What are the best US universities for international students doing STEM?

The USA has the world's highest concentration of top STEM universities. Here are the most prestigious for international students:

Computer Science / Technology:
1. MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) — World #1 in CS
2. Stanford University — Silicon Valley, strongest tech industry connections
3. Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) — Particularly strong in AI, robotics, software engineering
4. UC Berkeley (EECS department) — Public university, slightly more accessible
5. Caltech (California Institute of Technology) — Small, elite, research-heavy

Engineering (Broad):
1. MIT — World #1 in engineering
2. Stanford
3. Georgia Tech — Top public engineering school, excellent value for internationals
4. University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) — Strong aerospace, automotive, mechanical
5. Purdue — Historically strong in aviation and manufacturing engineering

Data Science / AI / ML:
1. Stanford (AI Lab - SAIL, original ChatGPT researchers)
2. MIT
3. Carnegie Mellon
4. UC Berkeley
5. University of Washington (Seattle — close to Amazon/Microsoft)

Biomedical / Life Sciences:
1. Harvard / MIT (combined Harvard-MIT Health Sciences)
2. Johns Hopkins
3. UC San Francisco (UCSF) — Primarily graduate/medical
4. Stanford

Important notes for internationals:
- Public universities (UC Berkeley, Georgia Tech, University of Michigan) are significantly cheaper than private schools (~$35,000–$45,000/year vs $60,000–$70,000) while often ranking comparably
- Strong STEM universities near tech hubs (Silicon Valley, Seattle, Boston, NYC) offer better internship and OPT job opportunities
- STEM OPT extension gives you 3 years of work authorisation after graduation — a major advantage