Northeastern vs UBC (University of British Columbia) vs Emory vs Penn State

College Search & Lists
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I’m a senior in high school, and an international student (outside of both America and Canada). After applying to various schools in Canada, America, and the UK, I’ve narrowed my choices down to these four. My parents are willing and able to pay the full cost for all four, however a college with a better value for money would obviously be more appealing. I’m intending to major in computer science, and looking to get a job and settle there after graduation.

I’m torn between America and Canada, as both have their pros and cons. For example, America has slightly better job opportunities and salary, but the visa application for American colleges is lengthy. They also only give a maximum of two years after graduation to find a job if you want to stay there. Getting a green card in America is also a lengthy process, and can take years to complete (you can apply after living there for 5 years, but it can take much more time to actually complete the process). Canada, however, is not as strict as America with visas, and allows up to three years after graduation to find a job. Getting a PR in Canada is also much easier, and you can apply for one after three years of job experience. Settling down in Canada is therefore much easier for immigrants than in America.

Here are the four colleges I’m torn between:

Northeastern - I got into the honors program for computer science, and therefore received a scholarship, bringing my total per year cost down to about $60,000. I have to keep a GPA of 3.0 and above to keep my scholarship. They also have a very good co-op program, which could help me in landing a job after graduation (however, I’m not sure whether my co-op program will fall under OPT or CPT). It is also in the middle of Boston, which is a plus (I prefer living in urban areas). It does get really cold in the winters though.

UBC - Being a Canadian university, UBC is slightly cheaper than Northeastern, with total cost of around $45,000. I got admission under the Bachelor of Science program, and I’ll be able to declare my computer science degree in my second year. It’s in Vancouver, which is also a bustling city. To my understanding, the weather is pretty much the same as Boston’s. Vancouver is also really diverse, with a lot of Indian students there, which may make it easier for me to settle there.

Emory - I got into Emory for Computer Science, and I’ve heard a lot of good things about the university. For instance, it is known as one of the ‘little ivies’, giving it a good name amongst recruiters. Getting a job thus may be a little easier. It’s also in Atlanta, which is a pretty nice city. However, the total cost comes to around $72,000, as I’m not receiving any aid or scholarships.

Penn State - I got into the Penn State college of Engineering with the intended major of computer science, and also got into the University Park campus. The total cost is around $50,000. I heard from a few Penn State alumni that their college of engineering is actually pretty good, and I should therefore not write it off my list. I’m not sure how much it would help in me finding jobs, since universities such as Emory and Northeastern have a better name amongst recruiters.

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@PengsPhils can you help?

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Actually, Penn State is a very big name with recruiters, especially for graduates from the COE. Not sure but it seems to me it’d get equivalent recruitment as Northeastern and better than Emory – but Northeastern has co-ops, which DO NOT count as either CPT or OPT and certainly lead to excellent post graduation OPT prospect (without deductions in the way internships do).

If you want to live and work rather than go back to India, Canada is better. In the US, your path would be OPT-> H1B “lottery” (odds aren’t good and it is like the lottery so few employers go through the pain) and then you’d have to keep that job for decades before you can be considered for a “green card”.
I don’t know whether its normal for you to be in a general program rather than directly in CS (it’d be normal at Penn State but not at UWashington or UIUC for instance) but if it’s normal and your goal is to stay then UBC is your best choice.

Btw do not roll out your plan for your visa interview, because you need to prove you want a student visa because you want to STUDY. A plan to “live permanently” is a different type of visa and would bar you from being able to get a student visa. You need to explain why you want to STUDY there. (Whatever happens 4 years from now should not be your primary goal).

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Here this would come down to UBC and Northeastern to me. Emory and Penn State aren’t particularly known for CS (though both solid, and within a tier or less of Northeastern for CS), Emory costs more by a smidge, and Penn State doesn’t give the city environment you want. The real kicker between the American schools is that co-op goes a long way for securing a job in America and it will offer by far the most support for finding internships and making connections in order to get work authorization or eventual green card sponsorship.

Between Northeastern and UBC, I’d give Northeastern the edge for CS in a vacuum, but both are solid programs. That said, I think this comes down to what you said here:

I get both sides here, and I think this is the decision you have to make yourself. America has a larger tech scene and more of the top-paying jobs, but Canada offers a stable alternative with solid tech scenes in Vancouver and Toronto that are only getting bigger. And if you could have both visas, where would you prefer to live long-term between the two countries?

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OP can get both visas. Getting a student visa isn’t “hard”.
What comes next is the issue.
Currently, there is no way for him/her to get a US green card in 3 years like in Canada. That path simply doesn’t exist in the US.
(The current path to a green card for an Indian student means at least 20 years of uncertainty, where s/he could be sent back to India at any point after 6 years. The system is completely clogged, H1B is unbelievable with some companies bypassing the regular system thus blocking US college graduates, etc. It’s a mess. A good thing the US could do is simply adopt the Canadian system wholesale but I’m not sure it’s political to do so!)

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Ah sorry, terminology mixup there. Replace with green card/citizenship etc.

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Ok I understand now.

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Hey, thanks for your reply. To clarify, once I get a H1B and start working at my first job in America, I can’t change that job until I get a green card?

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You will get OPT (it is not too complicated generally, 2 years and a half if you had co-ops, less than that if you took CPT) but then moving to H1B is almost impossible.

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You are a very long way away from getting a green card (permanent resident visa) for the US. However, if you do go that route, you should be aware that the US will tax your income for life (or for ten years after you give up your green card) even if you decide to leave the US and return to your home country. I made the decision to come here (to the US) long before this was an issue. However, if I were to do it again this would be a major concern on my part.

In my experience job opportunities are better in the US. However, I think that the difference is much smaller than it was when I immigrated to the US.

If it were me, I would be torn between UBC and Northeastern also. If it were only the school, I would probably have a slight preference for NEU. However, given the difference in both the difficulty in immigrating after getting a degree, plus the US tax policies, I think that I would go with UBC. The cost difference also favours UBC. Crime is probably slightly lower in Vancouver also, although it would not particularly worry me in Boston. I also agree that your other two choices are quite good.

When you apply for a student visa, do not tell them that you are thinking about staying after graduation. As far as immigration is concerned for either country you are coming here to study with the intention of going home. Then when you are close to getting your bachelor’s degree you can think about whether you want to return home or apply for a work permit.

The weather is not really the same, but I agree that it is probably equally desirable in either location. The summers are beautiful in Vancouver. The summers in Boston are mostly pretty good, but it will get too hot from time to time. Winters in Vancouver are very wet, but it rarely gets cold enough to snow. Winters in Boston will have some cold days, some heavy snow days, some sunny days, and some of almost everything that you could imagine.

I think that for me the taxation thing would scare me if I were thinking of immigrating to the US now, and would push me to Canada.

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So basically after my 2-3 years of OPT are over (after my 5 years at Northeastern), I’ll probably have to come back to India, as chances of getting an H1B are really slim, even if I land a job? Also I thought I would have to apply for CPT if I was taking co-ops?

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Many students on OPT then go to grad school. A few fall in love and get married. The others have to go back home.
Cpt is for internships while enrolled in college. The time is deducted from OPT (job after college, must be related to your major).