I am from China and have been here for 2 years . Thanks for all nice US parents . You have given me some useful advice.
Now , it is time to select a college, and I would like to hear your voice.
On my son’s college list, there are 3 pulic colleges. They are U of Michigan Annabor, U of Virgina, U of Northcarolina Chapel Hill. They are all great schools,and have similar ranking and costs. Because my son is international student,he does not apply for any scholarship.
If my son had a good luck to get 3 offers, how to choose ?
Perhaps you will say it is early to decide, but we want know much about these 3 colleges earlier.
We made early action for these 3 colleges and will get offer or rejection email before Jan 1,2017.
Those are 3 great schools. I have only visited one - UNC but a couple of things to think about are:
Weather at UM is going to be a lot different than UV and UNC. The winters in Michigan can be tough.
What is your child majoring in? Which is the best school or are they comparable? An example, UNC only has one engineering degree, biomedical.
I’m sure you will get a lot of other help on this subject.
You can’t go wrong with any of them. If he is interested in business, start off at VA. Otherwise Michigan has the best reputation. UNC is the prettiest campus. William and Mary also a highly rated public that most think are private. They take a large Chinese student pop.
Thank you ,Gator88NE and GTAustin and other friends!
My son like liberal and arts education, so he does not decide his major.
He would like to attend a top LAC with scholarship or a Liberal and arts college in a big university without financial aid.
Because many LACS only receive ED applying. So, he select one LAC to apply with ED ( very difficult to get an offer). Others with EA are all universities including UVA \ U MICHIGAN\ UNC.
For LACs are all expensive, so it is very possible for him to attend a public university.
It is not easy to visit school for us international students or parents.
We want to know the real ideas and first-hand information from native US parents.
Once your son learn about the decisions, have your son contact the Chinese student associations at the universities that accept your son’s application. These associations at these large research universities are likely to have their own websites, so google them. Or your son can contact Chinese embassy in the US and the staff there will surely provide your son these associations’ contact e-mails and phone numbers. By doing so, your son will have the first-hand experience from other international Chinese students who are currently attending these universities and these universities’ pros and cons (from Chinese students’ perspectives).
If after all these, your son still has difficulty on deciding which of the three. Use a dice :). These universities are all very good and their towns are all very nice and quite safe.
I’ll bite. He doesn’t have ANY acceptances yet. Wait and see what the actual offers are. Then make decisions based on acceptances. Presumably you allowed him to apply to all theee schools because any of them would be fine for him.
Also…let HIM choose. He is going to college…not you.
They are all fine schools…but it is very premature to choose any of them without any acceptances.
Also, these are VERY competitive schools for admission, and especially for international students. Hoping he also has some “sure things” for admission on his application list.
UNC is very hard to get into if you are not a North Carolina resident. He might want to add some more schools to his list. While UNC, UVA and UMich are all excellent, there are many others (Texas, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indian, California, Florida…the list goes on and on!) one could argue are equally good.
You might consider researching private LACs which might give significant merit aid. Look at the listing of top liberal arts colleges on US News and Workd Report and start at rank about 30-35 and below. There are many many excellent schools in this list, and they may give nice merit $ to good students.
You may be “putting the cart before the horse” or “counting your chickens before they hatch”. Until he has been admitted it is far too soon to decide. As above, he needs some good schools that are not quite as competitive (this does not mean they offer a lesser education) on his list. It will be too late to apply to those in spring.
Also as above- HE is the one going to college and it is HIS choice. He needs to visit each school, preferably when it is in session. Another excellent idea is for him to contact the Chines student’s organization at each school. Notice- it is HIS job to do this, not yours.
Be sure has some other top tier schools on his list. Top students do not always get accepted where you expect them to. He should make a chart of things important to him and list pros and cons for them for each school. Every school is a bit different. He will be a part of his campus culture and should consider all sorts of nonacademic things.