Swedish chemeng student studying abroad in USA

bclintonk
Mon, 19 Oct 2009 03:03:33 +0000

Since you’ll be in your fourth year, I’d strongly encourage you to do your study abroad at a school that is strong in your major. Unfortunately, most of the schools on your list are not strong in your field, chemical engineering. UC Berkeley would be by far the strongest choice, but there are several plausible contenders. Here are the schools on your list that are highly ranked by US News in chemical engineering:

School / US News undergrad rank, chemical engineering

UC Berkeley / #2
UC Santa Barbara / #18
North Carolina State / #19
University of Virginia / #23

I’d especially urge you to consider UC Santa Barbara and NC State. Very likely neither will be very popular with others in your program because the general reputation of these schools is not as strong as UC Berkeley, UCLA, and the University of Virginia. But they offer quality programs in your field, and each has much to offer. Santa Barbara is a gorgeous southern California coastal town in a relatively unspoiled part of the California coast; the campus is in one of the most beautiful settings of any in the United States. NC State is in Raleigh, a dynamic southeastern US city anchoring the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill “research triangle” area, a fast-growing, highly educated, innovative corner of the nation.