Engineering in the US
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| Discuss Engineering in the US Over 300 U.S. colleges and universities offer Bachelor’s degree programs in various fields of engineering. On doing some research you will discover that 45 universities offer only one engineering program, while others offer as many as seventeen different kinds of engineering.
Your first challenge is to select about ten universities that are right for you. In order to do this, you need to assess your situation. Find an answer for the following questions:
1. What kind of engineering interests you most? For undergraduate study, you’ll probably need to build a foundation in one of the four main groups before branching into a specialized area. Chemical, civil, electrical, and mechanical engineering are the main groups, but specialized areas include aerospace, agricultural, architectural, biomedical, computer, environmental, industrial, materials, mining, nuclear, petroleum and other fields.
2. What is your academic standard? If most of your grades are A’s and B’s, and your SAT 1 scores are above 1200, you may decide to apply to universities that are graded Most Competitive or Highly Competitive. Some of these universities receive ten or twenty applications for each available space. If a high level of competition intimidates you, apply to universities where your chances of admission are greater. Fortunately, in engineering all accredited programs meet high standards, so you can’t lose. Choose universities that have the best facilities and strong faculty, and where you stand a good chance of admission.
3. How much can your family afford to pay? Find out from your parents how much they can contribute to each year of your four (sometimes five)-year undergraduate program, and select universities according to your budget. The comprehensive annual cost of education in the United States varies from $10,000 to $35,000 per year, depending on which university you attend. Read the discussion of financial aid below.
4. What about personal factors? Location, size, and living environment are important factors. Availability of housing, co-operative programs, extra-curricular activities and spore will all play a part in your university experience: don’t neglect these factors when choosing a university.
after finding the answers to the above questions, you are ready to select your university programs. Discuss your list with your coaching institute prof, who will help you to finalize your educational plan.
Financial aid: Financial assistance for international students, whether in the form of need-based aid or merit-based scholarships, is very rare in universities that offer engineering. There are only about twenty colleges and universities that offer significant financial assistance to international students in engineering, out of three hundred engineering schools! Admission to the engineering programs that offer full financial aid is extremely competitive, with ten or more applicants competing for each place. Therefore, students whose families cannot pay $12,000 or more per year will find it very difficult to get a chance to study in the States.
If your family is not able to finance your U.S. education, and if your academic record is not sufficiently stellar to win you major financial assistance, there are still a few choices available to you. Discuss these options with your Educational Advisor.
(1) Stay home and complete your first degree, and try again for a Master’s or Ph.D. in the States
(2) Explore other country’s engineering programs
(3) Consider other fields of interest to you, such as statistics or computer science, where admission with financial aid is not quite as competitive
