asaatvik

Hello,

I'm looking at four schools which offer merit scholarships - USC, Rice, Purdue and WUSTL. I would like to drop a few from this list as I am already applying to a handful of other colleges.

I am an international student applying for Computer Science.
It'll be great if somebody can tell me which schools (out of the 4) I should pick. I would ideally like to pick one or two.

Thanks

Kumquat

That's a very personal decision. We can't tell you that. Even if you tell us more about you, which would help us give you decent advice, we can't really know which schools would be right for you. Since you're international and likely can't visit them, do as much research online as you can and create relationships with each school. Most schools have current students who you can talk to, and a lot have student blogs too. Check out the Admissions pages on their site for info on getting in touch with students, and if they don't put it out there, email someone to ask how you can talk to CS students, especially international ones.

Things to consider when narrowing it down:

~ how competitive your stats and profile are compared to their averages
~ the setting: city, suburban, rural...what do you prefer?
~ size of the student population...do you prefer bigger or smaller?
~ availability of ECs in your interest areas
~ how close the school is to other areas that would be interesting to you
~ cost to attend if you don't get the aid you're hoping for
~ the vibe you get from current students and their satisfaction levels

Also, look at the class descriptions and the semester schedules...you can usually see online how full the classes are. In some schools where certain majors are really popular, it's hard to get into classes. See who's teaching the classes and then go to sites like campusdirt.com and ratemyprofessor.com to see what people say about the school and the professors. It's a real eye opener!

So bottom line, the more time you spend on your own learning about the differences between each school, and getting to know the schools, the more it will help you decide.

asaatvik

Well, I was more interested in the academic reputation of these schools.

SBmom

Many schools do not dole out the $ to internationals. Maybe check that aspect before narrtowing the field. I have heard Grinnell is particularly generous to internationals.

WS17

Like SBmom said, you should contact the schools and find out if there even is any merit money for internationals.

For contacting current students, there is usually a Live Journal site for each school, see:

http://www.livejournal.com/community/

Lastly, Canadian schools have low tuition for internationals. You may want to also look into McGill, Queen's, U of Toronto, Waterloo, etc.

asaatvik

I've already checked the scholarship information. All of them offer merit schols to internationals. I just need help deciding which ones are better for Computer Science.

I am also applying to U of Toronto and Waterloo.