UCSD OR MT HOLYOKE OR GWU?
confused as to which college i should select? :
UCSD - pros : great weather, great academics, ranked high, great for economics
cons : HUGE school - not sure whether this is a con, quarter system
GWU - pros : average size school, great for economics
cons : too expensive, not that high ranked as UCSD or MT holyoke?
Which of these is more likely to get you a job in your own country after you graduate? That is the place you should attend.
UCSD is a good school, but your take on the weather information may need some upgrading.
UCSD is near the coast, and the weather on campus is directly affected by this location since the fog or clouds may not break for a while. So some people get surprised by the weather because you might not see sun until after 1 pm or it might remain “overcast” all day while the inland parts of town are getting full sun. Just FYI we get May Gray and June Gloom for a reason.
Agree with happymomof1 ^^^, make sure whatever you major in is marketable in your country. The US has lots of competitive Econ grads.
UCSD and GWU are both well known in othe countries, but MT Holyoke isn’t.
And, it’s irrelevant but it saddens me that the other countries don’t know that undergraduate doesn’t really matter in term of education level and “smartness”.
Agree with Paul^^^^ Additionally, all of the schools are expensive. If you are not a California resident, the UC price tag is $55K.
That might be a bit of an overstatement. Most people in most countries wouldn’t have heard of any of these colleges/universities.
GW’s best thing is their internship opportunities (not just government ones). If you are proactive and a hard worker you can get a lot of experience, including during the year. That experience might be a big differentiator when you go back to your home country, as you might have more actual workplace experience than your other freshly-graduated peers.
Are those opportunities accessible to foreign students on a visa, who face tight restrictions on off-campus work permits?
If you are proactive and a hard worker, you can get a lot of experience at just about any university. What exactly makes GW better in this respect than the OP’s other options?
Typically, yes they are, as they are typically unpaid & often through the university (b/c the ‘academic value’ is how they get away without paying)
Lol, that is very true! But I do think that in terms of internships, GW has advantages over MtH & UCSD. First, being geographically in city center makes it easier for students to manage internships during term, and to easily get to offices for interviews, etc. I’m not saying that you can’t do it at the other two, just that proximity makes it easier. Second, GW has put a lot into making internships one of it’s USPs* and they are very proud of their participation rate (they claim 92% of students have had at least one internship by the time they graduate: https://undergraduate.admissions.gwu.edu/internships)
*unique selling point, in marketing jargon
So they’d likely qualify for CPT? Even in that case, a student probably wouldn’t want to take more than 12 months of CPT or else they’d lose all of their post-graduation OPT eligibility.
I’m not bringing this up as a point against GWU. I’m just reminding prospective international student readers that they shouldn’t plan on doing internships every summer and also during the school year because that’s not just feasible on a student visa.
What kind of environment do you want?
How much does each school cost if you only look at tuition+ room&board?
How much would be paid by debt at each school (or can your parents afford the “cost of attendance”?)