Hi I am an international student. I am currently doing my G.C.E Advanced level exam,and I am just about to finish off in mid June,and I will be starting on my SATS right after.
So i have my mind set on attending university in the States. The Major I have in my mind at the moment is a Bachelors In Computer Science.I plan on applying for the 2017 fall batch.
Also my results for My ordinary Level exam(Local)was All A’s (we Have 9 subjects and A is the highest Grade).
and was also awarded for the best results in my school.
For my G.C.E Advanced Level I am expecting 2A’s and one B.I am also a member of school rowing crew for the past few years and i am currently on the main crew and was a School Prefect.
I also have alot of other extras but not much community service.Fees is not a problem as long as its less than about 50K.
Can you guys recommend some universities for me to get into directly for the Major?
Also I have some time before applying.So is there anything I can do to make my application look better? A bit more community service maybe?
and finally what the bench mark for SAT results for me to get accepted in to a high ranking uni?
The SUNY colleges are going to be your best bet financially. They are also welcoming of international students due to demographic change in New York (there has been a decline in college-age residents). There are many, many SUNY campuses. The “big four” are University at Buffalo, Binghamton University, University at Albany and Stony Brook University. But there are many smaller campuses that offer a CS degree. Go to SUNY.edu and you can look to see what campuses have your intended major and what the academic requirements are.
Most private school in New York are going to cost more, but you will have to do some research to see if they give any aid to international students and what the cost of attendance would be. There is a Super Match tool on this website that can help you narrow down some choices.
Actually the reason for the large increase in international students is the money they bring in to the local campuses despite the fact that each students actually costs Albany and therefore the tax payers even though international students pay a bit more. They don’t make up for decades of paying into the system like NY residents do before attending (family’s pay taxes) and for decades after graduating. NYers have yet to realize how much this is costing them but when they do, hopefully things will change. But regardless, SUNY has been increasing its enrollments-always a few decades past understandable-- each campus is hungry to attract internationals-but it does not have anything to do with a decline in college-age residents-as they are expanding now. Had it been do to decline in college age residents, it would be foolish to be expanding enrollments unless the upper administration is stupid or corrupt.
Hey thank you so much for the advice.! but i just have a few questions
these universities mentioned above are not really well ranked? @merc81 yes i would intend to continue rowing,as well as for state or city nothing specific like that.Whichever university has a reputed CS program but also would be a good experience.
Keep in mind there are 3700 universities in the US. The scale is quite different from the UK 's.
Fisk guide, insider’s guide, ans/or Princeton Review 's best colleges have roughly the top 10%.
NYS or NYC? Why that state?
Marist has a good CS program and should be a safety.
Cornell has CS through cals and coe.
Look at Vassar, NYU?
@Nathanhetti97 : Schools such as Binghamton and Buffalo have excellent CS programs, so your prospects from them would be potentially excellent. Regarding overall school rankings, there’s really no firm place at which to draw a line to determine “well ranked.” However, in a country with 50 states, you might consider the top 50 schools to be unquestionably high ranking, though the importance placed on this will be up to you. (And, as @MYOS1634 accurately observed, it should be noted that the US has lots of colleges.) For solid CS within a purely undergraduate-focused environment – along with a varsity (Erie Canal-based) crew program – consider Hamilton. Their mathematics offerings (cryptography, etc.) are particularly strong should this complementary discipline be an interest of yours. URochester, which rows on the Genesee, would also be worth a look.
OP said costs had to be below $50,000, so that makes schools like Cornell, Vassar, NYU, Hamilton and Rochester unaffordable, unless they give aid to internationals.
@lostaccount: I know you hate SUNYs, but really the facts are the facts:
“Between 2008 and 2019, the number of high school graduates (public and private) in New York State is likely to decrease by 16.5% due to actual declines observed now by grade level in the State’s schools. No changes were assumed in population migration patterns or in the rate at which students graduate from high school. This decrease mirrors the increase that occurred between 2000 and 2008. High school graduate numbers are expected to begin decreasing in 2010 in NYC and in 2009 for the rest of the State. These projected changes reflect progressively smaller classes now in the
elementary grades which in turn reflect both the slump in birth rates after the baby boom and the net out-migration of population from the state which has been experienced for some time now.”
This phenomenon has been readily observed in upstate New York, with a decline in our local CC of 20% over the past four years. This is directly attributable to the declining number of high school graduates in the state.
Re #7, well-endowed private colleges often meet the full demonstrated financial need of all accepted students, irrespective of the student’s origin. Others offer merit scholarships to highly qualified applicants.
Re #8: I am well aware of that fact, and in my original post I said, “Most private school in New York are going to cost more, but you will have to do some research to see if they give any aid to international students and what the cost of attendance would be.” Cornell, Vassar and Hamilton do not offer merit scholarships, so unless the OP can demonstrate need (and with the ability to pay $50,000, that may not be the case), these schools will not be affordable. NYU is notorious for not giving good aid to anyone, I did not say the OP should not look at them, but since the OP noted an upper limit of $50,000, the OP should take a realistic approach to his/her applications.
^ many colleges find it easier to offer a 10k scholarship to an international who can pay 50k, than to offer an equally brilliant but also very plucky, dirt poor international student 60k in aid. Cornell in particular is known for that. It’s unfair and not what financial aid is supposed to be but that’s how it works.
Also what about the surrounding areas? Some parts of NY State are practically in the Midwest. If OP means the NYC area, then he should be looking at Stevens Institute of Tech, NJIT, Rutgers, Stonybrook, and back in nyc at NYU Poly,
OP is a star at home (ranked highest in her/his year), is looking at spending $200-250K on a US degree and is looking for big names (also has threads for Fl and CA, where s/he has listed top choices as Stanford, UC-B, GaTech & UCLA).
OP, you don’t need a state-by-state or regional threads. It looks as if your priority is a big-name CS program for +/- $55K / year or less that has a crew team in which you can participate in crew (are you good enough to be recruited?).
For quantitative, you will be applying with completed A levels, projected to be AAB (in what subjects?), and you have not yet taken the SAT (which most posters will want to see before they weigh in on your odds for the various universities).
(and fwiw, the OP is not from the UK- more likely Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Mauritius, Singapore, etc- places where O levels are still offered).
The OP has also stated a preference for a college that would offer a “good experience,” so it would appear that factors such as small class sizes, readily accessible CS courses (which would not require specific admission) and the quality of the academic experience in general would also be important.
@Nathanhetti97 : The enrollment in CS courses can range from ~ 6 to 1000+, depending on the school. Your next stage of research may benefit from a close look into the academic environments at your tentative colleges of interest.
First of all thank you everyone for offering your advice.I’m actually making a list of about 20 universities and after that i will cut it down to 12 to apply to
As for much Alevel subjects Maths physics and econ. @merc81 I will definitely look into all those aspects before choosing. @collegemom3717 you were spot on there.
After I do my SATs soon as well,and then posters can weigh my chances
"Between 2008 and 2019, the number of high school graduates (public and private) in New York State is likely to decrease by 16.5% due to actual declines observed now by grade level in the State’s schools. "
You are correct (and I know) that the number of NY high school graduates is declining. But SUNY is trying to expand-radically increase the numbers of students it enrolls. One should ask why. The decline in the number of 18 years olds in NY is not new news. It is in the face of that knowledge that certain campuses are pushing to radically increase their numbers. So yes, I am aware of the declining numbers but that is only half the story. Remember that NYSED of SUNY have radically different agendas. SUNY growth is all about the money the Internationals may bring to local campuses.
“From a “20 by 2020” enrollment initiative to a new venue for the State of the University address, growth served as the theme of President Harvey Stenger’s annual talk.
“A public university has to meet the demands of the population and has to help society,” Stenger said during the Jan. 31 address. “We’ve proven to ourselves over the past two years that we can get bigger and better at the same time.””
"That comes as SUNY this year set a goal to increase the number of degrees awarded from 93,000 to 150,000 annually by 2020. "
Naturally if SUNY were simply responding to declining numbers of NY high school graduates they would not be trying to radically increase their enrollments. But that is exactly what is happening. And this too is fact. Just google it and read about it.
