Virginia Tech VS UMass Amherst VS ASU AS Penn State VS UIC

College Search & Selection
1

Hi everyone.
I am an international student currently in India and I was accepted in the following universities in the US -
Virginia Tech
UMass Amherst ($10,000 scholarship)
Arizona State University ($8000 scholarship)
Penn State Harrisburg
University of Illinois Chicago ($5000 scholarship)

The COST OF ATTENDANCE in all of the universities is around $50,000. I have not yet decided my major but I know I want to do Engineering/Computer Science/Physics. So which university is best for me??

Thanks a lot!!

2

What are the final costs to you and do finances matter? Are they really all the same?

If finances don’t matter or they are all the same and you want engineering, Virginia Tech would be my recommendation.

3

The thing is that I will be taking a loan for my tuition fee… So your suggestion??

4

Based on what you said, if COA is 50k then your best value is UMass Amherst with a scholarship. It’s equal to VTech in quality and apparently cheaper.
However…I would NOT take a loan for that much.
Can you take a gap year and reapply to universities where you stand a chance at scholarships? What’s your parents’ budget?

5

my parents said that they will support me with $25,000/year…

6

Should I apply to some other university as well like san Jose or.san Diego State universities? Since they both are near silicon valley, will they be better for me??

7

SJSU will be very expensive too - expect $25,000 to go straight to room&board, never mind tuition. :frowning: San Diego is NOT near Silicon Valley.
You could apply to Nebraska, Utah, WWU… but it’s difficult to recommend universities without your stats.

8

You probably want to look at less expensive schools like South Dakota State and South Dakota Mines.

9

My SAT score - 1380
Got a decent profile…
And my GPA - 8 out of 10 in class x
68 out of 100 in xI
And 90 predicted out of 100 in class xII

10

But out off all the universities I got accepted in, which one will be best for me? Again, family support $25000/year… Rest loan

11

UMass Amherst.

12

What are the actual costs after you’ve figured in scholarships? Where do you want to live/work after you graduate?

The best engineering school you listed is Virginia Tech, but does it cost oodles more for you to go there?

Do you have a source for getting your loans?

13

I plan to stay in the US after bachelors, and I am trying to get a loan from the US itself cause I have a co-signer.

14

What is the NET COST at each? Please provide numbers.
For each university, list
(Tuition fees room board) - (scholarships, grants)= …

15

sorry, but the forum is not letting me post the breakdown…

16

Okay, just one more thing. I have heard that the qs and the rankings were based on master’s programs. Hence, can you please rank asu, VT, UMass on the following programs -
Computer science
Mechanical engineering
Electronic engineering

And how big the difference is…
Thanks for the info. I’ll make my decision on this one now.

1 Like
17

Also for biotech…

18

So prices would be (list / net / school):

46220 / 46220 / VT
49197 / 39197 / UMass Amherst
50724 / 42724 / ASU
41150 / 41150 / PSU Harrisburg
43709 / 38708 / UIC

If you can only have $25,000, it looks like all of these are too expensive.

19

For CS, UMass is the best.
For ME or EE, Penn State and VT.
ASU is strong accross the board.
However you can’t go from one major to the next, you need to be admitted to CS at UMass, you need to be in the college of engineering at PSU, VT, and ASU.
Your best value is UMass Amherst, but I’d go to the cheapest one on the list because you would be in so much debt!

20

Is there a big difference in UMass and VT computer science program?