UWaterloo vs UCI vs Purdue - Computer Engineering (International)

College Search & Selection
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1

Hello everyone!

I am an international student and have been admitted to the following colleges and majors:

University of Waterloo - Honours Computer Engineering, Coop
University of California, Irvine - Computer Engineering
Purdue University - Computer Engineering (First Year Engineering for now)

I have acceptances from 7 other universities but some of them are lower ranked and I’m not inclined towards them given the above 3 offers.

I’m having a hard time trying to decide which offer to accept and wanted some help and insight from you all! Please bear in mind I am an international student and am thus considering visa, location and cost benefits and issues too.
Here are the pros and cons of each university so far:

Purdue University:
Pros:

  • My sibling is an Alumna, so this is kind of a safe option given I know the ins and outs of the college experience at Purdue through her.
  • Great ranking and program
  • Tuition is on the lower end compared to the other choices

Cons:

  • Midwest weather
  • Program can get strenuous, average grades at Purdue are well below the average for peer institutions.
  • Small college town and not much to do
  • US visa: H1B not guaranteed after graduation

UWaterloo:
Pros:

  • Highly ranked
  • Great coop program and ability to get 2 years of work experience when graduating
  • Ability to gain Canadian PR soon and work stress free in Canada and possibly US in the future too.

Cons:

  • Cold weather
  • Kind of an unknown seeing as I have no relatives or friends in Canada, and don’t know the Canadian college system too well (unlike US because my sibling studied in the US)
  • Not sure about social life, especially with work rotations in between semesters and being away from college for those periods.
  • Not too many holidays/breaks with the 3 semester system and coop program

University of California, Irvine:
Pros:

  • California weather
  • Proximity to sibling who works in the bay area
  • Proximity to Silicon Valley so slightly better prospects of jobs due to location? And possibly better number of companies from Silicon Valley at job fairs.

Cons:

  • Not as highly ranked as the other 2 programs.
  • US visa: H1B not guaranteed after graduation

I would really like your help with making a decision, and any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!!

2

Hey! We’re you able to choose?

According to me, the pros of attending university of Waterloo for the co-op outweighs its con. Weather and people are an aspect for me too but that would be a perfect opportunity to experience something out of your comfort zone. Plus, you would have to do everything by yourself which surely be fundamental to your own growth. See all I am saying is that this 5 year course at Waterloo would be worth every single penny and hard-work because of its very well recognised co-op program in the world (it’s a wonderful program). I am waiting for my Waterloo decisions and if I get in there is no way in this world I would not attend :slight_smile:

I can’t speak for other universities because I haven’t researched about them but I don’t think so that they are even close to UWaterloo in terms of rankings.

Please let me know what did you decide…