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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hopefully the UK will resist the urge to taint their educational system with professors and administrators from the US. Will only lead to a loss of standards.

This has to be the most idiot comment of all time. So UCL getting MIT, Princeton and Wharton economics professors means lowering the stds? Get of you UK high horse…..what a joke

[Anonymous]

My kid has a masters from Edinburgh.

[Anonymous]

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/14/business/economy/trump-research-brain-drain.html

This seconds what the previous poster said.

[Anonymous]

My kid is having a very difficult time picking from St Andrews (double Honors in Financial Econ and History) and NYU. He had accepted his NYU offer May 1st, but only heard back from St Andrews this last week. He is now leaning St Andrews since it will allow him to do both Fin?Econ and History.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can’t really speak to the debate on rankings, but I have a kids that is a senior in the JDP program at WM/StA.

I get the impression that while WM kids compete for a spot in the JDP after acceptance to WM, it’s the opposite at StA. There, the JDP is treated as a first semester away option for the more competitive majors.

I will also add that there is a high level of academic rigor. My husband and I went to great schools (UVA) and my daughter’s workload at WM was tougher than anything I remember at UVA. She still did quite well first year (3.9) and said it was hard, buy not very hard.

Her first semester at StA was very hard. The writing, research and grade expectations were quite different. Essays that would be easy As at WM were C+ to Bs there. She learned to write A papers there but it was an adjustment, both in terms of the writing style, level of effort, and depth of research.

Anyway I am glad she went there because her writing and research skills improved quite a bit. And I understand if you go there outright, your first two years of grades count in terms of getting the credits to move into honors, but do not count towards their equivalent of a GPA.

All this to stay that UK school have very different expectations and grading systems compared to US schools and it is quite an adjustment. I recommend anyone considering these schools also consider if their kid is ready for that adjustment on top of the adjustment of college generally.

Great points. Which one off the JDPs was she in? Obviously different majors will have different requirements. The advantage of the sub honors years is that while the grading is much harder than the typical US essay review, those grades do not count for GPA. Only the 3rd and 4th year grades will count. You still have to pass. But you can pass with a 7/20. This gives a lot of American kids the time to adjust to the tougher grading and writing requirements before getting to the 3rd year.

She is/was in IR (she is back at WM). Unfortunately for the JDP, those sub-honors classes DO count toward the WM GPA, so I guess in that way, the program is harder. You also have to essentially do first year twice (once at each school).

I believe 7/20 is pass, but you cannot do 7/20 in all classes and expect to pass to honors. I believe the minimum credits mean your actual grades need to be a bit higher (11/20?). But don’t quote me, as my kids was may more focused on how it all translates back to WM.

yes I didn’t think about the JDP program GPA counting in the first two years. That makes sense.

As for St Andrews, Honors years are still 7/20 to pass. A 10 is equivalent to a 2:2. 13 is s 2:1 and >16 = First.
Between 7 and 10 you still pass your Honours modules, but with a third.

I wonder how US schools evaluate their 0 to 20 GPA for grad school purposes in the US?

Any of the top 50 schools in the US understand the grading system. Specially from St Andrews given the fact that every year, about 500 Americans graduate from StA and 1/3 or so end up going to grad school in the US at t50 schools. They all know and understand the 0-20 grading where a 10 is equivalent to a B. The grading at StA and in the UK in general is much tougher than in the US.

My son graduated from St Andrews in History and then went to LSE for grad school. He said the grading at St Andrews was much tougher than at LSE. Having a minor mistake on citations at St Andrews got you a few points of a 4000 word paper. At LSE, minor citations errors were simply ignored.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can’t really speak to the debate on rankings, but I have a kids that is a senior in the JDP program at WM/StA.

I get the impression that while WM kids compete for a spot in the JDP after acceptance to WM, it’s the opposite at StA. There, the JDP is treated as a first semester away option for the more competitive majors.

I will also add that there is a high level of academic rigor. My husband and I went to great schools (UVA) and my daughter’s workload at WM was tougher than anything I remember at UVA. She still did quite well first year (3.9) and said it was hard, buy not very hard.

Her first semester at StA was very hard. The writing, research and grade expectations were quite different. Essays that would be easy As at WM were C+ to Bs there. She learned to write A papers there but it was an adjustment, both in terms of the writing style, level of effort, and depth of research.

Anyway I am glad she went there because her writing and research skills improved quite a bit. And I understand if you go there outright, your first two years of grades count in terms of getting the credits to move into honors, but do not count towards their equivalent of a GPA.

All this to stay that UK school have very different expectations and grading systems compared to US schools and it is quite an adjustment. I recommend anyone considering these schools also consider if their kid is ready for that adjustment on top of the adjustment of college generally.

Great points. Which one off the JDPs was she in? Obviously different majors will have different requirements. The advantage of the sub honors years is that while the grading is much harder than the typical US essay review, those grades do not count for GPA. Only the 3rd and 4th year grades will count. You still have to pass. But you can pass with a 7/20. This gives a lot of American kids the time to adjust to the tougher grading and writing requirements before getting to the 3rd year.

She is/was in IR (she is back at WM). Unfortunately for the JDP, those sub-honors classes DO count toward the WM GPA, so I guess in that way, the program is harder. You also have to essentially do first year twice (once at each school).

I believe 7/20 is pass, but you cannot do 7/20 in all classes and expect to pass to honors. I believe the minimum credits mean your actual grades need to be a bit higher (11/20?). But don’t quote me, as my kids was may more focused on how it all translates back to WM.

yes I didn’t think about the JDP program GPA counting in the first two years. That makes sense.

As for St Andrews, Honors years are still 7/20 to pass. A 10 is equivalent to a 2:2. 13 is s 2:1 and >16 = First.
Between 7 and 10 you still pass your Honours modules, but with a third.

I wonder how US schools evaluate their 0 to 20 GPA for grad school purposes in the US?

Any of the top 50 schools in the US understand the grading system. Specially from St Andrews given the fact that every year, about 500 Americans graduate from StA and 1/3 or so end up going to grad school in the US at t50 schools. They all know and understand the 0-20 grading where a 10 is equivalent to a B. The grading at StA and in the UK in general is much tougher than in the US.

My son graduated from St Andrews in History and then went to LSE for grad school. He said the grading at St Andrews was much tougher than at LSE. Having a minor mistake on citations at St Andrews got you a few points of a 4000 word paper. At LSE, minor citations errors were simply ignored.

This 100%. For any school that “matters” in the US, they are fully aware of the grading system in the UK.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can’t really speak to the debate on rankings, but I have a kids that is a senior in the JDP program at WM/StA.

I get the impression that while WM kids compete for a spot in the JDP after acceptance to WM, it’s the opposite at StA. There, the JDP is treated as a first semester away option for the more competitive majors.

I will also add that there is a high level of academic rigor. My husband and I went to great schools (UVA) and my daughter’s workload at WM was tougher than anything I remember at UVA. She still did quite well first year (3.9) and said it was hard, buy not very hard.

Her first semester at StA was very hard. The writing, research and grade expectations were quite different. Essays that would be easy As at WM were C+ to Bs there. She learned to write A papers there but it was an adjustment, both in terms of the writing style, level of effort, and depth of research.

Anyway I am glad she went there because her writing and research skills improved quite a bit. And I understand if you go there outright, your first two years of grades count in terms of getting the credits to move into honors, but do not count towards their equivalent of a GPA.

All this to stay that UK school have very different expectations and grading systems compared to US schools and it is quite an adjustment. I recommend anyone considering these schools also consider if their kid is ready for that adjustment on top of the adjustment of college generally.

Great points. Which one off the JDPs was she in? Obviously different majors will have different requirements. The advantage of the sub honors years is that while the grading is much harder than the typical US essay review, those grades do not count for GPA. Only the 3rd and 4th year grades will count. You still have to pass. But you can pass with a 7/20. This gives a lot of American kids the time to adjust to the tougher grading and writing requirements before getting to the 3rd year.

She is/was in IR (she is back at WM). Unfortunately for the JDP, those sub-honors classes DO count toward the WM GPA, so I guess in that way, the program is harder. You also have to essentially do first year twice (once at each school).

I believe 7/20 is pass, but you cannot do 7/20 in all classes and expect to pass to honors. I believe the minimum credits mean your actual grades need to be a bit higher (11/20?). But don’t quote me, as my kids was may more focused on how it all translates back to WM.

yes I didn’t think about the JDP program GPA counting in the first two years. That makes sense.

As for St Andrews, Honors years are still 7/20 to pass. A 10 is equivalent to a 2:2. 13 is s 2:1 and >16 = First.
Between 7 and 10 you still pass your Honours modules, but with a third.

I wonder how US schools evaluate their 0 to 20 GPA for grad school purposes in the US?

Any of the top 50 schools in the US understand the grading system. Specially from St Andrews given the fact that every year, about 500 Americans graduate from StA and 1/3 or so end up going to grad school in the US at t50 schools. They all know and understand the 0-20 grading where a 10 is equivalent to a B. The grading at StA and in the UK in general is much tougher than in the US.

My son graduated from St Andrews in History and then went to LSE for grad school. He said the grading at St Andrews was much tougher than at LSE. Having a minor mistake on citations at St Andrews got you a few points of a 4000 word paper. At LSE, minor citations errors were simply ignored.

Yes, St Andrews grading tends to be tough, especially in years 1 & 2. A 10 is more like a C-, at least using the conversion scale at W&M which participates in a joint degree program with St Andrews. Here is the conversion chart:

St Andrews Numeric Grade William & Mary Letter Grade Quality Points (W&M) Meaning
15.5 to 20 A 4.0 Excellent
14.5 to 15.4 A- 3.7
13.9 to 14.4 B+ 3.3
13.1 to 13.8 B 3.0 Good
12.3 to 13.0 B- 2.7
11.0 to 12.2 C+ 2.3
10.5 to 10.9 C 2.0 Satisfactory
9.0 to 10.4 C- 1.7
8.0 to 8.9 D+ 1.3 Minimal Pass
7.5 to 7.9 D 1.0
7.0 to 7.4 D- 0.7
0 to 6.9 F 0.0 Fail

[Anonymous]

JDP students often cite how brutal this conversion table is on their W&M GPA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can’t really speak to the debate on rankings, but I have a kids that is a senior in the JDP program at WM/StA.

I get the impression that while WM kids compete for a spot in the JDP after acceptance to WM, it’s the opposite at StA. There, the JDP is treated as a first semester away option for the more competitive majors.

I will also add that there is a high level of academic rigor. My husband and I went to great schools (UVA) and my daughter’s workload at WM was tougher than anything I remember at UVA. She still did quite well first year (3.9) and said it was hard, buy not very hard.

Her first semester at StA was very hard. The writing, research and grade expectations were quite different. Essays that would be easy As at WM were C+ to Bs there. She learned to write A papers there but it was an adjustment, both in terms of the writing style, level of effort, and depth of research.

Anyway I am glad she went there because her writing and research skills improved quite a bit. And I understand if you go there outright, your first two years of grades count in terms of getting the credits to move into honors, but do not count towards their equivalent of a GPA.

All this to stay that UK school have very different expectations and grading systems compared to US schools and it is quite an adjustment. I recommend anyone considering these schools also consider if their kid is ready for that adjustment on top of the adjustment of college generally.

Great points. Which one off the JDPs was she in? Obviously different majors will have different requirements. The advantage of the sub honors years is that while the grading is much harder than the typical US essay review, those grades do not count for GPA. Only the 3rd and 4th year grades will count. You still have to pass. But you can pass with a 7/20. This gives a lot of American kids the time to adjust to the tougher grading and writing requirements before getting to the 3rd year.

She is/was in IR (she is back at WM). Unfortunately for the JDP, those sub-honors classes DO count toward the WM GPA, so I guess in that way, the program is harder. You also have to essentially do first year twice (once at each school).

I believe 7/20 is pass, but you cannot do 7/20 in all classes and expect to pass to honors. I believe the minimum credits mean your actual grades need to be a bit higher (11/20?). But don’t quote me, as my kids was may more focused on how it all translates back to WM.

yes I didn’t think about the JDP program GPA counting in the first two years. That makes sense.

As for St Andrews, Honors years are still 7/20 to pass. A 10 is equivalent to a 2:2. 13 is s 2:1 and >16 = First.
Between 7 and 10 you still pass your Honours modules, but with a third.

I wonder how US schools evaluate their 0 to 20 GPA for grad school purposes in the US?

Any of the top 50 schools in the US understand the grading system. Specially from St Andrews given the fact that every year, about 500 Americans graduate from StA and 1/3 or so end up going to grad school in the US at t50 schools. They all know and understand the 0-20 grading where a 10 is equivalent to a B. The grading at StA and in the UK in general is much tougher than in the US.

My son graduated from St Andrews in History and then went to LSE for grad school. He said the grading at St Andrews was much tougher than at LSE. Having a minor mistake on citations at St Andrews got you a few points of a 4000 word paper. At LSE, minor citations errors were simply ignored.

Yes, St Andrews grading tends to be tough, especially in years 1 & 2. A 10 is more like a C-, at least using the conversion scale at W&M which participates in a joint degree program with St Andrews. Here is the conversion chart:

St Andrews Numeric Grade William & Mary Letter Grade Quality Points (W&M) Meaning
15.5 to 20 A 4.0 Excellent
14.5 to 15.4 A- 3.7
13.9 to 14.4 B+ 3.3
13.1 to 13.8 B 3.0 Good
12.3 to 13.0 B- 2.7
11.0 to 12.2 C+ 2.3
10.5 to 10.9 C 2.0 Satisfactory
9.0 to 10.4 C- 1.7
8.0 to 8.9 D+ 1.3 Minimal Pass
7.5 to 7.9 D 1.0
7.0 to 7.4 D- 0.7
0 to 6.9 F 0.0 Fail

As the PP said, this conversation table is WAY OFF. I have had a nephew and a niece graduating from the Joint program. And they both said a 10 at St Andrews was equivalent to a B at William & Mary. Thye breezed through B’s and almost always had A’s at WM while at St A to get a 13 was brutal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can’t really speak to the debate on rankings, but I have a kids that is a senior in the JDP program at WM/StA.

I get the impression that while WM kids compete for a spot in the JDP after acceptance to WM, it’s the opposite at StA. There, the JDP is treated as a first semester away option for the more competitive majors.

I will also add that there is a high level of academic rigor. My husband and I went to great schools (UVA) and my daughter’s workload at WM was tougher on than anything I remember at UVA. She still did quite well first year (3.9) and said it was hard, buy not very hard.

Her first semester at StA was very hard. The writing, research and grade expectations were quite different. Essays that would be easy As at WM were C+ to Bs there. She learned to write A papers there but it was an adjustment, both in terms of the writing style, level of effort, and depth of research.

Anyway I am glad she went there because her writing and research skills improved quite a bit. And I understand if you go there outright, your first two years of grades count in terms of getting the credits to move into honors, but do not count towards their equivalent of a GPA.

All this to stay that UK school have very different expectations and grading systems compared to US schools and it is quite an adjustment. I recommend anyone considering these schools also consider if their kid is ready for that adjustment on top of the adjustment of college generally.

Great points. Which one off the JDPs was she in? Obviously different majors will have different requirements. The advantage of the sub honors years is that while the grading is much harder than the typical US essay review, those grades do not count for GPA. Only the 3rd and 4th year grades will count. You still have to pass. But you can pass with a 7/20. This gives a lot of American kids the time to adjust to the tougher grading and writing requirements before getting to the 3rd year.

She is/was in IR (she is back at WM). Unfortunately for the JDP, those sub-honors classes DO count toward the WM GPA, so I guess in that way, the program is harder. You also have to essentially do first year twice (once at each school).

I believe 7/20 is pass, but you cannot do 7/20 in all classes and expect to pass to honors. I believe the minimum credits mean your actual grades need to be a bit higher (11/20?). But don’t quote me, as my kids was may more focused on how it all translates back to WM.

yes I didn’t think about the JDP program GPA counting in the first two years. That makes sense.

As for St Andrews, Honors years are still 7/20 to pass. A 10 is equivalent to a 2:2. 13 is s 2:1 and >16 = First.
Between 7 and 10 you still pass your Honours modules, but with a third.

I wonder how US schools evaluate their 0 to 20 GPA for grad school purposes in the US?

Any of the top 50 schools in the US understand the grading system. Specially from St Andrews given the fact that every year, about 500 Americans graduate from StA and 1/3 or so end up going to grad school in the US at t50 schools. They all know and understand the 0-20 grading where a 10 is equivalent to a B. The grading at StA and in the UK in general is much tougher than in the US.

My son graduated from St Andrews in History and then went to LSE for grad school. He said the grading at St Andrews was much tougher than at LSE. Having a minor mistake on citations at St Andrews got you a few points of a 4000 word paper. At LSE, minor citations errors were simply ignored.

Yes, St Andrews grading tends to be tough, especially in years 1 & 2. A 10 is more like a C-, at least using the conversion scale at W&M which participates in a joint degree program with St Andrews. Here is the conversion chart:

St Andrews Numeric Grade William & Mary Letter Grade Quality Points (W&M) Meaning
15.5 to 20 A 4.0 Excellent
14.5 to 15.4 A- 3.7
13.9 to 14.4 B+ 3.3
13.1 to 13.8 B 3.0 Good
12.3 to 13.0 B- 2.7
11.0 to 12.2 C+ 2.3
10.5 to 10.9 C 2.0 Satisfactory
9.0 to 10.4 C- 1.7
8.0 to 8.9 D+ 1.3 Minimal Pass
7.5 to 7.9 D 1.0
7.0 to 7.4 D- 0.7
0 to 6.9 F 0.0 Fail

As the PP said, this conversation table is WAY OFF. I have had a nephew and a niece graduating from the Joint program. And they both said a 10 at St Andrews was equivalent to a B at William & Mary. Thye breezed through B’s and almost always had A’s at WM while at St A to get a 13 was brutal.

Sorry to disappoint you but nephew and niece fibbed a little. Here is the source for the table - https://catalog.wm.edu/content.php?catoid=28&navoid=4437#System_of_Grading . Had a kid in the program so very familiar with how the conversion table impacts GPA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can’t really speak to the debate on rankings, but I have a kids that is a senior in the JDP program at WM/StA.

I get the impression that while WM kids compete for a spot in the JDP after acceptance to WM, it’s the opposite at StA. There, the JDP is treated as a first semester away option for the more competitive majors.

I will also add that there is a high level of academic rigor. My husband and I went to great schools (UVA) and my daughter’s workload at WM was tougher on than anything I remember at UVA. She still did quite well first year (3.9) and said it was hard, buy not very hard.

Her first semester at StA was very hard. The writing, research and grade expectations were quite different. Essays that would be easy As at WM were C+ to Bs there. She learned to write A papers there but it was an adjustment, both in terms of the writing style, level of effort, and depth of research.

Anyway I am glad she went there because her writing and research skills improved quite a bit. And I understand if you go there outright, your first two years of grades count in terms of getting the credits to move into honors, but do not count towards their equivalent of a GPA.

All this to stay that UK school have very different expectations and grading systems compared to US schools and it is quite an adjustment. I recommend anyone considering these schools also consider if their kid is ready for that adjustment on top of the adjustment of college generally.

Great points. Which one off the JDPs was she in? Obviously different majors will have different requirements. The advantage of the sub honors years is that while the grading is much harder than the typical US essay review, those grades do not count for GPA. Only the 3rd and 4th year grades will count. You still have to pass. But you can pass with a 7/20. This gives a lot of American kids the time to adjust to the tougher grading and writing requirements before getting to the 3rd year.

She is/was in IR (she is back at WM). Unfortunately for the JDP, those sub-honors classes DO count toward the WM GPA, so I guess in that way, the program is harder. You also have to essentially do first year twice (once at each school).

I believe 7/20 is pass, but you cannot do 7/20 in all classes and expect to pass to honors. I believe the minimum credits mean your actual grades need to be a bit higher (11/20?). But don’t quote me, as my kids was may more focused on how it all translates back to WM.

yes I didn’t think about the JDP program GPA counting in the first two years. That makes sense.

As for St Andrews, Honors years are still 7/20 to pass. A 10 is equivalent to a 2:2. 13 is s 2:1 and >16 = First.
Between 7 and 10 you still pass your Honours modules, but with a third.

I wonder how US schools evaluate their 0 to 20 GPA for grad school purposes in the US?

Any of the top 50 schools in the US understand the grading system. Specially from St Andrews given the fact that every year, about 500 Americans graduate from StA and 1/3 or so end up going to grad school in the US at t50 schools. They all know and understand the 0-20 grading where a 10 is equivalent to a B. The grading at StA and in the UK in general is much tougher than in the US.

My son graduated from St Andrews in History and then went to LSE for grad school. He said the grading at St Andrews was much tougher than at LSE. Having a minor mistake on citations at St Andrews got you a few points of a 4000 word paper. At LSE, minor citations errors were simply ignored.

Yes, St Andrews grading tends to be tough, especially in years 1 & 2. A 10 is more like a C-, at least using the conversion scale at W&M which participates in a joint degree program with St Andrews. Here is the conversion chart:

St Andrews Numeric Grade William & Mary Letter Grade Quality Points (W&M) Meaning
15.5 to 20 A 4.0 Excellent
14.5 to 15.4 A- 3.7
13.9 to 14.4 B+ 3.3
13.1 to 13.8 B 3.0 Good
12.3 to 13.0 B- 2.7
11.0 to 12.2 C+ 2.3
10.5 to 10.9 C 2.0 Satisfactory
9.0 to 10.4 C- 1.7
8.0 to 8.9 D+ 1.3 Minimal Pass
7.5 to 7.9 D 1.0
7.0 to 7.4 D- 0.7
0 to 6.9 F 0.0 Fail

As the PP said, this conversation table is WAY OFF. I have had a nephew and a niece graduating from the Joint program. And they both said a 10 at St Andrews was equivalent to a B at William & Mary. Thye breezed through B’s and almost always had A’s at WM while at St A to get a 13 was brutal.

Sorry to disappoint you but nephew and niece fibbed a little. Here is the source for the table - https://catalog.wm.edu/content.php?catoid=28&navoid=4437#System_of_Grading . Had a kid in the program so very familiar with how the conversion table impacts GPA.

I’m not arguing the table exists….The commentary is based on the difficult of achieving the equivalent grades. Interesting that both had the exact same commentary that is different than you kid….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m the OP. PP here is right to not focus specifically on just one specific variable on its own.

I also need to go back to my original post. I should have included St Andrews alongside #4 here since this is a US focused list. Clearly St Andrews has a great alumni network in the US and it is very helpful for those coming back to the US after going to school in the UK.

I did not include LSE on purpose on the list since it is a very niche school. But this what the list should be when including those two.

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

As an Londoner who has taught as 3 of these and now teach in the US, this spot on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ok, say room and board is about 10k per yr. That is 30k plus 123k =153k . Say $188k total.

Tell me a university in the US where u can get better than or an equivalent to an Oxford degree in Economics for $188k including room and board?

This is why DS has six UK schools on his list. Even if he went for a fourth year (sandwich year for professional training) it would still be cheaper than US tuition/room/board. Even with travel factored in (and there’s no Thanksgiving break obvs, only winter and spring so one less trip).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok, say room and board is about 10k per yr. That is 30k plus 123k =153k . Say $188k total.

Tell me a university in the US where u can get better than or an equivalent to an Oxford degree in Economics for $188k including room and board?

This is why DS has six UK schools on his list. Even if he went for a fourth year (sandwich year for professional training) it would still be cheaper than US tuition/room/board. Even with travel factored in (and there’s no Thanksgiving break obvs, only winter and spring so one less trip).

same here. Someone previously mentioned how these are slotted within the t50 and we are basically following that. The English universities are a steal compared to us privates or OOS public’s (specially when comparing 3 vs 4 yrs). The Scottish ones are still cheaper than any of the t50 privates.

[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/St Andrews
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.

I’m Dutch, my husband is English and we both went to uni in the UK and have lived in the US now for 20 years. We agree with this. But for certain courses like History, IR, Business (Fin/econ/mgmt) I would move St Andrews to 3. Same with Warwick for Business and Bristol for engineering. My daughter will be applying to college next year and this is how we have been discussing her potential options.