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

[PengsPhils]

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:

@av1612

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.

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?