Well-valued Universities in the States

[Horse]

I am looking for resources about the values of undergraduate degrees in States. I mean by value the high quality of teaching and low tuition fees. I have found this site: http://www.ncf.edu/news/?p=868 , but I am unsure whether they apply to foreign students. Collegeboard.com shows that "Out-of-state tuition and fees" tend to be about 3 times higher than "In-state tuition and fees", at least in the case of "University of Virginia". I suppose that "Out-of-state tuition and fees" apply to foreigners. I am an IB student, interested in Mathematics, Engineering and Natural sciences. Are there some lists about the "values" for foreigners?

 

[JasonJo]

As a foreign student, unless you have some kind of aid from your home country or receive an some kind of international scholarship aid, you are pretty much considered out of state, which is much more expensive than instate. This will pretty much be the norm at almost all state universities. I don't see how they would consider you an instate student.

I have heard of graduate students being supported by their home country's government or something like that. Is this possible in your situation? You didn't say where you were from. I'm sure others can give you some suggestions.

 

[Horse]

I have the Finnish (EU) passport. I am white. Dunno whether this last fact matters?! Perhaps for some scholarships?!

 

[TMFKAN64]

My suggestion would be that, unless your parents are very rich, forget about coming to the US as an undergrad. Come as a graduate student... the opportunities for support are *much* greater.

 

[Vid]

I know the government of Norway gives out pretty generous loans to people coming to the states. I think they even write some of it off when you finish. Maybe Finland has a similar thing?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_State_Educational_Loan_Fund

 

[Horse]

Maybe Finland has a similar thing?

Unfortunately, it is not: open http://www.kela.fi/in/internet/suomi.nsf/NET/240604110911IL?OpenDocument (sorry in Finnish). Norway is really a special country. Finland offers some hundred Euros. Is it possible to do Online some degrees in the States? They probably are cheap.

I have heard that you can buy old exams from some universities, such as British Columbia. My Mathematics department in the University of Helsinki does not offer old exams with solutions. Is there some online store selling the exams with solutions in the States? Or perhaps some books? They would be useful for online degrees (if such degrees exist).

 

[JasonJo]

I feel confident in saying getting a European undergraduate education is WAY better than getting an online American degree. Especially if you plan on pursuing graduate school. Who is going to write your letters of recommendation? I don't think this is a good option for you.

 

[ice109]

in general european undergrad is better than american. stay home. then come here for grad school. trust me you'll be way ahead of your american cohorts.

 

[nrqed]

I would also recommend you to do your undergraduate studies at home and then go to the US for grad school if you are still interested in doing that when you graduate. I did my undergrad studies at home, in Canada and then went for grad school at a well-known US school. It turned out that I had a better background in physics than many of my graduate school classmates who had been undergrad at well-known US schools.

 

[Vanadium 50]

I agree that European undergraduate is better than American online. I don't put much stock in online physics degrees, and it appears not many graduate schools do at this point in time either.

I don't believe that European undergrad is universally better than American undergrad. I don't think "generally better" is terribly meaningful statement. One can ask if University X is better than University Y, but grouping them by country isn't really relevant to the question "Should I go to University X or should I go to University Y?"

 

[jtbell]

I don't know how Finnish universities compare with others for the quality of undergraduate instruction, but some of them are well-known for research in some fields, for example the Helsinki Technical University (Teknillinen Yliopisto) is well-known for low-temperature physics.

 

[Horse]

I don't know how Finnish universities compare with others for the quality of undergraduate instruction.

I would say the undergraduate courses tend to be disappointing, at least in my University. Patriotism is an excuse for copyright infringements. I hate that grading is not transparent and original sources tend to get lost. It is much better to read directly in English rather than Finnish. The language becomes a problem in the universities, as things get more complicated. Perhaps, this is the reason why I speak such Finlish.

My solution has been to venture Mathematics. It is less subjective and it is easier to find information :) I think the quality of Mathematics in the University of Helsinki is high. I am still rather confused how it compares with universities in Scotland. Some of the universities, such as St Andrews, have no tuition fees for EU citizens. Is St Andrews a good choice if I plan to graduate in US? At least, it is favoured by US citizens.