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I have applied several universities for Civil or Geological Engineering major, as an international transfer student...
I think I am lucky to be interested in Civil or Geological Engineering, which is included in STEM, so it would be good for more OPT period.
Actually, I always have heard that "In US, college major is more important than college name." I have thought my future major is good enough for getting a job, so when I chose the school, I have focused on cities and states where the schools located in, rather than name of the school. I have applied for Temple in Philly, U of Utah in SLC, Portland State in Portland OR, Oregon State in OR, UW in Seattle, and UT in Austin(I really hate to even be accepted in here, since public transit sucks there so the campus might be a huge prison for me...) etc...However, I cannot be sure whether I really have chosen good school location for my future job prospect... The real story is after I get accepted from as many schools as possible, but I want to know...
So my questions are:
1. Which city or state I have chosen is the best for getting a job as a civil or geological engineer job prospect?
2. Is it a good choice to prefer cities of the schools, rather than names of them? If my choice was wrong, do I need to apply for next semester admission?
Civil engineer can get a job in any state. Pick a state you want to work in. You won't necessarily get a job in the same state as you do your education in. I did my degree in Georgia, but now work in Washington State. UW is in a nice area, and I find the socioeconomic climate in WA to be to my liking.
M3 Mitch, thank you for your advice!
May I ask you where was your college in Georgia? I considered at least one university in Atlanta, but unfortunately two of three ended the application for this Fall...
@M3: you should be a little more cautious on that advice. For Mech/Chem/Elec, state typically does not matter. For Civil, California and Alaska in particular have a separate seismic endorsement for civil design. Without it, the OP will have issues staying employed in those states as a foreign national.
To Touchy: You really should focus on which universities succeed in placing international students in US firms. That isn't the easiest thing to do and some of the schools like Portland State are very average in student placement compared to some others. U of Utah will require you to pass the Fundamentals of Engineering exam to graduate. That's a good thing for civil engineers as that degree is basically worthless without being licensed. I recommend asking the prospective department head about how many foreign nationals they place in the US each year.
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