Which is the best university for Masters in Construction Management?

[Maverick]

I have been browsing web sites that provide information on best grad schools and rankings in corresponding years. Moreover, these talk about a generalized college ranking. Can someone suggest me how should I go about the selection of courses and best universities. Previous to this, I have been asking the same question in many blogs, orkut and facebook but I end up reading posts by people saying that their university is the best. Please be specific as to why you chose a particular university. Thanks.

[raflorsheim]

Maverick-

You contacted me directly, but Yahoo! Answers says that you do not allow email and it was impossible to respond to your email. Therefore:

First of all, you seem to be looking to become an architect, but are asking whether it would be better to study Construction Management or Project Management. Frankly, if you want to become an architect, you need to study Architecture, not either of the above programs. While both might be good things for an architectect to know, neither is necessary, and neither would qualify you to become an architect. Usually, Contruction Management would prepare you to become a contractor, and Project Management would be one course, or a concentration, within an MBA or graduate engineering program.

As far as I know, there is no such thing as a "work permit program" for students. If you come to the U.S. as a student, you are not allowed to work here. There is a special visa you can get for practical experience for one year following the completion of your academic program. It will allow you to stay and work in the U.S. for one year, but then you will have to go back to your own county, in almost all cases. It also does not guarantee that you will find a job, and many companies have no interest in hiring someone who will have to leave in a year. Most companies are not all that interested in hiring international students. They may need people with specific skills which are hard to find, but I don't think that is in any way the case for those with backgrounds in architecture or contruction management.

Campus recruitment at most schools is open to everyone, but in reality, international students do not participate because they are not eligible for the specific jobs. Since your email suggests that you are from some other country, you would have to go back to that country after graduating before beginning to search for a job. Most companies cannot consider hiring you in the U.S., because they would realize that you would not be eligible to take a job with them.

I honestly don't know which are the best universities in this field. It is not one in which I have any knowledge.

As for scholarships, scholarships at the Master's degree level are rare for anyone. Of those which may be available, very few would be open to international students. Most universities see international students as desirable because they pay full tuition, and unless someone were an incredibly unusual candidate, they would not be interested in offering them the few scholarships they may have available. Grants, which are usually given by the government to encourage further study, are even less available to international students. Your best bet, and the one I see used most by international students, is to get a scholarship from your own government to study abroad.

Most companies do not work with the student to extend their stay and get them a work visa. It is expected that the student themself will do this, before looking for a job in almost all cases. It may be different if you were a senior, respected architect who wanted to work in the U.S., but since U.S. companies can hire U.S. students, they are usually unwilling to go out of their way to hire an international student.

The future of contruction management is hard to predict. For the next few years, the prospects are pretty grim, given that most of the current global economic problems began with bad loans for home-buying. At this point, credit has been tightened up, and it is hard for people to get into the market and buy or build. Presumably, that will all get easier after a few years, but right now, this is not a good field to get into.