In general, it’s very hard for an international student to have a true safety in the US.
If you can be full pay, maybe look at Clarkson.
Michigan Tech and Iowa State may be worth a look too.
If you hope to save the money, you don’t currently have it. If you have enough real estate to sell to cover ~$250k of college expenses you’ll be full pay wherever you go. US colleges, even private ones, won’t make up the difference between what you’re willing/able to pay and the actual cost. Only 5 US colleges meet need, but if your family has a lot of real estate your need (as they calculate it) will probably be $0.
I wouldn’t assume you can attend college in the US for a CS degree and move here to work after graduation. US colleges (public and private) are turning out more and more CS grads every year, and US companies can hire them without any extra paperwork. In order to hire an international student they have to fill out a lot of extra paperwork, and have it reviewed by their legal team, to prove that there’s no US citizen who can do the job.
You can do what you want, of course, but I work in the industry and I see international students come every year. And every year those who’ve earned their degrees return home. Please don’t spend more than your parents have or ask them to sell their investments so you can gamble on an outcome that may never happen.
If you hope to work in the Aerospace industry, just be aware that many Aerospace companies require a security clearance which you will not receive as an International student/applicant. This could limit your options in the US for work also.
NYU is a waste of an application. They have some of the worst, if not the worst aid of any American college
Thanks for the financial details. We more often communicate with international students who don’t have enough money for their educations, and so financial issues are where we have to start the conversations.
Unfortunately for international students, work permission has become increasingly difficult. Even with computer science degrees from good institutions there are students who are unable to find work for the OPT period after completing their educations. Permanent work with an H1B visa is much harder to find now than in the past - and it has never been easy. If you do end up in college in the US, stay in touch with the graduates of your secondary school who have been able to find jobs here. They can continue to advise you on that process.
The only truly safe institutions are those that admit based strictly on stats, and that extend that policy to international applicants. It is my understanding that the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, UA at Birmingham, and UA at Huntsville all have that policy. Iowa State University admits Iowa residents by a stats formula. I don’t know how it handles international applicants.
Did you check Umass Lowell?
@happymomof1 is correct.
You can’t plan on going to school in the US, AND, finding employment. Immigration rules have changed significantly. Sponsorship requires an employer willing to sponsor you. There are boatloads of students who are majoring in CS, who are US citizens; those graduates are very employable and take precedence over non-citizens. Yes, it is a booming industry for citizens.
You can check company websites for large companies and many state that they can’t offer jobs to non-citizens.
Plus, if immigration officers suspect that you hope to stay in the US for employment, you will not be granted a visa to enter the US.
There are around 2,500 colleges in the USA. I would guess that about half of them offer CS. If you truly can afford to be full pay, then you have AT LEAST 1,000 colleges in play that will offer you a decent CS education. How do you expect us to narrow them down for you if we don’t know you, don’t know if you want a big city, small city, suburban or a rural college? What about the size of the college? Does that matter? Climate? Which part of the US would you like to be in… one coast or another can mean big $$$ in travel costs to/from overseas.
I agree with momofsenior that for internationals there probably aren’t any CS safety schools. With that said, DePaul and Illinois Tech (both in Chicago) would offer a higher likelihood of admission than many of the schools on your list.
Please do heed the advice given by posters regarding the staying in the US after graduation to work.
@austinmshauri
Sorry for the unclarity in my reply. What I mean by saying “saving money” is having time to sell real estate to cover up the other half of the tuition.
While researching job opportunities in the U.S. as an international, my counselor helped me by explaining the process. I used to think,4 years ago, after getting a degree, finding a job would be easy. Thankfully, my counselor helped me to change my wrong belief and said that the companies will favor the U.S. students over the international ones. In many cases, if there is no U.S. student from the same degree, then international students would be considered for the job prospect since it requires additional paperwork - as you mentioned. Studying in the U.S. is a heavy investment, especially for international students where you take a risky path. Since you spend a lot of money, it has to be worth it what you get at the end of the day which is the hardest part of the process. That is why I have other countries on my list to consider every possibility after I get rejections/acceptions from universities and have a logical choice.
Thank you for your comment.
I used to want to work in the aerospace industry but then I changed my mind because of this exact reason. I don’t hope to work in the Aerospace industry now.
Thank you for your reminder.
@“International Dad”
Yes, I did.
@“aunt bea” @happymomof1
“Thanks for the financial details. We more often communicate with international students who don’t have enough money for their educations, and so financial issues are where we have to start the conversations.”
No worries. I understand your concerns since I see discussions about college applications but without any financial background info which diminishes your help.
“Unfortunately for international students, work permission has become increasingly difficult. Even with computer science degrees from good institutions there are students who are unable to find work for the OPT period after completing their educations. Permanent work with an H1B visa is much harder to find now than in the past - and it has never been easy. If you do end up in college in the US, stay in touch with the graduates of your secondary school who have been able to find jobs here. They can continue to advise you on that process.”
“You can’t plan on going to school in the US, AND, finding employment. Immigration rules have changed significantly. Sponsorship requires an employer willing to sponsor you. There are boatloads of students who are majoring in CS, who are US citizens; those graduates are very employable and take precedence over non-citizens. Yes, it is a booming industry for citizens.”
I agree with what you stated because it is simply a fact. I am planning to go to a graduate school to have a master’s degree and if possible Ph.D. During this process, I don’t hope to find a real job except for maybe some interns and on-campus jobs. But as far as I know, if you go to graduate school when you finish college, you will be able to start the first immigration process by a sponsorship from the U.S. After that, the visa will be sponsored by the company and you will be able to go to the industry. I am aware that this is the hard part.
“The only truly safe institutions are those that admit based strictly on stats, and that extend that policy to international applicants. It is my understanding that the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, UA at Birmingham, and UA at Huntsville all have that policy. Iowa State University admits Iowa residents by a stats formula. I don’t know how it handles international applicants.”
Thanks for the information.
“There are around 2,500 colleges in the USA. I would guess that about half of them offer CS. If you truly can afford to be full pay, then you have AT LEAST 1,000 colleges in play that will offer you a decent CS education. How do you expect us to narrow them down for you if we don’t know you, don’t know if you want a big city, small city, suburban or a rural college? What about the size of the college? Does that matter? Climate? Which part of the US would you like to be in… one coast or another can mean big $$$ in travel costs to/from overseas.”
Hi, you are right to ask these questions since I did not explain what I wanted fully and since it is an only online community, not a professional college counseling center. I make my list my counselor and we try to research every possible decent school. I wanted to have a U.S. or international perspective which is more experienced or expert on this issue than my own knowledge. I am not applying to Stanford/MIT/ Ivys (except Princeton, which was the first school I had knowledge about and always wanted to apply) since I am not eligible for these schools because of several factors. However though, apart from these schools (and my list), I was just looking for advice or recommendation that is still a decent school and has a good CS program, even if it is reach heavy. I just don’t want to miss these opportunities when I finish my applications and regret not asking a community to have wider choices. I just wanted to know if there is any school that I am missing, heavy reach, and has a good CS program.
The prestigious of the program is my first criteria. After that, I will eliminate the schools by the factors you stated (city, size, climate.)(The flights’ price from my city to Eastern coast and Western Coast are nearly the same and it won’t matter.)
“NYU is a waste of an application. They have some of the worst, if not the worst aid of any American college”
Aid won’t be a problem. I heard they have a good CS program in the U.S. that is why I want to apply.
@ergunackz Your SAT scores, ECs and GPA are good. Don’t stress over the SAT. You know they call it a holistic approach so only SATs won’t determine your application strength. The scores are well above average for many schools in the US anyway. And I have seen many international students get into US colleges with average scores and higher financial need (guess it all comes down to the essays).
You just need to arrange your college list a little. And you can afford to pay for college, so that’s great. No need to worry if you have a good essay. Not saying you will get into your top choice school (hope you do) but with your stats- you being able to pay full price for college- the safeties will most definitely accept you.
If you are serious about continuing through graduate school here, then you don’t need to go to the most “prestigious” institution. You need to go to one where the undergraduate program for your major routinely feeds students into good graduate programs in the field of study. It is perfectly OK for you to contact the departments that you are interested in, and ask them which graduate schools their students end up at.
At the present time, you will have an OPT period for each degree program you complete. So if your undergraduate program can help you find an OPT employer, you will be able to work for the time permitted, then go to grad school. You can get another OPT job after your Master degree, and possibly even a third OPT after your PhD. However, grad school is such a horrifying slog (I know, I’ve done it twice in two very different academic fields) that you should wait a bit before you commit to that pathway. 
For the present, it is important that you investigate the track record of OPT placement for the departments and universities on your list. You can ask the individual departments, the career centers, and the international student offices for that kind of information.
Your stats are marginal for the Canadian universities you plan to apply to. Consider applying to University of Alberta, Simon Fraser U, McMaster U and Carleton U. Canada will be a lot friendlier with regards to getting a job post graduation.
@9167Isha
Thank you for your support 
Thank you for your comment. When I first read your comment though, I felt a bit disappointed. I do think my stats are enough for the universities I had in my list.