I agree that USM sounds like the better fit for you.
Now you’d have to look at the CS major.
The program has about 300 would-be majors in it and graduated 30 students last year.
Not sure for Fisk but since each class is about 250-300 students, it should likely graduate 8-15 students.
You will likely skip ahead so check into 2nd year mandatory courses and upper level classes; any “study away” exchanges with US CS powerhouses? Can the dept tell you how many majors, minors they had? How many full time faculty for these?
I see that USM is a dedicated Cybersecurity center so it may be worth it to double major or minor in that.
USM Honors College would have about 250-300 entering freshmen (as big as the whole freshman class at Fisk). I can’t find their stats though.
Then, email to know what advanced credits you get for your curriculum. Typically you should at least get credit for calc 1, Science with Lab, and a gen ed.
Regarding politics, Black people in the US tend to be left leaning on matters seen as relating to race and ethnicity, but not necessarily that left leaning on other political matters. White people in Mississippi and Tennessee tend to be more right leaning than White people generally in the US. Both states have right leaning state governments.
However, on some political matters, what may be left or right leaning in the US may not necessarily be seen as such in other countries. For example, even right leaning parts of the US may be to the left of current law in Nigeria on LGBT issues.
I’m sorry @AustenNut and @caninex, I am not familiar with either of these schools to offer an informed opinion. I second @ucbalumnus’s suggestion to look at the course offerings. And if possible, connect with existing students or alumni and find out how they’re faring with internships and job placements.
Looking at the course listings, usm is more stacked than Fisk and includes important aspects I plan on focusing on like AI, machine learning and cryptography but Fisk seems not to have such courses
https://www.fisk.edu/academics/dual-degree-programs/
While Fisk has a very small enrollment, it does offer a respected dual degree program with opportunities to attend Vanderbilt University and Case Western University.
I am not familiar with the details, but I suggest you dig deep and ask your contact(s) at Fisk about these opportunities.
Also, while Fisk has a much smaller enrollment, Nashville is a much larger city than Hattiesburg. Initially, you mentioned a desire to live in a larger city. Perhaps Fisk’s dual degree program (and the opportunity to attend Vanderbilt/CWU as part of your college experience is enough to look more into this.
One other thing that caught my attention is Fisk has a Bridge Masters Program to allow students to seamlessly transfer to Vanderbilt for a Master’s Degree or PhD at Vandy. Again, I don’t know all the details, but it looks impressive and you should see if it might make a difference to you.
Considering the small enrollment at Fisk, those numbers are very impressive! It speaks to the efficacy of the program
Congratulations on your effort and your opportunities!
One more thing you may want to ask is how the colleges handle international students who cannot go home for school and maybe even summer breaks. Are the dorms open? Is there an extra charge for staying? Are dining halls open? Etc.
However, like any other 3+2 program, the OP should look into how financial aid will be handled at the “2” school (Vanderbilt or CWRU), since the OP is an international student who needs nearly full aid. Also, check into whether admission to the “2” school is automatic after fulfilling the course requirements with a high enough GPA specified on the web site, or is competitive beyond that.
I have actually been to both of those campuses (Fisk and USM) over the years and my daughter did Summer research at one of Fisk’s dual enrollment schools (Vanderbilt). Based on what you are looking for, USM is probably the better fit because Fisk is very small (right around a 1,000 undergraduate students), and tight knit student body in downtown Nashville. Vanderbilt has a nice campus and top notch resources, but you would start at Fisk in very small CS classes. Your college experience would be different at USM as Hattiesburg is the quintessential College town with everything revolving the school. Congratulations on you awesome results and you have a lot of fans rooting for you.