Hello,
I am accepted by UMN, UW Seattle, and Virginia Tech and have a hard time making my choice.
I am an international student live in Washington State. The tuition and fees (estimated) for these three schools are: UMN 37000 / UW Seattle 33500 (got scholarships and can pay for in-state-tuition for the first two years) / Virginia Tech 4036.
I kind of wanna of for Virginia Tech since it is the best engineering school among the three. ( My intended major is Mechanical Engineering!) However, I heard that it locates at the countryside which might be inconvenient(?) to live. Also, since UMN and UW locate in cities, I might get a better chance to get internships after graduating.(?) I hope to hear from people who studied in any of these schools about what the life would be like to help me make my choice. Thanks!
I think you would enjoy being in a city more. There would certainly be more opportunities for internships during the school year. I don’t know if you plan to have a car at your university or not. If you are hoping for public transportation, UMN has light rail that stops in several places on campus and you can take it to downtown Minneapolis, Saint Paul and the airport and many other places. You would not need a car there. uMN has special housing options for international students if you are interested, and lots of clubs. All three universities are great so you might consider lifestyle to help you decide.
Honestly if the difference in price is really that huge ($4036 for VT?) then you should definitely choose VT.
Sorry, it is actually 40363.
@mommyrocks Thanks! Since I am not going to get a car, the information is very helpful to me!
Both VT and UMN admit to first year engineering; students need to earn a high enough GPA to enter their majors (3.0 at VT and 3.2 at UMN; those with lower GPAs may be admitted on a competitive basis to space available).
http://www.enge.vt.edu/undergraduate-changing-majors.html
https://cse.umn.edu/r/application-to-a-major/
Washington may admit to the major or general admission. If you are not admitted to the major, see the engineering admission page to see what kind of GPAs are needed.
https://www.engr.washington.edu/current/admissions/admitstats
^ Washington may admit to the major (for some engineering majors) or to Pre-Engineering in the College of Engineering.
(Congratulations on 50,000 posts. That’s quite an achievement. @-) )
@qwer1234tyui , if you like the idea of a quick light rail to downtown and the airport:
@ucbalumnus @UWfromCA Thanks for helping! It kind of scares me when the word “competitive” is used. lol
I have been to Seattle a couple times and have no idea there is a light rail!
If Washington directly admitted you to the major, then that is a point in its favor (and since it is the least expensive, it would be the obvious choice). Otherwise, it may be more difficult to get into your major there than at the other two, but it is hard to tell for sure (they list average GPA of admission, but there is holistic review of applications including an essay, rather than a purely GPA-based threshold like the other two).
The University of Minnesota is quite highly ranked overall in Engineering and in each specialty (top-25 in every field, I believe). I’m not sure that’s the case for either UW-Seattle or VA Tech, though they are fine schools also.
All three are good schools with good Engineering programs. I just wanted to point out that Minnesota’s, not VA Tech’s, are ranked the highest. (make sure you read what goes into those US News program rankings).
Your two good choices are umn and uw.
Are you direct admit to your chosen major at uw ?
Thank you guys for the information!
I am admitted to Pre-Engineering at UW. QQ
You will have to compete to enter your major.