Actually, I didn't mean that I will only apply to these 3 universities. Cambridge and Oxford top my list, followed by Imperial, then these 3 universities. The reason I am applying to these 3 unis is that I want to increase my chance of getting admitted to top unis. I am not naive enough to think I will definitely get a place in any of these unis, so my full list consist of
1. Cambridge or Oxford
2. Imperial College London
3. MIT or UCB or Stanford
4. NUS or Melbourne or McGill
5. Monash or Nanyang(SG)
6. Nottingham (Malaysia)

As you can see, If I don't even try to apply for the top unis I can find, the chances of entering any prestigious uni would be slim. And if you are wondering, Stanford ranks No. 5 in QS world university rankings by chemical engineering.

http://www.topuniversities.com/university-...cal-engineering

I know that rankings do not always reflect the the truth, but what I am looking towards to is not only the academics, but the what employers like as well. Besides, attending top unis also enable you to gain transferable skills ( particularly US ones) which are deemed critical as not all chemical engineers managed to find a job in a chemical plant.

Did you aim for smaller companies then or was it through connections or internships?I'm worried that small companies won't even consider me once they see that I'm a foreigner...

Guys,I have something to ask. Can the F-1 Student Visa be used to enter multiple schools? I'm rather confused about it. I'm about to receive my I-20 form from Academy of Art University (AAU). What I want to know is, when I get interviewed at the US Embassy to apply for the Student Visa, will the Student Visa be valid only for AAU?

My application for San Diego State University (SDSU) will take a long time to process and I intend to go there and ditch AAU should I get accepted into that school. If I already have a F-1 Student Visa through an I-20 which states my course in AAU, do I have to apply for another F-1 Student Visa?

I'm unclear about this, so I would appreciate it if anyone could clarify this matter for me. I'd rather apply for an F-1 Visa for AAU first so as to not waste time. I don't intend to wait so long for SDSU to reply me (they're holding my application at the moment as my transcripts arrived late) and I don't even know for sure where I'll be accepted in or not.

Alright, thanks to everyone for your elaborate and insightful responses! I really appreciate that. I guess I'll just wait for a little while longer until SDSU finally got around to replying me (and accepting me into their school, for that matter). Also, are you guys sure that the visa processing takes only 1 week? I've always thought it took about.. more than a month? Care to share a little more detail, please?
Ha.. that'll be the last resort. But thanks anyway!
I would suppose so. :/

Wow, that's fast! I guess I shouldn't be THAT worried about the time taking too long. Thanks! Also, a forumer from Japan/Malaysian from Japan.   It must be awesome to have lived in so many places!

Hey anyone going U-Wisconsin Madison?

That's nice! Oh, I assume you've got the green light for the OPT. Congratulations! I'm getting rather nervous about me, four years from now. I'm pretty sure that it's not that hard to get an OPT, but it would probably be hard to get an employer to sponsor for my H1-B Visa (and subsequently, a green card). I don't intend on returning to Malaysia and working here.

Looks like I won't be seeing myself as a certified American (on paper) until at least 10 years or so from now!

If I'm not mistaken, F-1 visa holders are required to return to their home country within 60 days upon graduation. Unless, of course, I pursue a graduate program or I get approved for OPT. It seems that in the game design/animation industry (which I'm pursuing), there are more employment options from startup companies than big companies (which, as you pointed out, is much more difficult to get). Hopefully the job market clears by the time I graduate. LOL!

Not dead yet. I guess all the US students busy studying now...midterms and finals coming up soon d. jialat.

LOL! I was just wondering, is there an American forum that is similar to LowYat.Net? It seems like every little thing has their own forum as opposed to LowYat.Net which has everything under its subforums, thus making it much more convenient.. I had to sign up to more than ten forums that cater to specific topics (e.g. BMW cars, paintball, frisbee..).

hi there going to graduate soon in mechanical engineering and would like to do master in mechanical engineering in US...cgpa lower that 3.0 do you think i would have difficulty in getting admission or it doesnt really matter?

hi spunkberry. may I know if ur answer is based on experience or just general assumption? thanks

no respectable graduate program here will admit a 3.0 GPA unless you have something else that is amazing (work experience etc.) and even then it's a stretch. if you're aiming for a third-rate program then you're better off saving the money and going to a local school. truth hurts but you should still try if that's what you really want.

hi spunkberry, any opinions on chances of working in states after graduating? from your experience.
with the current recession should i still keep up hope?
what can we do to boost our chances?

thanks!

Generally it's very low. I don't think the recession has that big of an impact on the the employment of foreigners because the employers of foreigners are normally very big companies and there is an annual cap on the number of work visas that will be given out by the government. So really, the limit is being placed by the visa cap even with the bad economy (which isn't very bad anyway)