How do Americans view universities abroad such as McGill, St Andrews, or similar?

[Anonymous]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
American colleges, with their strange insistence on "holistic" admissions, are not very appealing to my teen, who wants to focus on academics and go somewhere that admits based on that.
Universities abroad place much greater importance on grades and test scores than those in the US.

However, if my teen looks for a job or applies to grad school in the US (it would likely be grad school for him), how will hiring managers or admissions officers view those universities?

I don't know McGill...but U Toronto required 3 essays, LORs, wanted a full EC list, etc.

I didn't get the sense admissions was simply grades and test scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's naive to think that any foreign university, apart from Oxbridge, will likely resonate strongly with the average U.S. employer, no matter how good those schools may be. They just generally lack name recognition here, and that is very likely to result in a competitive disadvantage when applying for jobs alongside candidates from schools which are better known in the U.S. Yes, some employers may be familiar with some foreign schools, and may even think highly of them, but I strongly suspect that will be a minority position.

Caveat emptor.

Sure, if you targeting the “average” US employer you are correct. A kid that goes to one of the top 6-8 UK unis are probably not targeting the Avg US employer, so this is a moot point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vast majority of Americans will have never heard of St Andrews. McGill is familiar and would be viewed as perhaps similar prestige as a Michigan or UCLA or UVA.

McGill is in the top 3 Canadian colleges. That is way beyond UVA/UCLA & UMich

Tell me you’re joking.

Then tell me why UVA is ranked so low on all world rankings?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think it would cause your kid too much trouble. The procedure is certainly going to be less in most companies but it will be a big hurdle. Unless he insists on going around telling everyone that McGill is the Harvard of Canada, if they know about it.

This is what it is. McGill would maybe be a top 30 school if it was in the U.S. (and that's being generous) but American parents who send their kids there love to pretend it's some crowning achievement. I hear "Harvard of Canada" all the time and can't help but feel sad for these parents.

Same, to a lesser extent, for schools like St Andrews and Edinburgh. Sure, they're good UK schools, but why try to put them on a pedestal above our own universities?

People with even an inkling of familiarity with academia know that America is the undisputed top dog for higher education. There's a reason why scholars from around the world are clamoring to get into the top-tier U.S. universities. The research output, infrastructure, support, resources, and $$$ are significantly better at U.S. universities. This trickles down to affect the overall quality of the school and the students these schools are ultimately able to attract. America deserves to get dumped on for a lot of things, but its universities are not it.

I grew up in upstate NY where mcgill is highly regarded and common for people to go to other Canadian schools like university of western Ontario. I don't recall anyone I know applying to uva or umd. My sister in law is Canadian and said McGill isn't as highly regarded in Canada as in my town- she went to University of Toronto which is considered the best where she's from. Reputations are all regional

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
American colleges, with their strange insistence on "holistic" admissions, are not very appealing to my teen, who wants to focus on academics and go somewhere that admits based on that.
Universities abroad place much greater importance on grades and test scores than those in the US.

However, if my teen looks for a job or applies to grad school in the US (it would likely be grad school for him), how will hiring managers or admissions officers view those universities?

personally I view UTornonto and UWaterloo and Warwick, ICL, UCL, other Russel group unis more than those two. St. Andrews in particular seems to market itself to mediocre full pay Americans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think it would cause your kid too much trouble. The procedure is certainly going to be less in most companies but it will be a big hurdle. Unless he insists on going around telling everyone that McGill is the Harvard of Canada, if they know about it.

This is what it is. McGill would maybe be a top 30 school if it was in the U.S. (and that's being generous) but American parents who send their kids there love to pretend it's some crowning achievement. I hear "Harvard of Canada" all the time and can't help but feel sad for these parents.

Same, to a lesser extent, for schools like St Andrews and Edinburgh. Sure, they're good UK schools, but why try to put them on a pedestal above our own universities?

People with even an inkling of familiarity with academia know that America is the undisputed top dog for higher education. There's a reason why scholars from around the world are clamoring to get into the top-tier U.S. universities. The research output, infrastructure, support, resources, and $$$ are significantly better at U.S. universities. This trickles down to affect the overall quality of the school and the students these schools are ultimately able to attract. America deserves to get dumped on for a lot of things, but its universities are not it.

I grew up in upstate NY where mcgill is highly regarded and common for people to go to other Canadian schools like university of western Ontario. I don't recall anyone I know applying to uva or umd. My sister in law is Canadian and said McGill isn't as highly regarded in Canada as in my town- she went to University of Toronto which is considered the best where she's from. Reputations are all regional

Any knowledgable American would value UTornonto over McGill, especially for stem

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
American colleges, with their strange insistence on "holistic" admissions, are not very appealing to my teen, who wants to focus on academics and go somewhere that admits based on that.
Universities abroad place much greater importance on grades and test scores than those in the US.

However, if my teen looks for a job or applies to grad school in the US (it would likely be grad school for him), how will hiring managers or admissions officers view those universities?

personally I view UTornonto and UWaterloo and Warwick, ICL, UCL, other Russel group unis more than those two. St. Andrews in particular seems to market itself to mediocre full pay Americans.

BS to lump “other Russell group unis more than St Andrews”. You clearly doesnt know much about Russell group unis.
St Andrews is a fine school. As you can see from all of current threads here, there are plenty of Americans giving up spots at t30 schools for St Andrews.

I have two kids that studied in the UK. My son went to Warwick and my daughter to St Andrews.
My son graduate with a first in their Econ & Management program.
My daughter graduated from St Andrews with a Mgmt and International Relations degree.

She is now at an MBB consulting back in the US straight from St Andrews. My son is in NYC working for a boutique investment firm where one of the partners has a Warwick degree. But he couldn’t get through the recruiting process for US top firms straight from undergrad. While she had doors opened. So there you go….

[Anonymous]

Hm. Did she get the consulting position through connections? Interesting & good luck to her. Only grad I’ve met from there is a wine steward.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hm. Did she get the consulting position through connections? Interesting & good luck to her. Only grad I’ve met from there is a wine steward.

No connections. Applied through the UK (MBB) page for St Andrews students. During the interview process she was assigned to a US person. And the rest is history.

You can easily check LinkedIn for US St Andrews graduates and the companies they work for….

[Anonymous]

Uh, not *that* interesting but thank you for the suggestion.

[Anonymous]

They are a fine alternative for applicants that can't gain admissions to a top 50ish US college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They are a fine alternative for applicants that can't gain admissions to a top 50ish US college.

PP here. My daughter selected St Andrews over W&M and Texas. So far it has worked out for her at a MBB.

[Anonymous]

I haven't read the whole thread, but St Andrew's is a Scottish university. Most degrees there take 4 years of full time study, not the 3 which is usual in England. https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/degree-routes/honours/

As places rich kids who couldn't get into American schools with similar pedigrees can buy their way into (especially St. Andrews, not so much McGill)

Same impression here. Student body at St Andrew's is 10 per cent American.

[Anonymous]

My kid is about to choice St Andrews or McGill over 4-5 top 10-30 schools in the US