arvindch

Hi!

I am planning to attend college in the USA; an mechanical/computer science engineering undergrad course. I'd like some advice on the following:

1.Which cities are the most undergrad friendly? i.e. with a good balance between low cost, high education standard/good colleges, friendly people, etc.

2.Which colleges are known for giving foreign-students perks/scholarships more often?

3.Any other random stuff I would need to know before I decide.

Also, this is sort of a hybrid question, since I would also like to know what my chances are of getting into Princeton or UT,Arlington ( I know the latter is more of a safe college in comparison ).
Also, are there any other colleges, I should be considering? I've heard that if you attend a college whose averages are below your stats, then there are better options for financial aid and acceptance. I'm not bent on Ivy league colleges - so if there are any other good colleges you know that fit my criteria or are known for my courses, please help.

About Me:

I'm from India and am presently finishing my junior year. I will be writing the SAT on May 5, 2012. Presently I have a ~3.8/4 GPA.

ECs and Stuff:

I play basketball and handball, for the college team, though, nothing state-level yet. I have been going to karate since 2nd Grade in the USA, and I continued that over here. So now I'm a Black Belt in Okinawa Karate.
I've won tons of school and inter-school Debate, Topical Speaking and Essay Writing competitions. I qualified for the international round of the MARRS spelling bee twice. I was the president of my 'House' at School.
I actively participate on forums like techsupportguy.com and love helping people out - I'm the guy whose number everyone in the class has, for help in studies and tech/computer issues.

Another thing:

I lived in San Jose, California for 7 years, and attended Castlemont Elementary and Rolling Hills Middle, till 6th grade, before moving to India. I was part of the student council and Peace-keepers, then. I was also in GATE. Does this help my admission chances in any way?
What if I attend a college in California? - Though I haven't considered this due to the higher living costs in Cali.

arvindch

bump..! Please reply..

082349

I don't think anything before high school counts.

I was going to suggest Grinnell but you specified engineering so that's not possible.

Applying for financial aid as an international is going to be very very difficult.

arvindch

Are the ECs I've listed even reasonably good?

Ana1

^ They are not ivy level so you need to be realistic to what schools you should apply. You need to do the search yourself and when you identified schools, look at the threads in CC about admitted students and see their stats to get an idea whether you have a comparable profile. Mind you that as an international who wants financial aid means that your stats have to be above the average for that school and that most of the info stated is for US students, and ad coms have some different criteria on whether to admit that student, ie a US student who grew up homeless or went to a small rural school and for these reasons might have lower scores will be admitted because adds diversity to the class and a large part of that students financial aid will be paid by the federal government. An international student with a similar profile will not get into that school.

Waverly

What can your family afford to pay? The CA state schools don't give aid to internationals, but CSUs are relatively low cost at under $30K/year.

Princeton is highly unlikely. The Indians they accept will have national level awards and be top students in the country. uT Arlington would be probable if you can pay for it.

BeanTownGirl

Did you look in the international students section of CC for advice? Would you high school counselor have info on what schools give financial aid to international students?

International Students - College Confidential

arvindch

I can pay a max. of 20,000$ per year.

Can anyone recommend any other colleges that might suit my needs?

londondad

I would also spend some time trying to figure out which schools are close enough to a major international airport so you don't have to take an internal flight (which could take you an additional 5-6 hours for a short flight, once you factor in immigration lines, customs, rechecking your bags, transferring to the domestic terminal, etc.). Therefore, if I were you, I would look at schools (assuming that you are flying in through Europe) in Boston, NYC, Philly, Baltimore, DC, Durham NC, Houston, Chicago, and Miami. If you are coming through Asia, look at schools in Seattle, SF (and Silicon Valley), LA, SD and Denver. That should give you a good starting point. Good Luck, Londondad

arvindch

@BeanTownGirl

They are really hard to come by in India! Here, education is more mechanical.

@londondad -

Thanks for replying.
Though, would that really matter, considering how I would probably visit India only 2 times in the 4yrs of college?

Any college recommendations?

londondad

It will probably will matter, in case you may need to go home for a wedding or other family events.

Off the top of my head, good coastal engineering schools include MIT, Caltech, Hopkins, Duke and Stanford and others
that might make good match/safety schools, check

londondad

.....out Santa Clara and Catholic University.

londondad

Also, the coastal cities might be a bit more expensive to live in, but (and this is a very general statement) might be a bit more cosmopolitan and easier for a foreign student to settle in (although there are plenty of great inland cities like Austin, New Orleans and Chicago)

arvindch

Thanks!

I'll only get back to you after May 5th. I need to study for my SAT 1 now.