Studying abroad in the US

[AndrewAPrice]

I'm looking at enrolling in graduate study abroad in the US to earn my Masters degree in Computer Science, moving on to possible a PhD.

However, I'm lost as to what universities I should consider, especially as every state has their own handful of universities and if to go public or private. The thing I'm most worried about with private universities is the very low number of people that get admitted (10% or less) were as for public I'm under the assumption that it's not so competitive so if I fit the prerequisites its much easier to get in.

I've looked at the well-known universities like MIT, and while the requirements aren't strict I'm worried about the competition. I searched around on a few blogs to see the sort of students that attend MIT, and I found that a lot had multiple bachelors, did several years of teaching and researching at other universities, and have near perfect (3.99) GPAs, and that their EECS department has the highest number of graduate intakes in any department, so so I feel like I have no chance.

Could anyone suggest any nice universities to look in to? And if you have ever studied in a different country I'd love to here your experience of it.

[Cognition]

You could possibly take a look at University of California - Berkley and Stanford as well. Both have pretty good CS/Eng departments as well.

[Combuster]

<shameless plug>
While this one is not located in the States, It has a master programme that looks like its tailored for you: UU/GMT
</shameless plug>

[bewing]

@Combuster -- well, except for the little language barrier thing ...

@Messiah -- The entrance requirements for places like MIT may not be stringent, but the courseload is grueling; and yes, admission is VERY competitive. You gain some post-graduate prestige by attending a school with an excellent reputation, such as MIT, Berkeley, Stanford.
But you will probably learn just as much in any major US university. I suspect that you would enjoy the weather in California, and any school in the UC system is very good. I went to UCSB (Math/Physics) and was very pleased with it.

[Combuster]

@Combuster -- well, except for the little language barrier thing ...

Everything is taught in English, all material is provided in English, all - well go figure. I estimate that about a third of the masters is a foreign student.

[AndrewAPrice]

Thank you all for your replies.

The cost of studying abroad is expensive, so I may be up for $50,000 or more per year (including living expenses, board, tuition fees, materials) unless the college has assistantships (which covers all tuition costs except for board in most cases?). I've looked into scholarship programs that are available to international students, and they only offer $1,000 here and there but don't add up to make enough of a difference in comparison to $50k. My fear is returning home with a $150,000-$200,000 student loan (which I'll have to get privately since I'm not a US student, so I'm expecting high interest) which is equivalent to a house mortgage.

Also, I'll be required to take a SAT or ACT test. I mean no disrespect, but this practice test I found is awfully simple.

[bewing]

Actually, the important test you need to take in the US is called a GRE. www.ets.org/gre/
The SAT and ACT tests are for highschool seniors trying to enter college for a bachelor's degree. Yes, they are simple, but there are time limits which do actually come into play -- and for a graduate enrollment, I'm sure they are looking at each 5 points for each missed question.

[AndrewAPrice]

So it's more of an endurance test than knowledge? That explains it then. You might as well take a stopwatch (if allowed) and if it falls over the allocated time take a wild guess so at least you still get something for answer?

The reason I mentioned ACT and SAT instead of GRE is because I'm thinking of re-majoring. Actually, each university I've contacted so far has a different way to go about this, but that's not an issue. It's the financing that's still worrying me.

[Alboin]

The University at Buffalo (UB) has a rather large research\technology orientation, and it's public so it should be slightly easier on the wallet.

[Owen]

The SAT and ACT tests are for highschool seniors trying to enter college for a bachelor's degree. Yes, they are simple, but there are time limits which do actually come into play -- and for a graduate enrollment, I'm sure they are looking at each 5 points for each missed question.

OK, now I'm totally confused. It seems the US and EU have different opinions of what a bachelor is.

In the UK, a bachelors tends to be a 3 to 4 year course (3 in England/Wales, 4 in Scotland, as their system is slightly different). A Masters tends to be a 4 to 5 year course (Same distinction). Both are done at a university, and you do one or the other (Most universities will let you choose which to do at the end of your first or second year - you select when applying but at that point it's not set in stone).

At College you tend to do A-Levels in subjects related to the university course you intend to take. For example, someone doing physics might take Maths, Further Maths and Physics (OK, it's slightly more complex: Most students do 4 subjects in their first year and drop one in the second, which leaves them with an AS grade which is worth approximately half as much as a full 2 year A-Level)

How does the US system compare?

(As an aside, I don't know what costs would be at UK universities, other than high: While costs to EU students are capped at £3250 a year [The government has just raised them, curses!], generally funded by a mixture of student grants, loans and yourself, depending upon your & your parents' income and circumstances, there are no caps for extra-EU students. In fact, the universities are quite fond of international students for this reason: They subsidize everyone else!)

Just to pick fees from Durham out of the year (Being as they're a top tier university, and basically where everyone who gets rejected by Oxford and Cambridge goes, overseas students can expect to pay £10-13k/year tuition, plus the £3500/year accommodation everyone will be paying unless they live next door, and about £500 a year extra tuition costs)

I'm surprised to hear Australia's student financing agency won't cover any of the cost of going to an international university though?

[bewing]

The only thing that confused you was my use of the word "college." In the US, after highschool you can take two academic paths. One is to go to a university to get a bachelor's degree (4 to 5 years), then proceed on to (typically) either get a master's (2 years) or PhD (4 years) on top of the bachelor's degree.
Alternately, after highschool you can go to a "community college" and either get a 2 year Associate's degree (almost worthless) or transfer to a university after completing a few years of work at the community college, and transfer some of your units.
However, colloquially, the term "college" covers BOTH universities AND community colleges.

[AndrewAPrice]

However, colloquially, the term "college" covers BOTH universities AND community colleges.

Even more confusing in Australia since it can refer to anything, and many private schools choose to be called a college. For example my high school was referred to as Gleeson College.

[Thomas]

Hi ,
May i know why do you prefer to study in US ? You are what you are , not matter what university you study in .Do not underestimate the oppourtunities provided by your home town . In am from India , I studied in a state university which is the best in my entire state . I got a very good score in the engineering entrance exam and it is all that matters .

My expenses ( fee only ) nealry for 4 years of engineering = 8000 + 30 , 000Rs = 38000 Rs == roughly 800 us dollars .

I am from general category and if you are from a scheduled caste / other backward class , you do not practically have to pay any money and you do not need a great entrance score as well .

I will be applying for a masters + phd here in India where I want to reasearch on operating systems in small embedded systems . Most of the hardware required and software is now quite /cheap or free , Libraries have good books and most universities do provide you acess to ieee and acm journals .People complain about infrastruture and other things , but actually that's not a concern at all .What more do you need ?

--Thomas

[stephenj]

The general question is, where do you want to be AFTER university?

Networking is an important aspect of the degree. Most people with a CS degree where I live attended the same school as me (there are only 3 options in my province), and I've always flown through the "education" portion of the interview (unless the interviewer attended the same school, and asks if such-and-such is still a prof). Furthermore, my university is well regarded locally. Which has helped when applying for jobs that are building a programming department to assist with their primary business (as opposed to programming being their primary business).

In the other case, if you are planning on taking an academic route, then you should aim to go to the same school you want to get your graduate degree(s) in. Again, for the reason of networking.

But going to a globally well regarded institution (such as MIT) would probably solve many of these issues for you.

At least that is what my experience tells me.

[AndrewAPrice]

May i know why do you prefer to study in US ?

There are a few reasons I want to:

• The experience of living/studying abroad.
• There is no H1-B visa cap for foreigners if you graduate from a US university (since May 25, 2006).
• Better opportunities/contacts with larger companies as far as recruiting and internships go.
• Shows that I would work abroad in another country if they have seen I've studied abroad.

To cover the cost I was going to work an extra year or more to cover the cost. But for every year I work, that's a year more until I graduate. Starting locally and then transferring credit is difficult or near impossible I read, also adding that Australian and US course units differ in what they cover. I thinking about online tuition from a US university to at least cover some of the courses required while still in Australia and gain college credit, then transfer to a campus university when I'm ready to move. I'm worried about this because even though there are a lot of accredited universities offering online education, mentioning 'online' may automatically make an employer think I attended a diploma mill. Considering that, I think I'm better off just waiting and doing all my studying on campus.