risk would be even greater at more difficult four year universities. </p>

<p>and you should keep in mind that it will be easier to get in to Michigan than Berkeley. the UC’s are facing a budget crisis, so it might make more sense to focus your efforts on Michigan.</p>

16

<p>Yeah SJSU isnt a bad idea.</p>

17

<p>Honestly, if you want Berkeley, you might wany to go to a CSU. If you keep your grades up at someplace like Cal Poly SLO, you’d probably have a good shot of making it into Berkeley, and you could also try and rent an apartment or something and weasel your way into getting residency (I know you’re international, but still…always worth the research). </p>

<p>Then, you would have credits that would basically transfer no matter what for a similar curriculum, and proven excellence within the California public university system, which is definitely not a combo to sneeze at. ASU is a good option too, though, and I’d still apply to UM-Twin Cities because it has a pretty good engineering program in an awesome city with rock-bottom tuition and an easy application.</p>

18

<p>I have made a list … it would be great if someone can edit it out for me !</p>

<p>My List :- (15 universities , in order of preference)
1)UMich
2)Ga Tech
3)UIUC
4)Purdue
5)UT - Austin
6)Penn State
7)Virgina Tech
8)Texas A&M
9)UMN - Twin cities
10)Cal Poly - SLO
11)Case Western
12)Arizona state university
13)San Jose state university
14)RPI
15)Minnesota State University - Mankato</p>

<p>I don’t need financial aid … my stats are on the first page</p>

19

<p>I think you have an excellent top 5 choice. Good schools, highly respected, relatively affordable.</p>

<p>You might also consider Missouri University of Science and Technology as a safety school. </p>

<p>One difference is whether you plan on going right into industry or to grad school. Some schools like Missouri University of Science and Technology have really strong reputations with employers, and maybe not as many from there as a percentage go to grad schools as they as looking for employment when they graduate.</p>

<p>Your top 5 would all be excellent either for employers or grad schools.</p>