Recommend a US College

[superisis]

Well I can certainly tell you to stay as far as you can away from Wesleyan university. And in that spirit I'd advice you not to apply to any college in a small rural area far from big cities. That's because you'll be stuck there (there is no public transportation in comparison to scandinavia). Also I'd be sure to check out the college statistics for foreign students. Ask not just how many foreign kids they have (good universities have between 7-10% foreign kids), but ask how many they have from Europe. Wesleyan as an example boast with about 9% foreign students, but only about 0.5% european students. Also, travelling to canada (and getting a canadian visa, etc) is much less of a hassle. And costs less too (you don't have to pay the ameican embassy 100 dollars to do a terrorist background check on you).

just my two cents.

and lastly of the four people I know my age that went and studied in the Us (myself included), 3 hated it and returned after one year or less and the fourth guy loved it and is now looking to marry an american chick. Don't know if that says anything, but tis the truth (for these four swedes anyway).

 

[Homie]

Well I can certainly tell you to stay as far as you can away from Wesleyan university. And in that spirit I'd advice you not to apply to any college in a small rural area far from big cities. That's because you'll be stuck there (there is no public transportation in comparison to scandinavia). Also I'd be sure to check out the college statistics for foreign students. Ask not just how many foreign kids they have (good universities have between 7-10% foreign kids), but ask how many they have from Europe. Wesleyan as an example boast with about 9% foreign students, but only about 0.5% european students. Also, travelling to canada (and getting a canadian visa, etc) is much less of a hassle. And costs less too (you don't have to pay the ameican embassy 100 dollars to do a terrorist background check on you).

just my two cents.

and lastly of the four people I know my age that went and studied in the Us (myself included), 3 hated it and returned after one year or less and the fourth guy loved it and is now looking to marry an american chick. Don't know if that says anything, but tis the truth (for these four swedes anyway).

Is the swede who loved it you? Since your location says Middleton, CT.

And that is also my sentiment, alot of Europeans don't like it, but some love the change. I am on the fence, there's lots of pros and cons.

 

[Ginger_Ale]

Basically this thread confirms that there are a ton of good quality colleges in the US - you are better off picking a college in a good location that YOU like, because it's way too hard to recommend a college to someone. There's just way too many choices...

 

[Fifty]

I agree with GA that location is a huge deal. There are excellent universities all over the country. Choose a region/climate you like, then research colleges in that area.

 

[Serutan]

I would also say that the University of Arizona is not a bad choice... and if
you're looking for something different from Norway, Arizona would be it.

 

[Cheetah]

Thanks for all the reponse so far. I've been a bit busy today, so haven't had any time to answer yet.

I was mainly thinking of studying in the US, but I think I might look a bit into Canada as well.

What degree are you going to try to get in the U.S.? You say a "masters" degree, but I'm not sure if you're speaking in Norwegian terms or American terms. In America, you study for four years to get a batchelor's degree, then 1-3 years to get a master's or 6 or so years to get a Ph.D.

I'm currently on a very strict plan in I will get a masters degree after 5 years here. However, I won't get a bachelors degree during these years.

Since the last year of High School in Norway goes on the same time as a freshman year in the US, and I will have 3 years completed in university by next fall, I kinda figure that if I were extremely luck, I could get accepted directly to a graduate school.

Please note: Norway (along with the rest of Europe) has now adopted the three-year bachelor degree (3-2 degree system, known as the Bologna Process or, in Norway, Kvalitetsreformen). A three-year European bachelor degree may not always be enough to be accepted directly into a Master’s degree. Additional courses, taken either at home, or at the U.S. university, may be required.

Since I don't get any bachelors degree at all, this may be even harder for me. So I expect that if I don't go through an exchange program at my university, I'll have to get a few more courses done in the US before I can start at a graduate school.

However, I an aiming for a masters degree in the end. A Ph.D may be a bit much though.

Hey, do you remember me from High School? (videregaaende). Anyway, being a Norwegian currently attending an American School I might be of assistance.

Sure I do. And any advice you'll have is greatly appreciated.

Recommend a US college? There are too many of them. You'd be better off asking about a few colleges and seeing what we think of them.

Yes I know there's a lot. That was one of the reasons I asked here.

I agree with GA that location is a huge deal. There are excellent universities all over the country. Choose a region/climate you like, then research colleges in that area.

I'm going to look at the places people have been recommending so far, but it sounds like a realy good idea to find a location first.

So once again, thanks for the answers so far. And I'll probably ask some more questions here soon.

 

[Cuivienen]

Okay, I'll recommend a location, then. The best city for college in the entire country is unquestionably Boston, which has easily the largest concentration of college students in the country. There are a huge number of schools in Boston, some of the most well-known being:

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Tufts University
Boston University
Boston College
Northeastern University

And, of course, there's also Harvard University, but I'm going to Yale, so I can't recommend them. Look through this page for ideas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colleges_and_universities_in_metropolitan_Boston (It's not comprehensive, but those are the notable ones)

 

[superisis]

Is the swede who loved it you? Since your location says Middleton, CT.

thanks, just update my profile.

 

[Ginger_Ale]

Okay, I'll recommend a location, then. The best city for college in the entire country is unquestionably Boston, which has easily the largest concentration of college students in the country. There are a huge number of schools in Boston, some of the most well-known being:

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Tufts University
Boston University
Boston College
Northeastern University

And, of course, there's also Harvard University, but I'm going to Yale, so I can't recommend them. Look through this page for ideas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colleges_and_universities_in_metropolitan_Boston (It's not comprehensive, but those are the notable ones)

I can support Boston! It's definately a college town with lots of things to do (or nothing if you don't feel like exploring), but, quite simply, have some money on hand. It's like any other major city: expensive, but assuming you can get into the college and pay for it (with money/grants/loans/whatever), housing should be guaranteed (that is probably the most expensive). Heck, we've had people buy PARKING SPOTS in garages for over $100,000. But BC/BU/MIT/NU/Tufts are all good schools (BU and MIT are right on the Charles River too). And there is of course the all-impressive Harvard.