You can also look at faculty: student ratio - you’ll get more help securing positions and going through the process if the ratio is 1:12 than if it is 1:21…
You can ask each International student office what specific help they provide wrt Summer research positions, especially at non campus labs. (Some may offer none - one reason @Andygp liked Kalamazoo and Wooster is that they provided specific support. Not recommending you apply there bc clearly that’s not the environment you want but example provided so you think of other criteria for your search.
You may also want to ask about specific help wrt OPT.)
You also look at Honors Colleges - Honors college students have better advising and support for all these endeavors.
Read the Fiske guide to see if you’d like CalTech’s vibe. It’s very different from most colleges, almost like grad school - and in that case look into CCS at UCSB. That being said most internationals can find that vibe at a top university at home - those who want to attend a US school typically want work-life balance, campus life, etc.
Rice is a superb university and CS is very strong there too, in addition to excellent quality of life. Thzt being said, I stand by my recommendation you apply ED to Cornell where you stand a decent chance, rather than try& game the system. (Cornell or another university similar to it.)
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