I am an Indian student keen on building a career in ID and will be travelling on a student visa. I have admission to the ID course in University of Illinois, Urbana and Champaign as well as Purdue University in the US. I also have admission to Emily Carr, OCADU and Carleton University as well.
The first decision is which country - US (does ID qualify as a STEM course, this is important due to the new visa rules in the US as I want to get some experience after my degree). Canada I know gives me a 3 year work permit the moment I complete my under grad program. Cost wise too Canada is much cheaper than the US - USD 45,000 versus CAD 35,000. So in a sense cost and visa rules are in favour of Canada.
However, the moment I look at brand, facilities and global recognition (at least here in India) the US universities are far better known and I assume will lead to far better professional outcomes.
So the question I have is should I go to the US colleges and if so to which one? and if i should go to Canada, which one? I am more keen to look at a more hands on approach to design rather than a pure theoretical approach.
I need to take this decision in the next 15 days so please help.