What are your reasons for applying to UK universities?
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Anonymous
| I am British and I know the quality of education there is every bit as good as the US for a fraction of the cost. |
Anonymous
| Keep in mind that most US employers cannot name the “other” universities in Britain and don’t hold Oxbridge in a HYP level of esteem. |
Anonymous
+1. small liberal college in the US just accepted kid for $80K total a year. St Andrews for about $44K total (locked for 4 years) and Edinburg is even less than that. guess which we are flying to visit after being accepted. oh, as a bonus kid may also have a better chance to complete college experience without crossing path with some deranged idiot with an AR-15 who decided to go down in flames bringing some students with him. we considered also a great school for my kid's field of interest in the Netherland, tuition there would have been like 2000 euro. cost of college in the US is beyond nuts and the idea that you can only study in the US because, other than Oxbridge, schools abroad are not that highly retated, as a poster seems to suggest, is dumb. so many kids in my kid's 12th grade class in DCPS who applied, and got accepted by, schools abroad, mostly England, Scotland, Netherlands, Australia are applying abroad |
Anonymous
Considering how "pulse and a checkbook" colleges exist in the US, I'd be surprised if a British university would be held in any lower regard than lower-tier colleges. Of course an elite US institution would be viewed more favorably than a mid-tier British one, though. |
Anonymous
And you know this because? |
Anonymous
yes, they don't need to take GenEd classes. It's 3 years of study of your major. My DC was really interested in going to the UK because of that, but when covid hit, I didn't like the idea of DC being that far. |
Anonymous
Actually your costs are $57,720 not including airfare and hotels plus same for relatives going over to set up the dorm and for graduation. You didn’t include all the costs in excess of tuition. After all, your $80k cite is “ all in”. So Let’s compare apples and oranges.And good luck with the fact that Americans, especially women, are treated as second rate. How about the Housing crisis at St Andrews. And how about that massive drinking culture? Your kid is far more apt to return to the states a victim of date rape and an alcoholic . And without a job because the careers office there doesn’t reach to wall street |
Anonymous
LOL |
Anonymous
+1 Better experience, all around. |
Anonymous
KCL over NYU? Plenty of reasons: you prefer London over NYC. You want to dive deep on, day, War Studies—a KCL specialty—for three years rather than taking whatever non-major classes NYU makes kids take. A unique, storied UK university rather than NYU—a former commuter school turned McDonalds-franchise-esque-chain-university with copy and paste branches in China, Abu Dhabi, etc. Not that NYU isn't great, it is, but its expansion feels awfully corporate, no? But more generally: - REAL international experience—this is priceless and can't be replicated by study abroad programs from American schools. The chance to see the US through a different lens and gain greater international versatility - Even at international tuition rates, you're paying much less for British Universities than for the United States. - The more independent UK uni experience fosters personal development and maturation—kids learn to figure things out for themselves, rather than being coddled like at American schools. (On this note, if your kid isn't independent and would benefit from closer supervision, don't send them to the UK!). No RAs watching you 24/7, no hiding alcohol or parties or whatever from campus security. Kids learn to pace themselves. - No frats or sororities, the social atmosphere is more grown up - Accessibility to play sports for the university at a competitive level (whereas US unis essentially run semi-pro sports teams) - Who's to say an American wouldn't like a particular UK Uni (Oxbridge, St Andrews, Edinburgh, Durham, Bristol, Exeter) over their American choices? Economically, the UK seems to be a bit of a sinking ship at the moment. I hope those trends will be reversed. But there are still great merits to studying in the UK, and the country still has a lot to offer international students |
Anonymous
What is changing in the French undergrad system? |
Anonymous
Are you applying for entry level corporate whatever jobs in rural Kentucky? Sure, they might not have heard of the non-Oxbridge schools. But if you're applying to jobs in international companies, or in NYC/SF/major metros, the recruiters have definitely heard of St Andrews, LSE, Edinburgh, etc., and understand these are serious universities. If you're applying to grad school or law/biz school, admissions departments have most certainly heard of the Russell Group and other top UK universities. To many, the international experience is viewed as an asset. |
Anonymous
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My neice is in her second year at St Andrews.
SHE WANTS TO MEET A PRINCE! no, just kidding, but she is getting her masters in the same amount of time and money as a bachelors here in the staes. |
Anonymous
Even if we assume $57k is true, that's still $23k less than $80k Did your kid have a bad experience at St Andrews? I'm very sorry for what seems like traumatic stuff based on what your comment implies, but that experience simply is not universal. St Andrews is top in the UK for student experience. Who says women and Americans are treated as second rate? In my personal experience I have seen no evidence of this. Again, an anomaly is not universal. The housing costs are less than DC, less than NYC, etc. Alcoholic? really? Drinking is more prevalent, but more controlled, supervised in pub/club settings, and because it's not happening in a frat basement. I've heard way more horror stories of heads smashed and crashed cars and stomachs pumped from drinking in American schools than I have heard from St Andrews. "And without a job because the careers office there doesn’t reach to wall street" Hahaha please. 
If your DC wants a job on Wall Street, yourschool's career center isn't going to be the defining factor. Being well-connected is one way. But the harder way is to start early—your DC should be doing spring insight and other events run by firms from year 1 and year 2. Taking on analyst roles in student funds or investment societies from y1/y2. Ideally get some sort of finance internship or role for summer after y2, and then network and apply for summer analyst roles for penultimate summer. Then get the return offer—not many other easy ways to get a desired role on Wall St. It's not the fault of the St Andrews career center that your DC doesn't work on Wall St |
Anonymous
DP I have first hand experience with Oxford. But by all means stay here and complain about the extremely rare chance of getting shot. Chances are the other problems listed above will be a problem, not a shooting. It’s cold, expensive (you have to buy everything anew -DC was sent off to Oxford with one large suitcase. Everything else had to be purchased over there. Because of the energy crisis, all costs have surged and students have protested at Oxford and other schools about no heat in their (often) stone dorm rooms with antiquated windows. Food prices are obscene. Women are indeed marginalized. St Andrews four year program, while different from the regular three year program, still expects students to be better educated and better writers than they are. The drinking culture is a much more serious problem than in theUSz. You have a lecture at 11 and the sherry trolley is rolled out at noon. Good luck but go into it with open eyes and remember everyone knows St Andrews started this courting of rich American students after it almost perished post WWII. This is all googleable. It’s not as dreamy as you think. Which is why Kate and others went there. It’s not for serious students |