I am a Korean student studying in the Philippines. Currently at grade 11, my GPAs are as follows: 95, 95, 92.80. My school follows a trimester. I havent had any SAT yet; im planning to take them on October. I plan to take Chemical Engineering or Accountancy; however, I have no Idea which school is ideal for me. Im looking to apply in United States. Can you suggest good universities in the United States? Thank you!
Congratulations on your hard work and success so far in high school! There are so many colleges/universities in the U.S. (2000-3000) full schools with campuses). Many of them are outstanding, although fewer offer chemical engineering. It would be helpful to know if you think you would like a smaller school (under 5000 undergraduates), medium-sized school (say 5000-12000), or a larger school. Would you prefer an urban, suburban, or rural school? A lot of US schools are in small college towns and classified as rural. Most with chemical engineering are at least middle-sized and usually suburban/urban. Also, would you prefer colder or warmer weather? Many great schools are in the north and are very cold and snowy. Obviously that’s fine for many people, but others would prefer a warmer location, especially since much of the school year is in colder months.
Have researched the cost of U.S. universities? U.S. universities (including many of the best) can be private or public. Privates typically cost $50,000 to $70,000 per year. Publics are typically more than $30,000, and up to almost $60,000 for out-of-state (OOS) students, which includes international students. It is possible but more difficult for international students to get financial aid.
If you are familiar with US schools, or read CC a lot, and are definitely planning to come to the US, you know it is advisable to make a list that includes reach, match, and safety schools. I think that is definitely true for international students because admission is probably a little more unpredictable. Choose a few schools where you would enjoy attending, it is affordable, and your stats are very strong relative to those of accepted students in recent years. For example if you get a 1400 SAT, you might want a few schools that indicate the 25%-75% accepted range for students is lower than that, something like 1250-1350.
Again, many schools offer terrific educations, not just Harvard, Yale, Stanford, etc. I’ll throw out Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) as an example. It is an outstanding science/engineering school with a beautiful campus in a nice part of Worcester, MA. It is a one-hour train ride to Boston. It offers a very hands-on, project-oriented approach and a global focus. Graduates make some of the highest starting salaries of any school. (Weather is definitely cold and snowy.) But it’s not as well known internationally as other schools.
Also, if you like large schools, it’s helpful to know that most states have one or more “land-grant” public universities that were most created in the 19th century to provide engineering/agricultural graduates. Many of them are among the best engineering schools and often offer business as well. They include Purdue, Georgia Tech, Texas A&M, Virginia Tech, Clemson, NC State, Iowa State, Michigan State, and the University of Maryland. But many “flagship” state universities also have engineering, like the University of Virginia and the University of Michigan. Sometimes a school is both a land-grant and flagship, like Maryland. Good luck!
University of Michigan is one of the best schools for both Engineering and Business. However, it is also highly competitive. The cost for international is around $60k per year. For most students (international or not), the cost would be a deciding factor. There are some cheaper public flagship universities with great ChemE program like University of Minnesota at Twin City. You may want to take a look at it to see if it is affordable to you.
Georgia Tech isn’t a land grant university. UGA is the land grant in GA. G Tech does have the more established engineering school, with UGA only offering engineering majors again within the past few years.
All of the land grants universities are comprehensive universities offering majors in business, liberal arts, sciences, engineering, etc.