Cost of living is directly proportional to location where college is located. Many students consider cost of living to be one of the Major factor when selecting the Universities.  Forbe’s have published an article based on research done by Coldwell Banker Real Estate for home prices near college town/campus.

Using the value of the 4 bedroom apartment at various cities, least and most expensive college towns was calculated.  We have published cost of living at University of Southern California, which is why USC is listed under Most Expensive College category below.

Least to Most Expensive College Towns

Akron, Ohio
Status: Least Expensive
School: University of Akron
2009 Avg. Price: $121,885

Muncie, Ind.
Status: Least Expensive
School: Ball State University
2009 Avg. Price: $144,996

Ann Arbor, Mich.
Status: Least Expensive
School: University of Michigan
2009 Avg. Price: $148,000

Ypsilanti, Mich.
School: Eastern Michigan University

Tulsa, Okla.
School: University of Tulsa

Denton, Texas
Town, State: School: University of North Texas

Houston, Texas
School: University of Houston, Rice University

Bloomington, Ind.
School: Indiana University

Kent, Ohio
School: Kent State University

Seattle, Wash.
Status: Most Expensive
School: University of Washington
2009 Avg. Price: $568,317

Boulder, Colo.
Status: Most Expensive
School: University of Colorado
2009 Avg. Price: $622,000

San Jose, Calif.
Status: Most Expensive
School: San Jose State University
2009 Avg. Price: $808,926

Berkeley, Calif.
School: University of California, Berkeley
2009 Avg. Price: $1,299,750

Boston/Chestnut Hill, Mass.
School: Boston College
2009 Avg. Price: $1,337,578

Los Angeles, Calif.
School: University of Southern California, University of California, LA
2009 Avg. Price: $1,347,125

Palo Alto, Calif.
School: Stanford University
2009 Avg. Price: $1,489,726

Source of the above article : Forbes . As you can see 4 bedroom apartment costs from $121,885 to $1,489,726. So, based on the cost of the apartment, rental cost will also be high. When rental costs goes up, cost of living for the students also goes up. If your monthly expense is $700, atleast$350 will be used for apartment rent and rest will be used for other expenses.If you have choice between two similar universites, compare the cost of living, before making the final decision.

Post from: Happy Schools Blog

Cost of Living: Most and Least Expensive College Town

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2. Cost of Living for Students – Breakdown
3. Cost of Graduate Education in U.S.
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5. 10 Most Expensive Colleges and Universities in U.S.

You have to read couple of interesting comments on Top 100 Universities in USA blog post. There are various websites that provide list of Top Universities and Colleges ( Public, Private) in USA. US News usually provides US Universities Rankings and Top Universities in USA every year. Students follow University rankings to select colleges they plan to attend.

Top 100 Universities in USA

Top 100 Universities in USA list started like this when the article was published

1. Harvard University
2. University of Virginia
3. University of Michigan
4. Cornell University
5. University of Washington
6. Stanford University
7. …….

There are couple of comment to that article

this is the stupidest ranking i’ve ever seen.

Misleading Article.

Most students when following University and College rankings, have no clue on how the rankings are calculated and factors considered to calculate rankings. Lets think about what students typically look while selecting universities by searching for Top 100 Universities in USA.

• Most International students have no clue on how to select universities
• Students don’t check if factors that are important to them is included in ranking
• International students typically look at
  1. Low Tuition Fees
  2. Low cost of living
  3. 100%  chances to get Financial Aid
  4. Easy to get job after graduation.
  5. University reputation
  6. Best University for their profile

US News Rankings Indicators

Indicators used by US News to Rank Universities  include

1. Peer Assessment 25%,
2. Student Retention 20%
3. Faculty resources 20%
4. Student selectivity 15 %
5. Financial resources 10 %
6. Graduation rate performance 5 %
7. Alumni giving rate 5 %

Now compare above 7 indicators used by US News to above 6 factors considered by an International Student while selecting a university based on another dimension ( GRE Exam, TOEFL Exam Score, …). There is absolutely no match. Does that mean US News ranking is not good, no not at all. they have their methodology, but that doesn’t apply to you.

Almost everyone uses Google to find information on the web. Readers who wrote above 2 comments should have located this article by searching in google. But, they do not know how google search process works and how search results are displayed. If you search for a term, you can see there are thousands of webpages that contains the words you searched, but why you see certain pages in first page of search result?

You depend 100% on google to find information, but if we list top 100 universities in USA based on google results, you call it as “stupidest ranking”.

We definetly like to know what do you think about this ranking methodology and how Top 100 Universities were listed.

Post from: Happy Schools Blog

Top 100 Universities in USA – Rankings Explained

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2. Does University and College Rankings Really Matter?
3. Top 10 Universities in America
4. Top 10 Universities in USA – Computer Science
5. Top 20 Universities in USA

Question from  Jyothsna

hai, i have a doubt… which is valued most?? iit from kharagpur or ms from a top most university in us?? who will get a job first if they both appeared at same time for an interview?? (both have equal percentage.. and everything else is same.. )

You are the first person to ask this question. Before we post the answers, it’s good to ask the readers on their view. Leave your answers as comment below. For example consider MIT and Stanford as Top Universities in US. Compare it to IIT Kharagpur

Post from: Happy Schools Blog

MIT vs IIT Kharagpur – Who Wins?

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3. Top 100 Universities in USA – Rankings Explained
4. Questions, Questions and More Questions
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BusinessWeek have published Top Design Schools in the world. Here is the list of  Best Design Universities within US.

1. Art Center College of Design/INSEAD
   • Programs: Master’s in Industrial Design (Art Center College of Design)/MBA (INSEAD)
2. California College of the Arts
   • MBA in Design Strategy
3. Carnegie Mellon University
   • Masters in Product Development
4. Case Western Reserve University
   • MBA
5. Illinois Institute of Technology
   • Program: Dual degree Master of Design and MBA
6. Northwestern University
   • Program: Master’s in Product Development
   • Dual degree MBA and Master’s in Engineering Management (MMM)
7. Pratt Institute
   • Master’s of Professional Studies in Design Management
8. Savannah College of Art and Design
   • Master’s in Design Management
9. School of Visual Arts
   • Program: MFA Designer As Author
10. Stanford University
    • Program: Joint Program in Design
11. Suffolk University
    • Program: Executive MBA with concentration in Innovation & Design Management
12. University of California Berkeley
    • Program: MBA
13. University of Cincinnati
    • Program: Master’s in Design

Post from: Happy Schools Blog

Top 13 Design Universities in US

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5. Top Aerospace Engineering Universities in USA

Previous blog post about MIS vs MS talked about fundamental differences between MIS and MS related to coursework and overview on job responsibilities. Today  you will see an interesting Job Placement data for MIS graduates

MIS Job Opportunities

This data is from MIS program at CMU

Salary Details

• Mean – $80,300
• Median – $84,000
• High – $100,000
• Low – $50,000

Industry Sectors Acceptances

• 37% Consulting
• 28% Technology
• 27% Finance
• 8%  Other

Job Titles

Some of the job titles

• Associate Consultant
• Business Analyst
• IT Analyst
• Program Manager
• Quality Assurance Engineer
• Senior Technology Consultant
• Software Design Engineer
• Software Developer
• Software Engineer
• Technology Analyst
• Web Developer

You can see that students have various options ( both technical and non-technical). But, you would need to have work experience to become a manager. Close 100% students got job offer and this because of the name CMU.

In next article you can learn about Job opportunities for MS.

Post from: Happy Schools Blog

MIS vs MS – Job Opportunities after Graduation

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Thanks to Tanushree for posting  the University rankings for Material Science engineering programs in USA at Universities for GRE Score 1340

I will try my best to help you. I have joined the MS program in Materials Engineering in University of Houston. I have got financial aid in the form of RA. Here is a list of universities with their ranking in Materials Engineering program

Note About University Rankings

Rankings is just a list of Universities. There will be certain difference in quality of the education between MIT and universities lower in the list, but that’s not going to help you in selecting Universities. Most of you using this list is looking for Universities that you can get admission for your GRE Score. This list dosen’t classify universities based on GRE Scores.

Top Ranked Universities offering Materials Science

1. Massachusetts Inst Of Technology
2. Northwestern University
3. Cornell University
4. University Of California-Berkeley
5. Univ Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign
6. Stanford University
7. Univ Of Massachusetts At Amherst
8. Univ Of California-Santa Barbara
9. Pennsylvania State University
10. University Of Pennsylvania
11. Carnegie Mellon University
12. California Institute Technology
13. Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst
14. University Of Wisconsin-Madison
15. University Of Michigan
16. University Of Florida
17. University Of Minnesota
18. Case Western Reserve Univ
19. University Of Wisconsin-Madison
20. University Of Texas At Austin
21. Ohio State University
22. University Of Virginia
23. Lehigh University
24. North Carolina State University
25. Rutgers State Univ-New Brunswick
26. Univ Of California-Los Angeles
27. Arizona State University
28. University Of Arizona
29. Columbia University
30. Brown University
31. University Of Akron
32. Purdue University
33. Johns Hopkins University
34. Vanderbilt University
35. Arizona State University
36. University Of Utah
37. University Of Rochester
38. Virginia Polytech Inst & State U
39. Drexel University
40. Rutgers State Univ-New Brunswick
41. State Univ Of New York-Stony Brook
42. University Of Washington
43. University Of Mass-Lowell
44. Georgia Institute Of Technology
45. University Of Pittsburgh
46. University Of Missouri-Rolla
47. University Of Delaware
48. University Of Southern California
49. Colorado School Of Mines
50. Michigan State University
51. University Of Maryland College Park
52. Stevens Inst Of Technology
53. Duke University
54. University Of Cincinnati
55. University Of Alabama-Birmingham
56. South Dakota Sch Of Mines & Tech
57. Illinois Institute Of Technology
58. Oregon Graduate Inst Sci & Tech
59. University Of Houston
60. University Of Notre Dame
61. University Of Alabama-Huntsville
62. University Of Kentucky
63. University Of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
64. Auburn University
65. University Of Vermont

Post from: Happy Schools Blog

US Universities Rankings for Materials Science

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List of 4 universities for various GRE Score Ranges. This will help with your GRE Score forwarding right after GRE Exam.

GRE Score 1000 to 1100

1. University of Houston Clear Lake
2. University of Texas El Paso
3. New Mexico State University
4. Southern Illinois University, Carbondale [ aid, part time jobs are tough to get]
5. Kansas State University [ Bonus]

Post from: Happy Schools Blog

4 Universities for GRE Score 1000 to 1100

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Many students are applying to Canada due to recession in US. Recently Alberta, Canada was processing Permanent Residency for H1B workers in US in fast track. Blooming Economy in Alberta had created mad rush and many H1B workers who are waiting in US for many years to get Green Card decided to move to Canada.

If you are considering applying to Canadian Universities, following Top 5 Universities in Canada will help you with University search and selection.Programs and degrees awarded in Canada is different from USA.

Best Overall 5 Universities

In its 2006 survey, Maclean’s, a leading Canadian news magazine rates the  best overall by National Reputation Ranking. The top  five in this category were:

1. University of Alberta
2. University of Waterloo
3. McGill University
4. University of British Columbia
5. University of Toronto

Top 5 Universities in Canada – Time

The Times Higher Education Supplement rates the top 5 Canadian universities  (world rankings in brackets):

1. McGill University (21)
2. University of Toronto (27)
3. University of British Columbia (50)
4. University of Alberta (133)
5. McMaster University (155)

Post from: Happy Schools Blog

Top 5 Universities in Canada

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US News have recently published Top Universities in US for 2010. Here is Top 10 Universities from the list

Top 10 Universities in US – 2010

1. Harvard University
2. Princeton University
3. Yale University
4. California Institute of Technology
5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
6. Stanford University
7. University of Pennsylvania
8. Columbia University
9. University of Chicago
10. Duke University

Now you know the top  Universities for 2010 according in US News Rankings. But, be sure you read how the rankings are calculated and if that has any factors you are looking in a university.

Post from: Happy Schools Blog

Top 10 Universities in America

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Many students have been asking for list of Universities for Masters in Pharmacology. Here is a list of 30 Universities in US that offer Masters Degree in Pharmacology. Graduate Admission requirements will vary between universities. Make sure you spend enough time at each University, before decide on  5 to 7 universities to apply.

30 Universities for Pharmacology

1. Neuropharmacology & Neuroscience, Albany Medical College
2. Toxicology, Utah State University
3. Pharmacology, Cornell University
4. Pharmacology, Creighton University
5. Pharmacology (Roswell Park), SUNY at Buffalo
6. Pharmacology, SUNY Health Science Center at Brooklyn
7. Pharmacology, SUNY Health Science Center at Syracuse
8. Nephrology, Virginia Commonwealth University
9. Pharmacology & Toxicology, Virginia Commonwealth University
10. Physiology and Pharmacology, Wake Forest University
11. Pharmacology, A T Still University of Health Sciences
12. Pharmacology, Temple University
13. Interdisciplinary-Toxicology, Texas A & M University
14. Toxicology- Intercollegiate Faculty, Texas A & M University,
15. Medical Pharmacology and Toxicology, Texas A & M University System Health Science Center
16. Pharmacology and Toxicology, Dartmouth College
17. Pharmacology, Drexel University
18. Pharmacology and Cancer Biology, Duke University
19. Pharmacology, Duquesne University
20. Pharmacology & Toxicology, East Carolina University
21. Pharmacology, University of Virginia-Main Campus
22. Pharmacology, University of Washington-Seattle Campus
23. Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, University of Wisconsin-Madison
24. Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University
25. Pharmacology, Baylor College of Medicine
26. Pharmacology, Boston University
27. Pharmacology, Case Western Reserve University
28. Pharmacology, Columbia University in the City of New York
29. Pharmacology, Cornell University
30. Pharmacology, Southern Illinois University Carbondale,

Post from: Happy Schools Blog

30 Universities for Masters in Pharmacology

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