Foreign Universities...

[Anonymous]

With recent threads regarding Canadian schools and St. Andrews, I thought it might be useful to have a catchall thread for those interested in or have experience with sending their children to foreign universities (no matter where, from Canada to England, to japan).

What are the trends regarding foreign university applications fro students in this area? Oxford, Cambridge, LSE, ETH Zurich, Grand Ecoles, McGill, UToronto, Waseda....lots of really highly ranked and prestigious schools that are much cheaper than what we find in the US.

Do most parents that send their child to these schools from around here, diplomat/foreign nationals? Any trends regarding an uptick of students interested in schools such as these?

[Anonymous]

Most guidance counselors do not know anything about colleges outside the U.S. So it is up to the child or the family to research

[Anonymous]

We are immigrants from Europe and will be sending our kids to college there. The US prices are ridiculous and totally unjustified except perhaps for the very top schools. I am amazed how many American parents take 250k college bills as a given and even decide on their family size based on paying million dollar tuitions down the road.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are immigrants from Europe and will be sending our kids to college there. The US prices are ridiculous and totally unjustified except perhaps for the very top schools. I am amazed how many American parents take 250k college bills as a given and even decide on their family size based on paying million dollar tuitions down the road.

looking at specific schools within your home country or anywhere in europe?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are immigrants from Europe and will be sending our kids to college there. The US prices are ridiculous and totally unjustified except perhaps for the very top schools. I am amazed how many American parents take 250k college bills as a given and even decide on their family size based on paying million dollar tuitions down the road.

looking at specific schools within your home country or anywhere in europe?

We are looking at our home country but many people from our country are now studying in other European countries, especially Austria and Italy. Check out University of Vienna, it's seems cheap and quite respectable (no jaw dropping name for sure, but a decent school that won't hold anyone back).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are immigrants from Europe and will be sending our kids to college there. The US prices are ridiculous and totally unjustified except perhaps for the very top schools. I am amazed how many American parents take 250k college bills as a given and even decide on their family size based on paying million dollar tuitions down the road.

That's so our DC won't have to emigrate to find gainful employment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are immigrants from Europe and will be sending our kids to college there. The US prices are ridiculous and totally unjustified except perhaps for the very top schools. I am amazed how many American parents take 250k college bills as a given and even decide on their family size based on paying million dollar tuitions down the road.

That's so our DC won't have to emigrate to find gainful employment.

Right. Except that we found "gainful" employment with those cheap foreign degrees.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are immigrants from Europe and will be sending our kids to college there. The US prices are ridiculous and totally unjustified except perhaps for the very top schools. I am amazed how many American parents take 250k college bills as a given and even decide on their family size based on paying million dollar tuitions down the road.

That's so our DC won't have to emigrate to find gainful employment.

With all those immigrants with foreign degrees finding gainful employment in the US by the millions every year, surely a native speaker can find a job as well?
Just have to study something that is internationally applicable, like engineering, and not country-specific, like law.

[Anonymous]

Is it true that 1) high school grades don't matter much to foreign universities? 2) foreign universities accept the SAT, but not the ACT?

Thanks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it true that 1) high school grades don't matter much to foreign universities? 2) foreign universities accept the SAT, but not the ACT?

Thanks

My understanding (admittedly limited…) is that they do care about grades and scores, but do not care about extra curricular activities. They are aren't interested in the fact that you played on the soccer team or volunteered at the food bank. The one exception to that is if you did something that is directly related to what you want to study (i.e. did an internship at the hospital and want to study medicine) As for the standardized tests I'm not sure, but I think you are right that they will accept the SAT's but not ACT's. If your kids are in an IB school then they will accept predicted IB scores and then may extend a conditional offer based on those scores that the teachers predict you will get. I'm not sure how they handle non-IB schools, but it might be a similar process in getting predicted scores from the school.

One thing to think about in studying abroad is that most universities (not all though) are not necessarily liberal arts schools in the way that US colleges are. You will usually go straight into your area of study rather than have a few years of general study and then declare your major. It might not be the best option for a student who is undecided on what they want to study.

[Anonymous]

I studied at two prestigious European universities, getting a degree from one. The experience is so different from a US college experience.

[Anonymous]

I did my four year college degree in the United States and then a Masters degree in London. While I loved living in London, I have to say I think the American elite college experience is better from an academic perspective. In the US, you get to take all of sorts classes. In the UK and most of Europe, you are very limited in the classes that you take because They have to be almost entirely from your major, which you choose before you get there. I just think that is limiting. I definitely recommend a year abroad or a graduate degree in Europe, however.

I think the Scottish universities allow more diversity in course selection. Scotland gets very dark, however, I think that could be depressing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I studied at two prestigious European universities, getting a degree from one. The experience is so different from a US college experience.

I would add that the Oxbridge model is really only for self-starters. And readers. And debaters. One reads all week then meets in tutorials to debate the issues with the Professors. It's a much more advanced system of self-teaching than the lecture system in the U.S. And the dorms can be very cold and miserable. It can be particularly rough on the women students.

[Anonymous]

I studied at both EU and US university (for undergrad). The experience is more pleasant in the US but you learn more in Europe. It is true, everything you learn is from one field, but that's the whole point. In their case, college does in fact prepare people for specific professions. It's not exploratory and it's not supposed to be fun. There are no fraternities, no drinking parties all the time, many colleges do not have proper campuses (most are urban) and many more students study from their parents' homes.

[Anonymous]

I really think you cannot generalize re European universities. There are vast differences across countries, and within countries.

I studied abroad in several European countries. I also have friends who studied in many other countries.

In general, European universities tend to be larger in more urban settings. However, this is not the case across the board. There are smaller campuses, even liberal arts colleges. There is great variation depending on the field of study. In continental Europe, law is a broad, general degree and universities are not "selective". Completely different from the US experience. Other more specialized fields may be much more personal, even from the beginning of studies.

Not true that there's no student life / fraternities (if that's what you're looking for). All the Dutch universities have big fraternities (they are co-ed) and there are a big part of student social life. Holland has created English-speaking residential liberal arts colleges (called "university colleges") and are actively recruiting students from out of country. Check out: http://www.ucr.nl/Pages/default.aspx (just one of several).

I think if your child is interested in becoming a doctor or otherwise in the medical field, then European education may make a great deal of sense. You can always return to the US for residency/fellowship.

In general, if your child is likely to go to grad school, I think an undergrad overseas followed by US grad school goes a very long way (maybe all the way) in erasing the disadvantage in not having attended a US college when looking for a job.

If your child is only interested in an undergrad degree, wants to stay in US, then US college might make more sense even if it is much more expensive.