My daughter is an international student who would like to pursue mechanical eng major. She got accepted by PennState, Purdue, UIUC, NYU, UWash (Seattle), Boston University, Northeastern, University of Toronto, UCD, UCI, UCSB and UCSD. She got waitlisted by UCLA. (Uni Michigan decision hasn’t been released yet.) We don’t have any financial aid and money is the last issue. We want her to get the best education possible and be safe. She concerns reputation, prestige, campus environment, internship and employment opportunies.
Which university would you prefer and why? Is UCLA worth struggling?
First of all, congratulations on receiving so many excellent acceptances!
To be clear: you’re saying money is not an issue and you can comfortably pay for 4 years at any of these schools?
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What are her preferences?
- A certain region of the country?
- Warm or cold weather?
- Near a big city vs rural?
- A traditional American college campus vs one integrated into its surrounding city?
- A large public school or a small private?
- Is she set on doing mechanical engineering or could her interests change?
I’m not sure what you mean by that. Can you elaborate?
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Finally, wshe needs to be aware that as an international student she cannot rely on getting permanent employment in the US after graduation. So are some of these universities better known in your home country?
Other issues are more critical than money. We can afford any of these universities.
She got waitlisted by UCLA. Should she send a LOCI and wait until June for rhe final decision? Is UCLA worth waiting and giving up all these acceptances?
. region doesn’t matter.
. she prefers cold weather but we as parents prefer warm weather and easy transportation to the airport.
. Near big city would be better
. we haven’t been to any of the American campuses but she likes campus life.
. She won’t change her major.
She can send in a LOCI but do not wait until June. You have to commit somewhere by May 1. The chances of getting off a waitlist are very, very small, and if you don’t commit by May 1 you will lose all those other acceptances.
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Well if she prefers cold weather, than why UCLA.
Also, money isn’t the most important doesn’t mean money isn’t important.
You have all great schools.
Is International coming from the West (Asia), East (Europe/Africa) or South? LA is closest to West but not East, etc.
Prestige is meaningless for the most part here - but if you’re international you will not end up here. We see a lot of international only want a big name. All of these are good schools and you have way too many - and you can’t just list all your categories, etc. You can get great internships and jobs from any of those schools - but they don’t just happen. Students have to hustle - and use online resources in addition to the school resources. But as an internationl - if you’re not eligible to work without sponsorship, it’s going to be near impossible to find a job. Whether it’s required or not for an internship, every application asks can you work in the US without sponsorship. If the answer is no, you’re in the trash pile.
Your best combo of cold and presitge and arguably the best school on your list in rank, etc. is Purdue. It’s also going to be cheapest. That’s just a bonus though - since you don’t care about that. And rank / prestige shouldn’t matter - fit should. btw - are you going to school? That you prefer warmer weather shouldn’t matter - unless you cannot afford to buy her a jacket…she is the student.
It’s an hour from Indy and a little over two hours from Chicago - so there is airport access.
Where is the best education? That’s hard to say - schools differ in their quality. The highest ranked or best known doesn’t mean the best educaiton - that’s going to be student specific and based on how they adapt to certain situations, etc. btw - I can’t speak for Toronto.
But generally you have fanastic schools on your list.
Northeastern uses the co op model but you’ll be able to co op from most any school. But I would ask them, as an international, does that change their model ? I don’t know. The UCs, I believe, are quarterly, not semester based - so that might change things for you.
Good luck.
Since she’s the student, I’ll go by her preference. If she wants cold weather, that knocks out all the UCs.
Penn State, Purdue and UIUC will be the hardest to get to from an international city.
Not Penn State or UIUC then.
If she’s looking for a traditional American campus like the ones you see in movies, then NYU and BU are out.
Then I’m not sure either NEU or BU are worth the expense.
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Agreed with everything but I would note to OP Purdue is within range of Indy (and Chicago) and while small, you can fly to both PSU and UIUC local airports.
Not sure how many times a year OP will travel.
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Yes, they are all reachable via a flight but what I meant is, they require additional hops vs say NYC, Boston, LA, which have direct flights from most major international cities.
Not a deal breaker, but just wanted OP to be aware of the longer travel time.
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No, she CANNOT send an LOCI to UCLA since UCLA does not consider an applicant’s level of interest in the application review. She should opt into the waitlist, provide updated grades and achievements and move on. DO NOT send any unsolicited documents or LOCI’s.
2022 Waitlist data from Common Data set:
Offers: 16979
Opt ins: 11169
Admits: 367
2021 data:
Number of qualified applicants offered a place on waiting list: 15242
Number accepting a place on the waiting list: 9897
Number of wait-listed students admitted: 214
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Thanks for the correction @Gumbymom.
My main message to OP is: they should commit somewhere else instead of holding out for UCLA.
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Got it and yes, definitely need to commit to another university since the UCLA waitlist is far from a guarantee. LOCI question keeps coming up on all the UC websites. UCLA is now the only UC that asks for a waitlist statement and they specifically state their requirements. Both UC Berkeley and Davis dropped their waitlist statement this year.
Is she directly admitted to ME at UW? How does she feel about mandatory coop? Who wins the battle of climate, you or your daughter? Home country?
She will need to send a deposit in to one of the schools before may 1. If she gets off waitlist after that, she will have a choice to make.
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