Uni in America (1 Viewer)

[Stephie-Rae]

Hi all,

I'm in year 12 doing my HSC, I've got a good idea about what i would like to do, in terms of working, i've just been trying to work out what i'd be best doing next year in order to get where i want to be. I know i want to study engineering at uni and I've recently become very interested in studying at an American university next year, i'm not really looking at any of the major ones, just any uni or college in America would suffice.

I was just looking for some information on what i need to do in order to be able to study over there next year, and i'm also looking for some opinions as to whether studying over there next year is a realistic option, i've been looking into it and i'm starting to think that i may be making the decision a little too late, and i wasn't sure if trying to get everything sorted will be too much while doing my HSC at the same time this year.

Any info/opinions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Survivor39]

Have you read some of the threads that are on this forum? It will be very helpful. I say this to everyone so I'm repeating what I've said to another student from another thread:

"My advice is to consider carefully exactly why you want to go to the US for engineering. Ask yourself the following questions:

- Is there something that an engineering degree in this particular overseas uni offers that another Australian institution does not?
- Are you going to this overseas uni for its prestige/name rather than the quality/content of the degree?
- Have you considered the cost of studying overseas (fees at the overseas rate + accommondation). Do you need support from a full scholarship?


My advice to all those considering undergrad overseas is that undergrad degrees are pretty much similar everywhere (it's text book materials). On the other hand, for postgrad research (PhD and Masters by Research) I encourage students to consider going overseas because the research facilities and technology are just better; and you get to work under some of the world leaders in certain research areas."

It is not too late to apply because the North American system starts in October, so you can apply for admission for October 2010.

I hope this helps.

 

[artist91]

If you're "not looking at any of the major ones" why bother? Personally, I think it would be more beneficial going to a well-known uni in Australia such as USyd or Melb than some lower ranked public one in the US.

 

[Stephie-Rae]

If you're "not looking at any of the major ones" why bother? Personally, I think it would be more beneficial going to a well-known uni in Australia such as USyd or Melb than some lower ranked public one in the US.

I'm hoping to work for Disney, and they have a Disney College Program and Internships in the area i want to work, only to be eligible for those, i have to attend a college or university in the US, which is the main reason i'm looking at studying over there.

 

[artist91]

Which college may I ask? I know them all...

 

[Stephie-Rae]

Which college may I ask? I know them all...

I'm really not sure. Any recommendation's?

 

[artist91]

Well I'm not sure for the area you're looking to work in. Do you mean the animation side of Disney? If so, you'd want to go to an art school. The best in the US are RISD (I'll be going there in 2012) and MassArt. Personally, I think that unless you are going to go to a UC (UCLA, Berkeley ect) or Cal Poly, public uni in America sucks, you you better have enough money to go private. My brother is at Dartmouth and he loves it.

 

[Stephie-Rae]

Well I'm not sure for the area you're looking to work in. Do you mean the animation side of Disney? If so, you'd want to go to an art school. The best in the US are RISD (I'll be going there in 2012) and MassArt. Personally, I think that unless you are going to go to a UC (UCLA, Berkeley ect) or Cal Poly, public uni in America sucks, you you better have enough money to go private. My brother is at Dartmouth and he loves it.

I'm looking to work in engineering. I've been looking at different colleges and uni's and its all so confusing, there as so many different levels and types, i'm not sure what i should be looking for anymore. it's a bit overwhelming lol

 

[artist91]

MIT for engineering. No comparison!! What is confusing you?

 

[Stephie-Rae]

MIT for engineering. No comparison!! What is confusing you?

Yeah i know MIT's about as good as it gets. Do you know any others? I'm looking for one thats good, but i don't think i'll have the grades to go to one of the top ones, if that makes sense, i'm just trying to find a happy medium lol. Um, i'm not sure what's confusing me so much, i think it's just because i have no idea what to look for or where to look, and there's so many different places and its hard to tell what's good and whats not, if that makes any sense lol.

 

[artist91]

Yeah. Top 5 for engineering are 1. MIT, 2. Stanford, 3. UC Berkeley, 4. U Illionois, 5. Virginia Tech. If you're not getting excellent grades it's going to be a stretch to study in the US. Financial Aid is only given to the most elite international students ie. 100UAI. Even if you're only looking to go to a public school, it's going to cost you SO much more than studying in Australia. For example Virginia Tech is a public college and it will cost you $11,000 tuition per SEMESTER (not including fees for dorms ect) where as with HECS here in Australia if you do engineering say at UNSW, it will cost you about $4000 per semester. Places like MIT will set you back $37,000 a year. This is US dollars btw so you may as well double these figures. So basically, if you're not amazing enough to get a scholarship, you are going to have to be mega rich (you have to pay upfront, there is no system like HECS). Do you have any other options like doing a year exchange in the USA or doing your Undergrad here, working for a while to save up and maybe doing Honours/Grad over there?

 

[Survivor39]

CalTech is also very good for enginnering. artitist91 is right. Consider your finance and see if it is affortable to go there. If you can, then go and apply for it and see what happens.

If you don't know which uni to choose, then look for a place you would like to stay and narrow down your choices from there. For example, if you want to go to California because it is close to Disney, then you might as well see what engineering degrees are offered in uni from California.