<p>I'm an international student, and gonna to study mathmatics. May 1st is coming, but I'm still confused about which school I like best. I'm new here, and this is my first thread. : )</p>
<p>Congratulations, you have some great schools to choose from. I agree, they don’t really give you enough time to decide with 100% certainty, but you have to know that with these schools you can’t really make a mistake. They are all academically strong and you will get a great education at any one of them. My pick would be UVa, but I am biased, my son is heading there this fall. This may not be accurate anymore, but USC at one time wasn’t very safe (muggings), so as a parent I have to admit I hoped my son would decide not to apply (even as a NMF & USC offers half tuition). I figure someone will respond to my post though and tell you that isn’t the case at all anymore --just giving you the impression many parents have about USC. UCLA is of course one of the nicest locations (weather wise and Westwood), and I spent lots of time there in my teens and 20’s every summer. However, after spending the day at UVa on Friday, I have to say it’s one of the most beautiful campuses I’ve seen (they call it “grounds” though, so don’t say “campus” when there). The environment was extremely friendly and the visit actually dispelled the myth that it’s all filled with “preps”. We saw all kinds of students (preps, nerds, artsy, athletes, intern’l, minorities, hipsters…on and on), and my artsy son was positive he will be attending there this fall. He likes the fact that he can double major in studio art, and physics and although the curriculum isn’t open, it certainly gives students a lot of room to explore other interests and not mess up their credits/program plan. It also didn’t feel as large as I thought it would. It wasn’t overwhelming in the least, and this is taking into account that students were still in session and there were 100’s of accepted students visiting as well. My vote of your 3 choices would be UVa! Hope you get some more responses to give you more balanced insight ;). I am truly biased now lol!</p>
<p>Since you are international and are going to be paying out of state tuition, I recommend USC because of the strong alumni network, great campus, and CALIFORNIA!</p>
<p>Thank you for your advise. I’m gonna to attend UVA~ Tomorrow there is a recepting of UVA in Beijing, and I hope that I will learn more about UVA from this!</p>
<p>Of the three, I too like UVa best for undergraduate education. But as an international, I’d recommend the SoCal schools over UVa. Big city, easier to get into. More international students with which you can commiserate. Likely more job opportunities for an international in LA.</p>
<p>Choose USC!!!</p>