Which affordable, but good college for me as an international student?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I am from Germany and looking for a good college, which is affordable and also has a good party scene (so it shouldn't be a boring college) for Fall 2014.
My family can pay up to 20,000$ a year and if necessary, maybe more. I am also not afraid to take a small loan.</p>

<p>I have already found some colleges, but their Cost of Attendance is more than 20,000$ a year. However some offer scholarships, so that they would become payable anyway, for example the University of Georgia and Ohio University. I can't rely only on universities that are yery expensive but may give a scholarship, so I am looking for some other colleges, but it is hard to find some.</p>

<p>My absolute favorite is the University of California: Santa Barbara, but with costs of 50,000$ a year, it is difficult to pay. I am also interested in the Californa State University Chico, but I don't know whether it is good or not.</p>

<p>So my questions are:
1. Which college would you recommend me?
2. Would it be a good idea to attend a Community College (like SBCC) first and then transfer to UCSB (with a loan) or to CSU Chico?
3. Do you get the typical college experience in a Community College?</p>

<p>Thank you so much! :)</p>

<p>Btw, I converted my GPA this year (junior) and I have a cumultative GPA of 3.56.</p>

2

<p>What are your test scores?</p>

3

<p>If you are a German citizen, what about universities in Germany?</p>

4

<p>I will take the SAT Test in October, but expect a score of 1700-2000.</p>

<p>Well, I don’t like Germany and I want to get out of this country as fast as possible. I really don’t want to spend 4 more years there.</p>

5

<p>Community colleges are not usually residential, so no ‘college experience’. Most people are living with parents or commute from elsewhere.</p>

<p>Do you know what you want to study? Chico is good for Computer Science, Business, Environmental Science. The CSU system is having problems due to state budget problems. This may affect your ability to get into classes you want. Good party scene, music scene and access to outdoor activities.</p>

6

<p>To find places that are within your budget, run any of the college-matching search engines, and look for options where the out-of-state tuition and fees are no more than USD 10,000. That will leave you with USD 10,000 for your other costs. Once you find the possibly affordable institutions, check each of their websites for the estimated Cost of Attendance for International Students. That is the amount of money you will need to demonstrate that you have available when you apply for your student visa.</p>

<p>If you haven’t already done so, read through everything at <a href=“https://www.educationusa.info/[/url]”>https://www.educationusa.info/&lt;/a&gt; Then make an appointment with the counselors at the Advising Center closest to where you live. There are several in Germany: <a href=“https://www.educationusa.info/Germany[/url]”>https://www.educationusa.info/Germany&lt;/a&gt; EducationUSA is a not-for-profit organization, and the counselors will be able to provide you with unbiased, accurate information about your options. They can tell you which colleges and universities have admitted students like you in recent years.</p>

<p>You also should spend some time in the International Students Forum here. Go to the main page where all of the forums are listed, and scroll down to find it. Look for posts by b@r!um who is one of the experts there on finding good financial aid.</p>

7

<p>Generally, look toward public schools as they have somewhat more of a diverse community and with, most of the time, cheap tuition. Also, I’m not sure what type of financial aid packages or other financial support international students will receive but you should definitely look more into those options. Good Luck!</p>

8

<p>Canadian Universities tend to be significantly cheaper for internationals then a lot of US universities, mainly because they are heavily government funded and hence cheaper for anyone (except the tax payers). For example a Bachelor’s of Arts at McGill is $14,561.70 cdn for internationals.
[Student</a> Accounts - McGill University](<a href=“http://www.mcgill.ca/student-accounts/tuition-charges/fallwinter-term-tuition-and-fees/undergraduate-fees]Student”>| Student Accounts - McGill University)</p>

9

<p>Thank you all! But can you recommend some universities, because I really do not find many?
@BrownParent
Actually no, but I am thinking about Business Administration, Psychology and Engineering.
Would you generally recommend Community Colleges?</p>

<p>@happymomof1
I already did this and found some Colleges, but most were some like West Texas A&M and I really don’t know whether they are good and they are boring schools most times.
I have written an Email to the adviser, but they generally do not answer. Don’t know why.</p>

10

<p>If all your family can afford is USD 20,000 then you really, truly have few options here as an international student. </p>

<p>If you have excellent grades and test scores, you might qualify for merit-based aid. Go to the financial aid forum and read about that.</p>

11

<p>If you plan on attending CSU Chico, enroll into CSU Chico directly. Costs will be similar. Most CSUs will be within that range and you won’t have to transfer. However they’ve suffered severe budget cuts so classes are large, there are many adjucts (less support), and you may not be able to take the classes you need thus be prevented from graduating in 4 years.
Business Administration and Engineering are typically in a different type of school (preprofessional or specific college within a university) compare to psychology which is typically offered everywhere ( including the above but not restricting to those); note that psych requires a graduate degree to even offer a chance of a good job. However you could combine Psychology and Business with a minor in Human Resources - something you could only do at a university.
Typically public universities will only offer merit money and private universities will offer a combination, so that the net cost may be close.
What SAT/ACT scores do you have? Many universities have honors scholarships that would place them within your price range if you could win the scholarship.
They can be as diverse as UCincinatti, Clark university, and Carroll College.
Here’s a list of the colleges where basically everyone gets some kind of scholarship:
[50-50</a> Highlights: Colleges with Most Generous Financial Aid](<a href=“http://diycollegerankings.com/50-50-highlights-colleges-with-most-generous-financial-aid/5403/]50-50”>http://diycollegerankings.com/50-50-highlights-colleges-with-most-generous-financial-aid/5403/)
Finally, you can apply to Bucknell, Lafayette, Lehigh, Olin… for engineering but you need to have the scores to back that up (esp. Sat subject math 2, physics, and one more, to increase your odds).
Without a scholarship, some lesser-known schools like Slippery Rock and West Chester in Pennsylvania are within range.</p>

12

<p>The colleges that match your stats are not worth the price difference of going to the US for college. Go to Philipps U in Marburg (beer is better), maybe take a semester in the states, then think about maybe spending some time here.</p>

13

<p>

</p>

<p>This is my sentiment 100%. The colleges you can afford are not worth the $ you are going to have to pay. Some of the better colleges you get in, you won’t be able to afford. Your stats, based on what you said, are not good enough to get you high-end merit scholarship are good to great schools.</p>

<p>If you really want to come to the US, I think it would be best for you to go to a German University. You can study in the US for a semester. After graduation, you can come to the US for graduate school, that is largely free (PhD).</p>

14

<p>I understand that, but Phillips U Marburg is really not a good university, and like I said, I really do not want to live in Germany anymore. If Germany, then Munich, Frankfurt or Berlin. Also, German universities are overrated. I know many people who went to the U.S. and they said that even in Community Colleges they were taught better than in their German university. I also consider Universities in Scotland, because I would not have to pay any tuition.
But first, I will try to get into a good American university. Even if there is a only a low chanceto get a good scholarship, I will at least try this because I do not want to regret it.</p>

<p>Generally, are California State Universities seen as good or not?
@happymomof1
I said 20k, yes, but we might afford more. Maybe 30000$ a year ;).</p>

15

<p>Philipps U in Marburg is a better academic university than Chico State. A nephew is heading there in the fall and, even though he is a fairly bright kid, was not a very good HS student. </p>

<p>TUM is recognized as one of the premier technical universities in the world, better than any that would admit you here. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is the one Cal State system college that may be worth the out-of-state tuition, or Humboldt, but specific for their wildlife biology program.</p>

<p>I would recommend against a CC here in the states unless you have some family support in the area. Social life will be poor as almost everyone lives at home. Only a few have dorms, mostly filled with athletes. It will not give you the college experience you seek.</p>

<p>If Scotland is a free option for you, and you really want to leave Germany, that sounds like a better deal than you will get here. A friend of my son just graduated from Edinburgh, one of the top Us in the world. Glasgow, St. Andrews, and Aberdeen (and maybe include Dundee) all have good world-wide recognition.</p>

<p>Back to the original issue, here is my list of American colleges that may be below $30,000 yearly, and will have a decent amount of spirit and support for internationals, along with access to major cities (admissions will be competetive, especially if you choose engineering):
SUNY Stony Brook
NC State
U Minnesota
Oklahoma?
U Dayton?
Hawaii Manoa?
Gosh, running out of ideas. Colleges, especially state supported, do not give much to internationals. Like I mentioned earlier, as a parent, your other options seem better.</p>

16

<p>I want to suggest some metrics for your college selection (no particular order):</p>

<p>1) Pick an university with a residential campus
In order for you to have a real college experience, you should pick a university with a residential focus (i.e. most students live on or near campus, with little or no commuters). </p>

<p>2) Decide on the environment you want to be in (urban/suburban/rural)
Pick a state and city that you know you will like or at least tolerate. Going to school by California Coastline is very different from going to school near a cornfield in Iowa or deep southern states.</p>

<p>3) Decide on your maximum price tag for this education
Pick a public or private depending on your financial capabilities </p>

<p>4) Pick an university with strong reputation for your major or a decent name overall or both </p>

<p>Cal State Chico is far different from, say, University of Michigan or UC Berkeley. But Chico might have a major that UCB/UCSB might not have. So pick one that has your major and has a decent reputation. </p>

<p>If you want to go to UCSB, then definitely check out Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. The 2 are like sister version of each other. They are very similar in many respect (both near the coast, both residential and public, both have similar admission requirements and similar academic reputations, they are about 100 miles from each other along the 101 highway). Cal Poly is an excellent university with primary focus in engineering, science, business, agriculture, and architecture. UCSB is the older party girl sister. Cal Poly is the more academically focused little sister. Both are smart in different ways. </p>

<p>Going to SBCC might not be a good idea if you are not a disciplined student. There are simply too much partying and not enough studying there.</p>

<p>You should always check out:</p>

<p>UC Davis
UC Irvine
UC San Diego
USC
University of Michigan, Ann arbor
University of Illinois, Urban-Champagne
Univ of Texas, Austin
Univ of Wisconsin, Madison</p>

17

<p>Ok, Cal Poly is definitely an option and it may be payable. They offer no aid to international students, but I think I can take a small loan (I think 5000$ a year).
If I want to focus on something, I am disciplined. Partying won’t affect my studies, or I would simply stop partying. So SBCC would also be an option for me, because social life is okay if you live in Isla Vista and share a room or flat.
The UCs are all expensive and all of them offer very few aid, I think it was 2500$ a year. But if I get into an UC, I will take a loan. The UCs are too good to refuse them because of money.
There is also the University of Georgia, which offers many scholarship opportunities to international students.
On my list I have until now: University of Georgia, UCSB, Cal Poly, SBCC (or another CC with a good social life), the other UCs.
What about Ohio University and West Texas A&M?

  1. Ohio University costs 30,000$ a year and ranks as #131 National University. Is this good or not?
  2. At West Texas A&M I’ll pay in-state tuition, if I get a scholarship of at least 1,000$ a year. They offer guaranteed scholarships for international students with a SAT (Critical Reading and Math) score of 1120 or a GPA of 3.2 ([West</a> Texas A&M University: Scholarship Guarantees Freshmen - International](<a href=“http://www.wtamu.edu/student-support/scholarship-guarantees-freshmen-international.aspx]West”>http://www.wtamu.edu/student-support/scholarship-guarantees-freshmen-international.aspx)). However the university is in a rural area (Canyon, TX) and is ranked 30th in Regional Public Universities. What does this mean? Costs would be around 15000$ a year or less.
    And again, thanks :).</p>
18

<ol>
<li>Meh, though my son once considered it. You might consider the privates in OH and hope for some aid - College of Wooster, Ohio Wesleyan, Dayton (has engineering).</li>
<li>NO! To die in West Texas would be redundant. Texas A&M Galveston would fit your criteria better.</li>
</ol>

19

<p>Ohio University has a reputation as being a party school. Dayton does too but the engineering program is awesome. For affordability you should looke at Slippery Rock although they do not have engineering as a major.</p>

20

<p>What do you mean with to die in WT would be redundant? Are they academically bad, is it boring or both?
But U of Georgia is good, isn’t it?
I will check out Dayton, Ohio Wesleyan and College of Wooster. Slippery Rock has not that good ranking, that it would be worth the 11,000$ tuition.</p>