Consensus world view of TOP 5/6 UK University Rankings (Prestige/Research)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, great opportunity to get in one those schools for any kid here that would be a t20-t50 admit.

I agree. This is how we are looking at it at our household with our 3 kids (two Juniors and one Freshman). Following the OP’s list:

1. Oxford/Cambridge - If not accepted to any IVY or MIT/Stanford, then these two.
2. Imperial/LSE - Same as above, but add Berkeley and a few others.
3. UCL - If not accepted to any t20, then UCL.
4. Edinburgh/King’s/St Andrews - If best US acceptance is in between any t25-t50, we would pick Kings/Edinburgh
5. Warwick/Bristol/Exeter/Bath - If best US school is t-50 and up, that these would be prioritized.

Obviously this is just a general guidelines that we have discussed internally. We would clearly focus on each subject and fit. but the general idea stays. US schools are way too expensive to pass up these cheaper UK options.

My son started looking at UK schools (he is a JR) and we had no idea what to look for. This thread has been very helpful. After talking to his counselor who recommended someone else that focus on UK schools, this list is pretty much what he was told as it relates to relative values.

It’s really important to remember that you need to focus on the programme rather than just the university when looking at the UK. For example, if your child is interested in engineering, you should look at the ranking of engineering courses. If interested in history, they probably shouldn’t focus on LSE or Warwick. If interested in economics, you definitely wouldn’t rank Exeter and Bath alongside Warwick.

Yes that is true to an extent. At the end of the day, it depends where you kid plans to have a professional career. If in the UK, then you are 100% correct. But if the plan is to go back to the US and even EU then the league tables are a little less relevant and the “pedigree” of the uni weights a little more. Please note I said a “little less” relevant. Clearly for an Econ major looking to work as an economist at an IB in NYC, they will know Warwick’s strength vs Bath….But in General and unfortunately, the perceived name recognition of the university will play a bigger role in the US.

This is true for US employers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At the end of the day, it depends where you kid plans to have a professional career. If in the UK, then you are 100% correct. But if the plan is to go back to the US and even EU then the league tables are a little less relevant and the “pedigree” of the uni weights a little more. Please note I said a “little less” relevant. Clearly for an Econ major looking to work as an economist at an IB in NYC, they will know Warwick’s strength vs Bath….But in General and unfortunately, the perceived name recognition of the university will play a bigger role in the US.

DP. This is highly dependent on which degree the student studied. Above probably is true for general humanities degrees.

For STEM, most US hiring managers like me have a good handle on which UK schools are strong in the specific subjects we are hiring for. Two oddball examples follow. I would quite happily hire an EE from Heriott-Watt (not usually considered top tier) to code Verilog/VHDL because they are quite strong in that. Ditto for Essex (also not usually considered top tier) for an EE who specialized in optics, as they are quite strong in that niche. Of course, I would hire almost anyone from Imperial, which is the MIT of the UK.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely for STEM yes. My nephew went to Bristol for engineering and after graduating he interviewed for an engineering position at Boeing and the recruiting manager knew everything about Bristol and its Engineering program.

For Business/Management/Economics majors, it is all over the place, but clearly any of these schools listed here have enough name recognition with the top employers that they will know enough to get you to an interview. It is then up to you.

Clearly outside Oxford/Cambridge, it become a little more interesting. Since the two schools with the most American undergrads in the UK are Edinburgh and St Andrews and the average American kid that goes there to study these business subjects comes from well connected families, their placement becomes a little more related to the fact that the vast majority of these kids are from NY, CT, MA and CA, so they place well within those markets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is March 20. It looks like most UK offers were sent. For the parents on this thread, if your kid will be attending a UK school in the Fall., can you share which one and which school he/she is forgoing in the US to do this?

DS is leaning St Andrews. Giving up USC, Tulane, Miami.

My kid is also going to St Andrews. But he is taking a gap year before attending in 2026. He also got in USC and Texas. We are in Texas and he was auto admit.

Was it hard to get permission to do this?
And mind if I ask what he's doing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is March 20. It looks like most UK offers were sent. For the parents on this thread, if your kid will be attending a UK school in the Fall., can you share which one and which school he/she is forgoing in the US to do this?

DS is leaning St Andrews. Giving up USC, Tulane, Miami.

My kid is also going to St Andrews. But he is taking a gap year before attending in 2026. He also got in USC and Texas. We are in Texas and he was auto admit.

Was it hard to get permission to do this?
And mind if I ask what he's doing?

It is not hard if you communicate early enough with a plan.
He will be working on his startup for another year and that will involve significant time before he is ready to have someone else run the business for him while he is in school.

[Anonymous]

Where did those who graduated from UK universities end up after undergrad? Continue to grad school or work there, return to USofA, move to another country?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
My husband and I get tons of questions about this from our American friends. Now that our two younger kids are about to go through the process, we’ve been following this forum closely, and we’ve noticed these questions come up frequently. Hopefully, this helps!

This perspective is specifically for non-UK students/residents, as many of us in the UK unfortunately still rely heavily on our League Tables. These rankings take student satisfaction into account but tend to undervalue research output and overall research quality. This has its pros and cons but sometimes leads to results where universities like Loughborough, Bath, or St Andrews rank ahead of institutions that are considered more prestigious on an international scale.

After moving away from the UK after university and graduate school, spending seven years in Southeast Asia, 14 years in the US, and additional time in South America and Europe before returning to the US, I’ve come to realize that there is a fairly consistent global consensus (outside the UK) on which UK universities are the most prestigious—regardless of what our domestic League Tables might suggest.

To be clear, this doesn’t mean that universities outside this top group aren’t excellent. There are fantastic programs at Bath, Warwick, Bristol, St Andrews, etc. However, outside the UK, these six universities tend to be viewed by major employers and top universities as the most impressive and prestigious, with significantly stronger alumni networks:

1. Oxford/Cambridge
2. Imperial
3. UCL
4. Edinburgh/King’s

This ranking aligns well with global university rankings that factor in research output. I didn’t include LSE because it has such a narrow academic focus, but within those fields, it is, of course, world renowned.

My husband and I attended three of these six universities, plus one outside the list, and our experiences living all over the world have reinforced this perspective. In the US, St Andrews might be viewed positively in certain regions, but overall, the top 5–6 universities have remained consistent over time. Bristol is also well-regarded internationally and is often perceived as a step above St Andrews due to its broader research strength.

I frequently get questions from American friends about Warwick, Bristol, Bath, Exeter, and Lancaster for their kids. While these are great universities, some of which are particularly strong in specific subjects, outside the UK they generally don’t carry the same level of prestige as the six mentioned above. And based on what I’ve seen here on DCUM, prestige seems to matter a lot to many people in the US.

That said, students at these universities outside of the top 5-6 will still receive an excellent education. If the alternative is a T50–T75 US school, attending one of these top 10/12 UK universities outside the top 5 could still be a great option, especially for independent students who know exactly what they want to study.

Hope this helps!

Those may be fine. But they are a bit behind:

UVA
Bucknell
Georgetown
Northeastern
Boston University

OMG….please go away

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where did those who graduated from UK universities end up after undergrad? Continue to grad school or work there, return to USofA, move to another country?

Two kids went to us schools.

DD went to St Andrews, International Relations/Modern History Join Honors. She is back in the US working for one of the MBB consulting firms.
DS went to Bristol, Engineering. Graduated 2019. Worked for Airbus for 3 years and is now back in the US working for a defense contractor that manufactures fighter jets….

[Anonymous]

My kid is freaking out that only Edinburgh has not yet responded. He applied to 5 through UCAS. He applied late in Jan.

[Anonymous]

So DS got in Penn last night for Econ….He also has an unconditional from Oxford.
Kid was happy, but concerned we would “push”him towards Penn since Mom is an alumn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, great opportunity to get in one those schools for any kid here that would be a t20-t50 admit.

I agree. This is how we are looking at it at our household with our 3 kids (two Juniors and one Freshman). Following the OP’s list:

1. Oxford/Cambridge - If not accepted to any IVY or MIT/Stanford, then these two.
2. Imperial/LSE - Same as above, but add Berkeley and a few others.
3. UCL - If not accepted to any t20, then UCL.
4. Edinburgh/King’s/St Andrews - If best US acceptance is in between any t25-t50, we would pick Kings/Edinburgh
5. Warwick/Bristol/Exeter/Bath - If best US school is t-50 and up, that these would be prioritized.

Obviously this is just a general guidelines that we have discussed internally. We would clearly focus on each subject and fit. but the general idea stays. US schools are way too expensive to pass up these cheaper UK options.

This seems generally right to me. I might shift numbers 3-5 down slightly (eg, t25 instead of t20, t30-50 instead of t25-50, etc). But pretty accurate imo.

[Anonymous]

DS is in at Edinburgh, St Andrews and Bristol for Econ, Econ/Mgmt, Business Mgmt.
His best option in the US is U of Miami and Tulane. No merit at either. (1480 SAT, 3.8 UW, 4 x APs at 5 and 1x 4, great ECs)

What would you do?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS is in at Edinburgh, St Andrews and Bristol for Econ, Econ/Mgmt, Business Mgmt.
His best option in the US is U of Miami and Tulane. No merit at either. (1480 SAT, 3.8 UW, 4 x APs at 5 and 1x 4, great ECs)

What would you do?

In my opinion this is a no brainer. St Andrews for Econ and Mgmt joint honors. On some league tables it is the top or one of the top mgmt / econ programs in the UK. Half of the price of Miami and Tulane with no merit. \

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, great opportunity to get in one those schools for any kid here that would be a t20-t50 admit.

I agree. This is how we are looking at it at our household with our 3 kids (two Juniors and one Freshman). Following the OP’s list:

1. Oxford/Cambridge - If not accepted to any IVY or MIT/Stanford, then these two.
2. Imperial/LSE - Same as above, but add Berkeley and a few others.
3. UCL - If not accepted to any t20, then UCL.
4. Edinburgh/King’s/St Andrews - If best US acceptance is in between any t25-t50
5. Warwick/Bristol/Exeter/Bath - If best US school is t-50 and up, that these would be prioritized.

Obviously this is just a general guidelines that we have discussed internally. We would clearly focus on each subject and fit. but the general idea stays. US schools are way too expensive to pass up these cheaper UK options.

As a Brit who went to 2 of these schools and have lived in the US now for 30 years, I agree with this. Would change one or the other, but in general this is spot on.

[Anonymous]

DC is choosing between StA Econ and William & Mary. Joint program is too much bouncing around for them.

Anyone been down this particular road? Comparative costs irrelevant.