<p>Hi.. I am an international student with two options for my undergrad
1) Study at the National University of Singapore (quite prestigious, ranked well, full ride but its not an American university)
2) Study at the University of New Hampshire (near full ride, not that prestigious but its AMERICAN)
With the objective of making it into a prestigious grad school in mind, is it worth the extra few thousand dollars a year and the lower prestige to study in an American institution? i.e. Do American universities prefer graduates who were educated locally? Thank you</p>
<p>it’s untrue that american unis prefer undergrads who were educated locally. plus, it’s not like U of New Hampshire is a school that will turn every professor’s head.</p>
<p>study at home…singapore is more prestigious…</p>
<p>As a Singaporean finishing up his undergrad in the US, I’ll recommend studying at NUS for your situation. It’s ranked much higher internationally than many American universities, and what matters most when you apply to grad schools for a PhD is the quality of your transcript, research/final year project and the recommendations from your professors. Additionally, many American grad schools value international students for the diversity they bring to the student population.</p>
<p>Taking a slightly more cynical look, many American universities like international students because they’re much more likely to accept offers and can make hitting a specific yield a lot easier (especially when they come with a fellowship from their country).</p>
<p>so do internationals who studied in the US get an edge over internationals who were educated elsewhere? (assuming that person gets no fellowship from his/her own country)</p>
<p>also do internationals who studied in the states have a worse chance than american citizens?</p>
<p>The only advantage that I can think of right now is that it is much easier for grad school committees to understand the transcripts of international students who did their undergrad in the US.</p>
<p>For your second question, it all depends, but if two students are equal in ability and quality, I guess the fellowship might go to the American instead of the international student (especially if it is NIH-funded).</p>
<p>Internationals in general have a more difficult time getting into US PhD programs. I’m not sure whether there’s an advantage to having studied in the US.</p>
<p>If it were me, I would go to Singapore.
However, the rationale that if you want to go to a Ph.D. program in the US…it might be a good idea to go to undergrad in the US does make sense.
You could make some important international connections you could bring into a Ph.D. program in the U.S. If you go to Singapore, make sure you pair with a professor who is well-known by scholars in the U.S. and works with scholars in the U.S. so your letters of rec and all that will be good.</p>
<p>RacinRaver, what do you mean by yield? By the way there’s no way I’m getting any assistance from my home country</p>
<p>As in, how many students that they admit actually choose to attend the school. I know for US citizens my department gets something like 25%, but I imagine for internationals it’s considerably higher.</p>
<p>I am not sure if B.S. in Singapore would be better than U.S. or the other way around. </p>
<p>But to point out some minor pros of completing your undergraduates in the US, just in case you need a tie breaker:</p>
<ul>
<li>Easier to visit the school later on. </li>
<li>TOEFL might not be necessary (save money, time & trouble)</li>
<li>More likely that your profs would be connected to other profs in the U.S.</li>
<li>Summer internships / REU programs in the US –> strong LOR from PI of your dream school!</li>
<li>It ‘might’ be easier to get good grades in UNH vs. NUS (please correct me; I am making assumptions based on my friends’ exp. i.e. more competitive in Asia)</li>
<li>Bachelor degree in US might be a good ‘back up’ asset if you decide to enter the industry (esp. in the US)</li>
</ul>
<p>Cons:
- there are many, but I think life quality is very important, especially as an undergraduate. Do your research on NH… it’s definitely not NYC / SF / LA. I’ve been to Singapore and I love it there… choose one that would allow you to bring out all your potentials… enjoy your college life =)</p>
<p>I second the quality of life factor. Another thing you might want to consider is the climate. Would you prefer living in the tropics or a place with all four seasons? If the weather in Providence is anything to go by, New Hampshire is likely to be freezing cold for five to six out of nine months of the school year. Compare that with the weather in Singapore, where it’s always hot and humid. Good luck with your choice!</p>
<p>Aah this was hard. Decided to go in for NUS because I know the place better, have already visited the university, rooming with a friend, etc.
Thank you for the advice about getting my LORs from professors renowned in the US. Any ideas on how to check whether a prof is well respected among American universities?</p>
<p>Once you get into the program and get to know professors whose research you like, you will learn about what work they are doing and who they are doing it just as part of the natural process of learning about their research. </p>
<p>If you wanted to be proactive, you could find professors who are doing research you like and whose work you are interested in, then on their website they should have a list of publications/presentations.</p>
<p>On the citations for the presentations/publications, it will say who all authored the paper, and you can see which professors are collaborating with scholars in the U.S.(you might need to database/google searches of names to see where everyone’s located)–also which ones attend US conferences and such.</p>
<p>Okay this seems possible. But if I can’t find such a person, is it cool if I go ahead with a prof I like to work with instead? I mean, the odds of finding someone that well respected and working on something i like seems remote… so will it affect me badly if I don’t get such a well known prof?</p>
<p>You will be fine as long as the lab is productive. You can check out the number of pubs per year, and of course, a solid pub at a well known journal in the field is better than a bunch in random journals/conferences. Look out for the number of citations and you might want to pay attention to the rate in which the lab is publishing (with respect to the lab size).</p>