We're not talking about just one University in today's
article we are looking at the entire state of Texas, so let's talk about why
it's such a popular destination for international students whether you're trying to do an undergraduate degree or a graduate program
and does it really have everything to offer let's get into this Why Texas so
let's start off with just Texas in a nutshell now Texas is the third most
popular state in the US for international students.It is also the fifth most
culturally diverse so good to know has an average tuition fee and living
expenses which is comparatively less than the national average compared to
other states in the US and it is home to some great weather now of course we
all know that there are Parts in the US that get really hot and really cold
with like temperatures going in the negatives so being in a place where you
have like a pretty decent weather is definitely like something on the criteria
that a lot of students want to have.
Acceptance
Rate
Now we know that Texas is a very big state so some popular destinations for
international students include Houston San Antonio and Austin now out of these
places we have universities with an acceptance rate of 9 to 90% which is a big
range to be in and this is why I've actually picked Texas for today's article
we have colleges Like Rice University which is considered you know at par with
the leagues in the single digit acceptance rate uh Texas A&M UT Dallas UT
Austin just to name a few good colleges and there are so many other colleges
not just these that have an acceptance rate go going from like really low so
being Elite popular and known as like the top 20 colleges in the US to some
really high ranked colleges with acceptance rates close to 90% that can be like
good safety options for you guys as well and just to kind of give you guys um a
ballpark of what type of international diversity.
International
Students
You get we have the number of international students
being from India which is the highest at around 22% and then other students
comprising of China Mexico Vietnam and Nepal so this just goes to show that
you'll never really feel alone and you'll always be surrounded with some amount
of culturally diverse population within the university itself as well.
So according to me the two most important factors when
deciding which college is going to be your top pick you know needless to say
are tuition fee and living expenses and I feel like Texas universities kind of
like nail all of these to the point so I've kind of like put this in a nutshell
and the sources the reason why there's like a range that you guys see here is
because the reference and the sources here is me I've been doing this for the
last four years so I've ball parked these numbers to give you a rough idea
because we're looking at the entire state.
Tuition Fee
In the state of Texas we have $220,000 or 16 lakh
rupees approximately and a maximum being $60,000 now 20 and 60 are pretty good
ranges and this is before any sort of scholarship or financial aid and when you
compared compare that to the rest of the states in the US especially New York
State and California we have average amounting to 40 or $90,000 per year in
tuition fee now these are huge numbers to go off of other than that. You also
have to consider living expenses which make up a huge portion of your finances
in Texas you can probably get like an apartment for as little as $500 whereas
the same thing in California or New York City would be $700 plus you'll be sharing
this with like so many people um if you were to like rent an apartment on your
own 12 thou $1,200 per month is a good figure to have in Texas you probably get
a nice Studio or a one-bedroom apartment but the same thing in New York City or
California would be $2500 a month in just rent enough.
How to apply
all of that?
Let’s look at how you actually apply to these Texas
universities for students that are applying for undergraduate degrees you guys
will be applying through Common App this is like a huge relief all of majority
of the Texas universities are on Common App and you'll be paying an application
fee ranging somewhere between $50 to $80 which I feel is kind of on the lower
side with all of the other colleges that we've seen the deadlines are rolling
again this is good news as well which means that you can apply at any time of
during the year and you'll be considered for the next or upcoming intake.
So here are some top universities in Texas for
undergrad students now number one on my list would be:
Rice
University
This has an acceptance rate of 99.5% and it is
definitely considered to be IV League level it is one of the top Elite
universities and it has a lot of cool facilities so very competitive nature out
there other than that UT Austin and Texas A&M are good options as well
which have a lot of research centers dedicated engineering and business
programs and have you know acceptance rates between 28 and 64% now other than
these there are many out there again with rolling deadlines that you guys can
also apply to using common app now coming to my graduate applicants there are
many students who opt to go to Texas for Master's or PHD programs the biggest
reason being the living expenses being very cheap so if you are going for
example for a PhD program where you're getting a stipend and your PhD is funded
whatever stipend you get you can comfortably spend the next four to 5 years of
your PhD
The
University of Houston
The University of Houston which has a ton of grad
programs with an acceptance rate of 65%. UT Arlington is another good one with
a reputable CS program acceptance rate 90% and we have Texas Tech University
which is known for engineering business and Health Sciences with an acceptance
rate of 67% so some these are just some of the universities again.
There are a lot more that you can explore depending on
the major and the specialization that you want to get into now with all of the
students that I have personally mentored over the years I know what an ideal
student profile looks like so let's break this down for Texas universities so
we have undergrad as well as grad profile now if you are an undergrad applicant
you are looking at maybe like a SAT score of 1420.
GPA for
Admission
I'm not trying to say that that this is like the most
elite University that you're applying to keeping the eliteness and the IV
League level aside this is basically a typical student profile that can get
into a Texas University um ACT score of 31. I feel is good enough if you are a
great student if you have a GRE of 305 that puts you in a pretty good spot now
for my undergrad applicants having a 75 cumulative GPA in your school.
So between 9 to 12 will put you at a pretty good
chance of getting EX aced into at least one Texas University and the same thing
goes for my graduate applicants as well having a minimum of 75% put you in a
good spot and remember that especially when you're applying to programs like
PHD programs this is the minimum requirement so you want to make sure that you
have at least 75% or else you may not even be eligible to apply.
English
Proficiency Test
Now as an international student you will also have to
write some sort of English proficiency test and the two most common that we're
looking at is TOEFL and is so if you have a TOEFL of 95 you're pretty good
and 6.5 is band puts you at a good
requirement to satisfy this other than this just remember that sat act and GRE
have become optional for many colleges so moving forward the admission criteria
and eligibility May kind of wave up and down so you never know what these Texas
universities may ask for some of them you may have to write some additional
essay so be prepared to do that and additional things that you can do to stand
out is of course paying attention to your extracurricular activities and making
sure you have a wholesome profile now one of the best ways to do this whether
you're applying for an undergraduate or a graduate program is through some sort
of a research experience on top of that if you have that research published
that is kind of like the cherry and top and it shows a lot of academic rigor
and credibility.
