Hi! I’m an international student (specifically Indian). I have chosen comparative literature as my major and creative writing as my minor. So far, I have gotten acceptances from Rutgers-New Brunswick, Ohio State Univerisity, Umass Amherst (I got a $10,000 dollar scholarship here) and UIC. In addition, I am waiting for acceptances from University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign and Texas A&M.
Can anyone help me out with which one to choose?
I’m active in debates and I love activities like editing magazines, newspapers etc as well as writing (ofc). I have no virtual interest in sports. I don’t know much about Greek life and safety is one of my biggest concerns.
Thank you to anyone who replies!
I’d cross out UIC and TAMU as neither is especially good for Humanities (with UIC being a commuter school on top of it).
If safety is a concern, cross out Rutgers.
That leaves tOSU, Umass Amherst, UIUC.
Considering your chosen majors, I’m kind of surprised as to why you didn’t apply to Miami-Ohio and Denison? Denison probably is the one with the most “low key” sports scene.
Maybe Mass-Amherst. I’m not sure about the the comparative lit/creative writing programs, and it’s very common for student to change majors anyway, probably more than half. It is a safe community. Mass-Amherst is on one side of the town of Amherst and Amherst College (beautiful campus) on the other. Amherst is a quaint New England town. Mass-Amherst’s campus used to be pretty mundane, but it has improved. It is a very open and accepting community, and my sense is that an international student would be welcome and comfortable there. My daughter has a friend who is an international student at Smith College (see my following comment), and and she’s really enjoyed the local community. I think it’s a great advantage that Mass-Amherst is a member of a consortium, and students can take classes at Amherst, Hampshire College, Mount Holyoke, and Smith College. Smith is in nearby Northampton, which is a neat town, somewhat larger than Amherst. It is very cold in Amherst.
UIUC, Ohio State, and Texas A&M are all also terrific schools. They are very large and sports, especially football, are a very prominent part of campus culture. I know less about Rutgers, which is also a good school.
You might check the % of international students at each campus. You might find the culture more comfortable at a school with a relatively large % of international students, or at least might find the environment a little more difficult, especially if it’s a state school with lots of in-state students and few international ones.
Wait until you have all of your options, see which schools are financially viable, then repost.
As of today, I also got another acceptance. It’s from Indiana Bloomington. Making it all the more difficult. Since rankings are the only litmus test international students have, I’m a bit confused as well. Umass Amherst does sound the best, as of now. But Ohio State seems to have the best program.
Also I found out about Miami a bit late, since I had some help from counsellors. Therefore, shortlisting of unis was in their hand.
If you could also relay some more info about how Indiana would compare, that’d be awesome.!
Smith was one of my top priority schools before applying but its fee wasn’t viable. That is what attracted me to Umass Amherst in the first place. As I said in my reply to the above comment, I also got into Indiana Bloomington. I know Indiana and Ohio have a good % of international students
At UMass-Amherst you have the Consortium, which means you can register for classes at Amherst, Smith, Mt. Holyoke, and Hampshire, all of which have good Lit and writing courses (Hampshire’s creative writing is excellent!). I’d lean that way, probably.
I’d choose tOSU or IU Bloomington. UMass Amherst and Rutgers aren’t as strong as most of the schools listed, but UIC is by far the weakest.
Indiana University (IU) has a beautiful, traditional college campus in Bloomington, a very nice, safe “college town,” geared toward the university and resident students (restaurants, bars, shops, etc.). The school has admitted many more international students in recent years, most coming from China, though I don’t know the numbers. Maybe you could ask on the College Confidential forums for specific schools (under Colleges and Universities) how integrated international students are into general campus life at that school. That can vary school to school and is probably an important question for you. Hearing from a current student would be helpful.
I do think you would find the Consortium a benefit at UMass-Amherst. As marvin100 notes, you would have access to comp lit/creative writing courses at the other four member schools. These are outstanding schools. If you are not familiar with the other Consortium schools, Smith College and Mount Holyoke are women’s liberal arts colleges (LACs). Amherst is a very prototypical New England LAC, and Hampshire is an LAC with more of an alternative culture and approach. I’m confident there is a transportation system for students, probably buses, and the schools are relatively close together, maybe up to 1/2 hour away by car/bus, if I remember correctly.
As I noted, UMass would be very cold and probably snowy. IU, Illinois, Ohio State, and Rutgers will also have cold winters. They are all very good schools, and you might enjoy having all the amenities of a very large university–that is an individual preference. I agree that Texas A&M is a top-notch science and engineering school, but you would be in a very small minority as a lit/writing major. The entire school is really geared toward students studying the former fields.
Good luck!
Umass: the consortium (top LACs) would be a great benefit to you.
Indiana Bloomington would be very good for humanities. I’d pick one of the two.
Is any of them cheaper?
I have been told Umass is quite safe so I’m keeping it at the top of list for now. Followed by Ohio and Indiana, then Rutgers