Final UK undergrad ranking is out as if last night (The Times)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At St Andrews it wasnt a fair comparison. We got lucky with sunny weather and the dorms were not official tours. But we a friend of ours introduced us to a couple whose kid is finishing up his 1st year and he was kind enough to show us his shared room at McIntosh and his friend’s room at St Salvator’s. Incredibly enough both were in their 3rd or 4th floors and they were both facing the ocean..….And what a view that was. Incredible. Hard to beat that view.

In the end he liked the collegiate system better at Durham, but liked the two dorms at St Andrews the best given their locations. But again, he has not decided yet and at both places, there are no guarantees of what College or accommodation halls you will end up at.

So is it between Durham and St Andrews? Has he given up Exeter and Manchester?

yes, he has just a few weeks to make a decision. It is between Durham and St Andrews. he likes the Collegiate system at Durham, but worried he wont get the two colleges he wants since he is taking a while to make a decision. But he likes the extra yr at St Andrews that gives him the flexibility to change his mind on a course and do something else. Tough decision. We are ok with either one. I’m partially (secretly) bias towards St Andrews simply because we Golf and we love the excuse of going to Edinburgh when we visit as we fell in love with that city. But we are letting him decide.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish more US universities had a Durham-style collegiate system.

That is pretty nice. Nothing like it in the US. The closest thing would be Notre Dame with their lack of Greek System and socials based on the dorms they live…

Yale and Harvard are somewhat similar with their House systems. PP is correct that UCSD is another example. U.Toronto also has it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At St Andrews it wasnt a fair comparison. We got lucky with sunny weather and the dorms were not official tours. But we a friend of ours introduced us to a couple whose kid is finishing up his 1st year and he was kind enough to show us his shared room at McIntosh and his friend’s room at St Salvator’s. Incredibly enough both were in their 3rd or 4th floors and they were both facing the ocean..….And what a view that was. Incredible. Hard to beat that view.

In the end he liked the collegiate system better at Durham, but liked the two dorms at St Andrews the best given their locations. But again, he has not decided yet and at both places, there are no guarantees of what College or accommodation halls you will end up at.

So is it between Durham and St Andrews? Has he given up Exeter and Manchester?

yes, he has just a few weeks to make a decision. It is between Durham and St Andrews. he likes the Collegiate system at Durham, but worried he wont get the two colleges he wants since he is taking a while to make a decision. But he likes the extra yr at St Andrews that gives him the flexibility to change his mind on a course and do something else. Tough decision. We are ok with either one. I’m partially (secretly) bias towards St Andrews simply because we Golf and we love the excuse of going to Edinburgh when we visit as we fell in love with that city. But we are letting him decide.

What is he looking to study?

[Anonymous]

Econ w Mgmt at Durham, Econ with IR at St Andrews.

[Anonymous]

Small world. Our DC just chose StA for Econ & IR and will probably add Management as their third module.

They wanted a four year program, so they skipped applying to English schools. Final choices came down to StA, USC Marshall, and W&M. StA’s reputation in those two programs, the international angle, including the whole campus vibe, and track record of great grad school placement won out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Small world. Our DC just chose StA for Econ & IR and will probably add Management as their third module.

They wanted a four year program, so they skipped applying to English schools. Final choices came down to StA, USC Marshall, and W&M. StA’s reputation in those two programs, the international angle, including the whole campus vibe, and track record of great grad school placement won out.

Similar story here. Our son chose St.A for Mgmt and IR. Wish we could communicate privately to connect the kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who says it is easier clearly has never had their kid apply to Oxbridge.

I have two kids in the UK. One at Oxford and one at LSE.

They both applied to Oxford.

Kid 1: 8 AP’s at 5. 1570 SAT 3.9/4.0 UW GPA (top 10% of his class), great interview and did well on the TSA.
Kid 2 had 10 AP’s at 5. 1600 on SAT/36 on ACT. Valedictorian, 4/4 UW GPA. National debate awards, amazing interviewer. Also crushed the TSA.

Kid 1 got in Oxford. Kid 2 didnt.

Tell me about your LSE child. My child is 1st year, had a hard time settling in and looking at transferring. I don't know if it was the lousy weather, the lack of campus culture (no gym, no sports teams, all societies meet virtually, a very international crowd that just doesn't have the college vibe). I was told of another American student who couldn't take it either and transferred back to their mid-west state college.

[Anonymous]

Related to the prior comment, from a contingency planning POV, what does transfer to a US school look like given the differences in curriculum?

Are some schools more accepting or, conversely, some that are absolutely not accepting, of transfers from UK schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Related to the prior comment, from a contingency planning POV, what does transfer to a US school look like given the differences in curriculum?

Are some schools more accepting or, conversely, some that are absolutely not accepting, of transfers from UK schools?

Niece transferred from Edinburgh back to the US to U of Michigan. Was able to transfer every single one of her credits. She had to send all of the module handbooks to make sure she was getting the appropriate credit. The transfer had nothing to do with Edinburgh, she has a rare form of a not to be disclosed condition and was constantly sick and needed monitoring close to home They thought she was stable enough to go overseas, but 1.5 yr and a half later she just got worse and had to move back home. We are 1 hr away from Ann Arbor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who says it is easier clearly has never had their kid apply to Oxbridge.

I have two kids in the UK. One at Oxford and one at LSE.

They both applied to Oxford.

Kid 1: 8 AP’s at 5. 1570 SAT 3.9/4.0 UW GPA (top 10% of his class), great interview and did well on the TSA.
Kid 2 had 10 AP’s at 5. 1600 on SAT/36 on ACT. Valedictorian, 4/4 UW GPA. National debate awards, amazing interviewer. Also crushed the TSA.

Kid 1 got in Oxford. Kid 2 didnt.

Tell me about your LSE child. My child is 1st year, had a hard time settling in and looking at transferring. I don't know if it was the lousy weather, the lack of campus culture (no gym, no sports teams, all societies meet virtually, a very international crowd that just doesn't have the college vibe). I was told of another American student who couldn't take it either and transferred back to their mid-west state college.

My LSE kid transferred from LSE to St Andrews after 1st year. had exact same issues. Amazing school, but zero school spirit, kids living all over the place, I don think DC quite understood how tough of an environment (not academically) it can be. DC felt like this I was a commuter school. DC grades were amazing but socially LSE was not what he thought I would be.
He was worried about going in to a 4-yr school from a 3-yr school and getting in their 2nd year. But in his first year there he made amazing friends and is thriving not only academically as expected, but socially too. He is so much happier at St Andrews. This was a huge move from London to a tiny little town, but it was what he needed in his soul. He still loves the “perception and image and reputation”of LSE, but he feels at home now and it has done wonders for his mental health.

[Anonymous]

Imperial, LSE, KCL, and UCL are among the constituent colleges of the University of London. As far as I know, none of the UoL colleges have undergraduate housing guaranteed available for all 3 years. Housing in London is expensive. Students end up living all over the place - scattered - as a result.

It makes for a very different "student life" experience than at Exeter, Durham, or St Andrews.

This difference is not necessarily bad, but it is important for applicants to understand this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Imperial, LSE, KCL, and UCL are among the constituent colleges of the University of London. As far as I know, none of the UoL colleges have undergraduate housing guaranteed available for all 3 years. Housing in London is expensive. Students end up living all over the place - scattered - as a result.

It makes for a very different "student life" experience than at Exeter, Durham, or St Andrews.

This difference is not necessarily bad, but it is important for applicants to understand this.

They also often have access to each other’s facilities, which is nice if kids make the effort.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Imperial, LSE, KCL, and UCL are among the constituent colleges of the University of London. As far as I know, none of the UoL colleges have undergraduate housing guaranteed available for all 3 years. Housing in London is expensive. Students end up living all over the place - scattered - as a result.

It makes for a very different "student life" experience than at Exeter, Durham, or St Andrews.

This difference is not necessarily bad, but it is important for applicants to understand this.

This is key and a lot of kids fall for the “london is amazing” fairy tale.
Yes London is amazing. Lived there for 12 years after graduate school. But it is probably not the right set up for most (not all) American kids looking to have a great college experience. Unless you know exactly what you are getting into, I would focus on the other UK unis outside of London….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Related to the prior comment, from a contingency planning POV, what does transfer to a US school look like given the differences in curriculum?

Are some schools more accepting or, conversely, some that are absolutely not accepting, of transfers from UK schools?

Niece transferred from Edinburgh back to the US to U of Michigan. Was able to transfer every single one of her credits. She had to send all of the module handbooks to make sure she was getting the appropriate credit. The transfer had nothing to do with Edinburgh, she has a rare form of a not to be disclosed condition and was constantly sick and needed monitoring close to home They thought she was stable enough to go overseas, but 1.5 yr and a half later she just got worse and had to move back home. We are 1 hr away from Ann Arbor.

Thanks for sharing and sorry to hear about her difficulties. I hope things went well for her at Michigan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who says it is easier clearly has never had their kid apply to Oxbridge.

I have two kids in the UK. One at Oxford and one at LSE.

They both applied to Oxford.

Kid 1: 8 AP’s at 5. 1570 SAT 3.9/4.0 UW GPA (top 10% of his class), great interview and did well on the TSA.
Kid 2 had 10 AP’s at 5. 1600 on SAT/36 on ACT. Valedictorian, 4/4 UW GPA. National debate awards, amazing interviewer. Also crushed the TSA.

Kid 1 got in Oxford. Kid 2 didnt.

Tell me about your LSE child. My child is 1st year, had a hard time settling in and looking at transferring. I don't know if it was the lousy weather, the lack of campus culture (no gym, no sports teams, all societies meet virtually, a very international crowd that just doesn't have the college vibe). I was told of another American student who couldn't take it either and transferred back to their mid-west state college.

My LSE kid transferred from LSE to St Andrews after 1st year. had exact same issues. Amazing school, but zero school spirit, kids living all over the place, I don think DC quite understood how tough of an environment (not academically) it can be. DC felt like this I was a commuter school. DC grades were amazing but socially LSE was not what he thought I would be.
He was worried about going in to a 4-yr school from a 3-yr school and getting in their 2nd year. But in his first year there he made amazing friends and is thriving not only academically as expected, but socially too. He is so much happier at St Andrews. This was a huge move from London to a tiny little town, but it was what he needed in his soul. He still loves the “perception and image and reputation”of LSE, but he feels at home now and it has done wonders for his mental health.

Was it the Econ program? Or another program he transferred out of?