Good luck with the visa and enjoy your flying. There is nothing wrong with FAA training. Go visit a few schools and meet the instructors and see what the planes are like. You might find the university you are linked with will have an attached flight school, I proberly wouldn't use them.
Nice little school with a gatorade machine in the foyer, and some old vietnam vet of an instructor who teaches because he enjoys it and keeps him and his aircraft airborne.