I'm telling my kids to go to the UK for undergrad

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was told that yr 1 was Kindergarden here and that's why in the UK the grade went to yr 13. So, when my kids were in the British system we were told to think that yr 2 meant first grade, yr 3 second grade and so on. I was told it did not mean that they spent an extra year in high school. Those grades would be Yr 10 (9th) Yr 11 ( 10) yr 12 (11) and finally yr 13 ( 12th)

Yes, but they have "reception" at age 4, which is similar to our kindergarten (probably a little harder), so it is 13 years (reception + 1-12).

[Anonymous]

Education is the UK is far superior and less expensive than the us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't want my kid going through the British system. They specialize kids say too early there. They start narrowing kids to a specialty at 16, when they choose a few A levels. Most British kids drop languages then, which is why it:s an area of weakness for the UK. If you are going into the sciences, you'll never take another history course after age 16, and a prospective history major won't take another science course. At university, you take few courses outside your field. You can also loaf until final exams (unless you are at Oxbridge under the tutorial system).

That doesn't really make for a well educated population. I'm consistently floored when I speak.to Europeans,especially scientists. They are often very ignorant of the world outside their own field. My American scientist friends all understand my field of economics and have taken courses in it. The European scientists couldn't define economicd. Say what you like about the multicultural studies requirementd, but at least they have made white kids from the burbs think about tbeir place in society.

Absolute gibberish. I learnt more history by the time I was 16 than Americans have by age 21. Prancing around from bullshit course to bullshit course like undergrads do here does not make you well educated. In the good British Universities you learn how to think. The subject is irrelevant.

Perhaps you do learn how to think at Oxbridge. Their tutorial system is markedly different from the approach used by the rest of the country. Talking to researchers from the EU has not convinced me that that's true in general. I usually hear the kind of casual racism that you get from someone who hadn't been asked to look at the world from any perspective other that their own since age 15.I also hear an inability to know how their work fits into the big picture. That's how Hitler got all of those scientists to do his bidding. They didn't ask questions until it was too late. In thecUK, there is the added problem that the brightest students go into the City, not academia, and s lot of the top professors take the brain drain to the US for higher salaries.

The world of research is rapidly becoming more interdisciplinary. Historians and political scientists are finding that they need graduate level statistics in order to publish. Scientists ignore public policy at their peril, since they are dependent on government funding.

You may call US courses bullshit. That's exactly what I expect from someone with the kind of narrow view of the world that you get by focusing on one subject and thinking that somehow makes you well educated.

[Anonymous]

I wonder if I'm the only one who saw the topic and thought University of Kentucky?

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't attend college in the UK if I planned on returning to the US after college. I would fear I would miss out on building a network, campus recruiting and an American college experience. I would fear it would be hard to relate to my peers following my return to the US.

Also doesn't seem like college in the UK is really any less expensive. Maybe I'd go if it were free, but not at the tuition posted

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was told that yr 1 was Kindergarden here and that's why in the UK the grade went to yr 13. So, when my kids were in the British system we were told to think that yr 2 meant first grade, yr 3 second grade and so on. I was told it did not mean that they spent an extra year in high school. Those grades would be Yr 10 (9th) Yr 11 ( 10) yr 12 (11) and finally yr 13 ( 12th)

Similar to the West Indies where we do two extra years, 6th form (upper & lower) for A levels. It is equivalent to 1st year college in the US. It is no joke...

[Anonymous]

your kids won't be able to make a bid day video though (if a girl) or drool over those in the video (guy).

[Anonymous]

How is UK "better" except the cost?

[Anonymous]

We have a family member entering his third year at University of Glasgow. It is a bargain vs US school. $24k for US students(though he pays less because he has dual US/UK).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How is UK "better" except the cost?

higher chance to bang royalty?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have a family member entering his third year at University of Glasgow. It is a bargain vs US school. $24k for US students(though he pays less because he has dual US/UK).

Do you know if your family member there went in as a British citizen since (s)he holds dual passports? My kids have a dual passport, so I'm wondering if they could get British tuition rates instead of international, or do they first have to establish residency there to get in-country rates?

[Anonymous]

How old are your kids OP? There has been a lot of talk in the UK lately about raising fees, reducing public funding for universities, privatizing more schools, etc. Also, there have been a plethora of staff strikes over these issues. The British academics I know are not rosy about the future of higher education over there. The situation may be radically different in the next few years (though much of this will depend how future elections go.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How is UK "better" except the cost?

Depending on the subject matter, the UK univ. system spends all undergrad years focusing on the major rather than spending a couple of years on GE type courses. I think that enables the student to study more and deeper into their subject matter, unlike here.

A person I know from the UK told me that he feels like getting a masters here in the US is somewhat equivalent to getting an undergrad in the UK because of the number of years studying the subject matter in the US as an undergrad (only 2, really).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How is UK "better" except the cost?

In the US the students are the customer, to be coddled and treated with the utmost sensitivity. "A"s are handed out like candy at a German carnival. Professors are evaluated according to how sweet and generous they are to the students. The easiest courses attract the most students. Courses are designed to instill pride and a sense of self-righteousness in students. The sports staff are the highest-paid staff members, coaches are worshiped. Colleges are above all businesses rather than centers of learning, and professors are entrepreneurs.

The result of all this is a relentless dumbing-down of the US educational establishment, with students emerging woefully unprepared for the demands of the workplace. Of course, there are many exceptions like MIT, and there are many bullshit courses in the UK - if you go to study media studies at the University of Sunderland then you won't be getting a great education. But generally speaking, courses in the better universities in the UK will demand a level of intellectual rigor that their US equivalents will not.

[Anonymous]

Education is the UK is far superior and less expensive than the us.

And yet you live here now. What does that say? That you prefer to consort with lesser-educated people? Or that you couldn't find good employment and opportunities in the UK? Opportunities that were created in part (gasp!) by the existence of a well-educated workforce here in the US?