Are We Crazy for Questioning a $250k US Degree and looking abroad?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ohio State or LSE? Or Oxford? Or Cambridge? or UCL? Yeah, I'm going to the UK

You personally are going nowhere, because you need to get in first. Even so, studying a major like engineering at Cambridge is £44k tuition + £13k college fee is about $77k, on par with HYPSM.

Meanwhile Ohio State is $13k a year, and it’s a very solid Top 50 school. I’d take it over Durham, Edinburgh, Essex in a heartbeat, especially if cost sensitive.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:No we are seriously considering UofT (Toronto St. George campus) for DD. As dual Canadian-US citizens, tuition will be around $10K US atu UofT versus $45K US for a similar oos public uni.

No brainer. Our kid trying to decide between Edi and StA, both over USC which was his best admit in the US, but no merit.

No financial aid at USC? Average yearly cost of attendance is $41k.

https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/colleges/university-of-southern-california/tuition-and-costs

I get that most of these examples are made up, but either you have the money and it doesn’t make sense to scrape the barrel for good deals overseas, or you need financial aid and US universities will give you some.

Also 8 APs will be enough for one year of general education credits, if you need to graduate early.

this is a really old way of thinking. plenty of people have a couple million dollars and don't get FA -- but paying 800k for two kids seems ridic.

St Andrews and Kings were on the table for my kid. Would have taken those over a lot of other 90k options, like Georgetown or BC. Got into HYP so decided it was worth it. 60k is a lot cheaper than 90k.

I was just talking about this last night with some mom friends - taking Wisconsin over Michigan bcs the price is a lot different. This feels like the same thing. Is MI a "better" school? I guess. Will your outcomes be actually different, probably not. And, say, giving the kid a paid off car at college graduation, 2k a month for rent for 3 years, and moving that 35k from 529 to Roth in early 20s would both meaningfully make a kids life better. OR paying for grad school.

Everyone has their own financial priorities. If $60k is your budget run a net price calculator and don’t apply to USC, and BC if they are over that line. Quoting the sticker price tuition to compare is silly when so many students get a discount, but it will be dependent on family finances.

What people consistently say here is that a US Public College is similarly priced if not cheaper that a UK Public University. I’d take UVA, UMD, MI, Wisconsin, Delaware, Florida, U Texas, UNC, Georgia, UMass, UDub, SUNY, UIUC, UCs, UC Boulder, Minnesota, etc over Durham any day if I’m in state. Most states, especially the populous ones, have a flagship that’s decent, and cover more than 80% of the US population.

Save the money for grad school if that’s your thing.

I'd say more people on this forum than not pay the sticker price.

for top 25 schools, fully half pay sticker. and it's not that hard to be in that half if you're a two income professional couple. at all. You apply to BC etc because you dont know what your final choices will be. USC might be the best you get. Would I rather pay 95k to Yale than BC? Sure. But I dont know that going in. what I know is I'm paying sticker at these schools that have very little merit. To get merit, you need to go down the rungs a bit. Which is smart to do too

If you’re a two professionals married couple, you are making enough to be in the top 10% families by earnings with a threshold of about $200k.

I find it ridiculous when people complain about college cost in that income bracket. Try being raised by a single parent making close to minimum wage. You’re providing all the advantages to your kid since birth, but you’d also like a deep discount from colleges. If you don’t want to spend your money, in state is a decent and viable option. But a lot of these people are chasing prestige and aren’t happy with it.

Don’t apply to BC if you’re certain you can’t afford it, run the net price calculator beforehand.

or consider looking abroad, right? did you lose the thread here?

Won’t be better than state flagship.

Ok…you go to U of OK….My kid will go to Durham..

Your derision of University of Oklahoma just underscores how clueless you are about the vast differences in (research) money between US and UK universities.

Durham
Total budget $0.5B
Students 22000
Tuition (US) $40k

Oklahoma University
Total budget $1.6B
Students 30000
Tuition (in state) $10k

If you’re complaining about the USC tuition at $70k and searching for a discount at Durham at $40k, for sure you windy mind doubling those savings by going to OK. Not to mention you could pick a lucrative major like Petroleum engineering where OK one of the best universities in the world.

But sure, send your kid to Durham if that satisfies your cravings for cheap prestige.

I’m not the poster above. I’m the poster with the kid accepted at USC and Durham. Have no idea where OU is coming from.
Someone here mentioned I was lying for saying my kid had no merit at USC. Sorry but that is the case here. His was accepted, but no merit so yes, it is not $40k, it is $100k Plus per year. And before you ask, NO, cost is not the only reason. Kid wants to go away anyway. But yes, the cost at Durham full pay vs USC full pay is not even in the same dimension, specially when one is 3 yrs vs 4.

I think a previous poster mentioned that most kids looking at UK or EU schools are not comparing it to state schools. This was the case for our kid. He applied mostly to US privates….and so far, despite some good acceptances (USC, WashU), he has revived zero merit. And I dont think this is a far fetched as some here quirks like to believe. At our income bracket and at our school that has been the norm….lots of great acceptances, not a lot merit from the better schools. Could my kid have received amazing merit from a worse ranked private, sure….but his heart is on moving on anyway.

Still waiting on St Andrews, but we will be touring these schools soon. I was just asking others about any experience with these schools and kids who turned down good acceptances in the US for UK/EU schools. I’m not asking for the opinion of those with no kids abroad arguing about what is better…

If you advised or allowed your kid to apply to USC and Washington University when you know for sure you can’t afford, then that’s bad parenting and I feel bad for your child.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:No we are seriously considering UofT (Toronto St. George campus) for DD. As dual Canadian-US citizens, tuition will be around $10K US atu UofT versus $45K US for a similar oos public uni.

No brainer. Our kid trying to decide between Edi and StA, both over USC which was his best admit in the US, but no merit.

No financial aid at USC? Average yearly cost of attendance is $[b]41k.

https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/colleges/university-of-southern-california/tuition-and-costs

I get that most of these examples are made up, but either you have the money and it doesn’t make sense to scrape the barrel for good deals overseas, or you need financial aid and US universities will give you some.

Also 8 APs will be enough for one year of general education credits, if you need to graduate early.
[/

No, USC is one of the most expensive SLACs in the U.S. at $99,918 a year but purposefully allows in that figure only $414 for travel so it won’t go over the critical $100k mark. DCUM readers will all go over $100k a year to attend. Here’s the actual admissions site: https://financialaid.usc.edu/undergraduate-financial-aid/cost-of-attendance/

You seem uneducated about college cost in US. [b]That’s the cost of attendance with full tuition price. Not everyone pays that, at USC 66% of the students get financial aid and 20% get merit aid.


Quite well educated actually. Everyone here speaks of total COA, which every college supplies. Most readers here will not get financial aid and only a few will get merit if they are willing to drop down in the ratings and if their kid has something salable that the private wants. Otherwise, like me, they will pay full freight - for all three kids.

As I said, you’re probably lying about your kids USC admission, or you have a lot of money and you don’t need financial aid. In that case it’s sort of dumb to go for Durham instead of USC.

Also note that the PP who said USC at $41,000 specifically said “cost of attendance”. That is wrong COA is $100k

Read the link, they define net price ($41k) as cost of attendance minus scholarships and grants.

Others define cost of attendance as including room and board and other expenses. Regardless, in this context $41k is the tuition the average student pays, which is a far cry from $71k the previous posters referenced.

The $71 was for a different school. The cost of attending USC(Cal) is $99,139 right here. https://financialaid.usc.edu/undergraduate-financial-aid/cost-of-attendance/

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:No we are seriously considering UofT (Toronto St. George campus) for DD. As dual Canadian-US citizens, tuition will be around $10K US atu UofT versus $45K US for a similar oos public uni.

No brainer. Our kid trying to decide between Edi and StA, both over USC which was his best admit in the US, but no merit.

No financial aid at USC? Average yearly cost of attendance is $41k.

https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/colleges/university-of-southern-california/tuition-and-costs

I get that most of these examples are made up, but either you have the money and it doesn’t make sense to scrape the barrel for good deals overseas, or you need financial aid and US universities will give you some.

Also 8 APs will be enough for one year of general education credits, if you need to graduate early.

this is a really old way of thinking. plenty of people have a couple million dollars and don't get FA -- but paying 800k for two kids seems ridic.

St Andrews and Kings were on the table for my kid. Would have taken those over a lot of other 90k options, like Georgetown or BC. Got into HYP so decided it was worth it. 60k is a lot cheaper than 90k.

I was just talking about this last night with some mom friends - taking Wisconsin over Michigan bcs the price is a lot different. This feels like the same thing. Is MI a "better" school? I guess. Will your outcomes be actually different, probably not. And, say, giving the kid a paid off car at college graduation, 2k a month for rent for 3 years, and moving that 35k from 529 to Roth in early 20s would both meaningfully make a kids life better. OR paying for grad school.

Everyone has their own financial priorities. If $60k is your budget run a net price calculator and don’t apply to USC, and BC if they are over that line. Quoting the sticker price tuition to compare is silly when so many students get a discount, but it will be dependent on family finances.

What people consistently say here is that a US Public College is similarly priced if not cheaper that a UK Public University. I’d take UVA, UMD, MI, Wisconsin, Delaware, Florida, U Texas, UNC, Georgia, UMass, UDub, SUNY, UIUC, UCs, UC Boulder, Minnesota, etc over Durham any day if I’m in state. Most states, especially the populous ones, have a flagship that’s decent, and cover more than 80% of the US population.

Save the money for grad school if that’s your thing.

I'd say more people on this forum than not pay the sticker price.

for top 25 schools, fully half pay sticker. and it's not that hard to be in that half if you're a two income professional couple. at all. You apply to BC etc because you dont know what your final choices will be. USC might be the best you get. Would I rather pay 95k to Yale than BC? Sure. But I dont know that going in. what I know is I'm paying sticker at these schools that have very little merit. To get merit, you need to go down the rungs a bit. Which is smart to do too

If you’re a two professionals married couple, you are making enough to be in the top 10% families by earnings with a threshold of about $200k.

I find it ridiculous when people complain about college cost in that income bracket. Try being raised by a single parent making close to minimum wage. You’re providing all the advantages to your kid since birth, but you’d also like a deep discount from colleges. If you don’t want to spend your money, in state is a decent and viable option. But a lot of these people are chasing prestige and aren’t happy with it.

Don’t apply to BC if you’re certain you can’t afford it, run the net price calculator beforehand.

or consider looking abroad, right? did you lose the thread here?

Won’t be better than state flagship.

Ok…you go to U of OK….My kid will go to Durham..

Your derision of University of Oklahoma just underscores how clueless you are about the vast differences in (research) money between US and UK universities.

Durham
Total budget $0.5B
Students 22000
Tuition (US) $40k

Oklahoma University
Total budget $1.6B
Students 30000
Tuition (in state) $10k

If you’re complaining about the USC tuition at $70k and searching for a discount at Durham at $40k, for sure you windy mind doubling those savings by going to OK. Not to mention you could pick a lucrative major like Petroleum engineering where OK one of the best universities in the world.

But sure, send your kid to Durham if that satisfies your cravings for cheap prestige.

I’m not the poster above. I’m the poster with the kid accepted at USC and Durham. Have no idea where OU is coming from.
Someone here mentioned I was lying for saying my kid had no merit at USC. Sorry but that is the case here. His was accepted, but no merit so yes, it is not $40k, it is $100k Plus per year. And before you ask, NO, cost is not the only reason. Kid wants to go away anyway. But yes, the cost at Durham full pay vs USC full pay is not even in the same dimension, specially when one is 3 yrs vs 4.

I think a previous poster mentioned that most kids looking at UK or EU schools are not comparing it to state schools. This was the case for our kid. He applied mostly to US privates….and so far, despite some good acceptances (USC, WashU), he has revived zero merit. And I dont think this is a far fetched as some here quirks like to believe. At our income bracket and at our school that has been the norm….lots of great acceptances, not a lot merit from the better schools. Could my kid have received amazing merit from a worse ranked private, sure….but his heart is on moving on anyway.

Still waiting on St Andrews, but we will be touring these schools soon. I was just asking others about any experience with these schools and kids who turned down good acceptances in the US for UK/EU schools. I’m not asking for the opinion of those with no kids abroad arguing about what is better…

If you advised or allowed your kid to apply to USC and Washington University when you know for sure you can’t afford, then that’s bad parenting and I feel bad for your child.

Who said I cant afford it? I never said that. You are obviously confusing me for some other poster. Read what I said… Unlike a lot of ridiculous parents in here, I’m not the one making my kid go anywhere….yes, we can afford USC, even with no merit. It would be tight, but if that is what he wanted , he knows he can do it. HE is the one deciding to go away for college, despite us being ok with paying for USC or WashU…..My only comment was that one advantage for us if he goes that route, is that it would be much cheaper….I’m not making the decision for him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No we are seriously considering UofT (Toronto St. George campus) for DD. As dual Canadian-US citizens, tuition will be around $10K US atu UofT versus $45K US for a similar oos public uni.

No brainer. Our kid trying to decide between Edi and StA, both over USC which was his best admit in the US, but no merit.

No financial aid at USC? Average yearly cost of attendance is $41k.

https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/colleges/university-of-southern-california/tuition-and-costs

I get that most of these examples are made up, but either you have the money and it doesn’t make sense to scrape the barrel for good deals overseas, or you need financial aid and US universities will give you some.

Also 8 APs will be enough for one year of general education credits, if you need to graduate early.

this is a really old way of thinking. plenty of people have a couple million dollars and don't get FA -- but paying 800k for two kids seems ridic.

St Andrews and Kings were on the table for my kid. Would have taken those over a lot of other 90k options, like Georgetown or BC. Got into HYP so decided it was worth it. 60k is a lot cheaper than 90k.

I was just talking about this last night with some mom friends - taking Wisconsin over Michigan bcs the price is a lot different. This feels like the same thing. Is MI a "better" school? I guess. Will your outcomes be actually different, probably not. And, say, giving the kid a paid off car at college graduation, 2k a month for rent for 3 years, and moving that 35k from 529 to Roth in early 20s would both meaningfully make a kids life better. OR paying for grad school.

Everyone has their own financial priorities. If $60k is your budget run a net price calculator and don’t apply to USC, and BC if they are over that line. Quoting the sticker price tuition to compare is silly when so many students get a discount, but it will be dependent on family finances.

What people consistently say here is that a US Public College is similarly priced if not cheaper that a UK Public University. I’d take UVA, UMD, MI, Wisconsin, Delaware, Florida, U Texas, UNC, Georgia, UMass, UDub, SUNY, UIUC, UCs, UC Boulder, Minnesota, etc over Durham any day if I’m in state. Most states, especially the populous ones, have a flagship that’s decent, and cover more than 80% of the US population.

Save the money for grad school if that’s your thing.

I'd say more people on this forum than not pay the sticker price.

for top 25 schools, fully half pay sticker. and it's not that hard to be in that half if you're a two income professional couple. at all. You apply to BC etc because you dont know what your final choices will be. USC might be the best you get. Would I rather pay 95k to Yale than BC? Sure. But I dont know that going in. what I know is I'm paying sticker at these schools that have very little merit. To get merit, you need to go down the rungs a bit. Which is smart to do too

If you’re a two professionals married couple, you are making enough to be in the top 10% families by earnings with a threshold of about $200k.

I find it ridiculous when people complain about college cost in that income bracket. Try being raised by a single parent making close to minimum wage. You’re providing all the advantages to your kid since birth, but you’d also like a deep discount from colleges. If you don’t want to spend your money, in state is a decent and viable option. But a lot of these people are chasing prestige and aren’t happy with it.

Don’t apply to BC if you’re certain you can’t afford it, run the net price calculator beforehand.

or consider looking abroad, right? did you lose the thread here?

Won’t be better than state flagship.

Ok…you go to U of OK….My kid will go to Durham..

Your derision of University of Oklahoma just underscores how clueless you are about the vast differences in (research) money between US and UK universities.

Durham
Total budget $0.5B
Students 22000
Tuition (US) $40k

Oklahoma University
Total budget $1.6B
Students 30000
Tuition (in state) $10k

If you’re complaining about the USC tuition at $70k and searching for a discount at Durham at $40k, for sure you windy mind doubling those savings by going to OK. Not to mention you could pick a lucrative major like Petroleum engineering where OK one of the best universities in the world.

But sure, send your kid to Durham if that satisfies your cravings for cheap prestige.

I’m not the poster above. I’m the poster with the kid accepted at USC and Durham. Have no idea where OU is coming from.
Someone here mentioned I was lying for saying my kid had no merit at USC. Sorry but that is the case here. His was accepted, but no merit so yes, it is not $40k, it is $100k Plus per year. And before you ask, NO, cost is not the only reason. Kid wants to go away anyway. But yes, the cost at Durham full pay vs USC full pay is not even in the same dimension, specially when one is 3 yrs vs 4.

I think a previous poster mentioned that most kids looking at UK or EU schools are not comparing it to state schools. This was the case for our kid. He applied mostly to US privates….and so far, despite some good acceptances (USC, WashU), he has revived zero merit. And I dont think this is a far fetched as some here quirks like to believe. At our income bracket and at our school that has been the norm….lots of great acceptances, not a lot merit from the better schools. Could my kid have received amazing merit from a worse ranked private, sure….but his heart is on moving on anyway.

Still waiting on St Andrews, but we will be touring these schools soon. I was just asking others about any experience with these schools and kids who turned down good acceptances in the US for UK/EU schools. I’m not asking for the opinion of those with no kids abroad arguing about what is better…

If you advised or allowed your kid to apply to USC and Washington University when you know for sure you can’t afford, then that’s bad parenting and I feel bad for your child.

Ridic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I’m not the poster above. I’m the poster with the kid accepted at USC and Durham. …

But yes, the cost at Durham full pay vs USC full pay is not even in the same dimension, specially when one is 3 yrs vs 4.
…

He applied mostly to US privates….and so far, despite some good acceptances (USC, WashU), he has revived zero merit. …

I was just asking others about any experience with these schools and kids who turned down good acceptances in the US for UK/EU schools.

I went to a school in Tufts-Emory-Rice class myself. I have a son who earned a social sciences bachelor’s at a school that is, roughly, an EU equivalent of UCLA, with in-country tuition. So, an average of $1,500 per year in tuition for three years.

My son passed every class, earned good grades, enjoyed himself, completed a one-year master’s, and now has a job that seems like a good starter job for him.

He fears Trump and won’t even consider returning to the United States until Trump leaves, so I don’t yet know what will happen if he tries to apply to jobs or grad schools here.

Pros:

Going to a UK or EU school is great for a disciplined student who wants an offbeat experience and who can get into a place like Tufts but doesn’t end up with an affordable option at that level.

At least in the social sciences, students who are good students here are good students in the UK and EU.

The level of academic sophistication at good UK/EU schools is high and comparable to here. The classes are good.

The programs are not necessarily two-test-a-semester or final-exam-only classes. My son had some discussion classes, and professors seemed to have a mix of papers, quizzes, presentations and major exams.

The full cost of the bachelor’s and master’s was less than one-year at USC.

The cons:

Those schools don’t provide much support. They don’t even have many on-campus jobs for students.

My experience is that it’s hard to find U.S. students who’ve gone to UK/EU schools and come back here, because that’s a somewhat new thing. So, I still have no idea how well or poorly that will work.

But the real con is simply that the world looks a lot more complicated than it did five years ago. I think the only way you can send your kid to Scotland for school, for example, is if your kid is a rugged survivalist who can handle anything or if you have a friend or fourth cousin in the UK who’d take your son in for a few weeks if all the universities suddenly shut down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I’m not the poster above. I’m the poster with the kid accepted at USC and Durham. …

But yes, the cost at Durham full pay vs USC full pay is not even in the same dimension, specially when one is 3 yrs vs 4.
…

He applied mostly to US privates….and so far, despite some good acceptances (USC, WashU), he has revived zero merit. …

I was just asking others about any experience with these schools and kids who turned down good acceptances in the US for UK/EU schools.

I went to a school in Tufts-Emory-Rice class myself. I have a son who earned a social sciences bachelor’s at a school that is, roughly, an EU equivalent of UCLA, with in-country tuition. So, an average of $1,500 per year in tuition for three years.

My son passed every class, earned good grades, enjoyed himself, completed a one-year master’s, and now has a job that seems like a good starter job for him.

He fears Trump and won’t even consider returning to the United States until Trump leaves, so I don’t yet know what will happen if he tries to apply to jobs or grad schools here.

Pros:

Going to a UK or EU school is great for a disciplined student who wants an offbeat experience and who can get into a place like Tufts but doesn’t end up with an affordable option at that level.

At least in the social sciences, students who are good students here are good students in the UK and EU.

The level of academic sophistication at good UK/EU schools is high and comparable to here. The classes are good.

The programs are not necessarily two-test-a-semester or final-exam-only classes. My son had some discussion classes, and professors seemed to have a mix of papers, quizzes, presentations and major exams.

The full cost of the bachelor’s and master’s was less than one-year at USC.

The cons:

Those schools don’t provide much support. They don’t even have many on-campus jobs for students.

My experience is that it’s hard to find U.S. students who’ve gone to UK/EU schools and come back here, because that’s a somewhat new thing. So, I still have no idea how well or poorly that will work.

But the real con is simply that the world looks a lot more complicated than it did five years ago. I think the only way you can send your kid to Scotland for school, for example, is if your kid is a rugged survivalist who can handle anything or if you have a friend or fourth cousin in the UK who’d take your son in for a few weeks if all the universities suddenly shut down.

lol at EU equivalent of UCLA, what’s that? If you go for a social sciences degrees it’s already hard to find a well paying job, and it will be even harder with a degree from a university without a name recognition in US. But at least you’re not saddled with massive debt.

As others have said, go public in state, as in go to UCLA, not the EU equivalent of UCLA. I’m kind of baffled on what people assume UK/EU universities have to offer above state flagships in US. Sure, there are a handful of colleges in UK that have the name recognition and prestige, but most likely the caliber of student going to those colleges will get better admission offers in US.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Frankly I don’t understand the logic. If you don’t want to spend 250k on a US college you don’t have to. Go in state (UTA UVA Michigan UNC are all great schools for prime students) or Get merit at a T100 school.

The majority of the people I see posting on DCUM with kids going abroad are prestige hunters whose kids didn’t have the grades and stats to get into the T20/30. So off to St Andrews they go. So mommy can drop a name.

From what I see it’s not about quality of education at all. If it was y’all would be hyping up Durham and Warwick. But instead it’s the same 3 UK schools (I don’t begrudge Oxbridge btw that’s legit). But LSE as a psych major? Please.

PP already said they live in a state where in-state is not great. They dont want in-state. You act like getting Merit at a T100 private is so easy.

Give you our story. DS is a 2nd yr at Durham. He applied to 8 US schools. We are in Texas. He had a 1490 SAT, 3.8/4 UW GPA, great ECs but he was just outside the top 10% by 1 position in his HS. So any decent In-state for us was gone (Not UT or A&M). He was accepted to 4 other privates T-30-T70 range. Had Merit offers to 2 of them. But even with the Merit Aid he received, Durham is still much much cheaper when comparing 3 vs 4 years. This is not the reason he selected Durham. They have an amazing program that when coupled with the cost, made the decision to forgo the expensive privates (with some merit) an easy decision.

Similar story here.

We are in California. Kid wanted UCB or UCLA. Didn’t get in any of the 6 UCs he applied to. 1520 SAT, 3.9/4 UW GPA, very good ECs.
Got in USC and NYU with zero merit. Also got in U Wash. Had $20k or os merit at a couple of other privates.

He got in Edinburgh, UCL, Kings, St Andrews and Durham. He just started school in the UK. Not telling you which one he chose to attend to avoid the ridiculous DCUM condescending messages….

I’m skeptical of this story. Of course UCB and UCLA are competitive, but the next most competitive UC are UCSD, UCSB, UCI with admit rates at 25-30%.

Next one is UC Davis with 45% admission rates and median stats way below what PPs kid had, which also got into highly selective NYU (8%), USC (10%) and Washington University (11%).

Not to mention that UC Santa Cruz, Riverside and Merced are essentially safeties with admit rates 70-80+%.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I’m not the poster above. I’m the poster with the kid accepted at USC and Durham. …

But yes, the cost at Durham full pay vs USC full pay is not even in the same dimension, specially when one is 3 yrs vs 4.
…

He applied mostly to US privates….and so far, despite some good acceptances (USC, WashU), he has revived zero merit. …

I was just asking others about any experience with these schools and kids who turned down good acceptances in the US for UK/EU schools.

I went to a school in Tufts-Emory-Rice class myself. I have a son who earned a social sciences bachelor’s at a school that is, roughly, an EU equivalent of UCLA, with in-country tuition. So, an average of $1,500 per year in tuition for three years.

My son passed every class, earned good grades, enjoyed himself, completed a one-year master’s, and now has a job that seems like a good starter job for him.

He fears Trump and won’t even consider returning to the United States until Trump leaves, so I don’t yet know what will happen if he tries to apply to jobs or grad schools here.

Pros:

Going to a UK or EU school is great for a disciplined student who wants an offbeat experience and who can get into a place like Tufts but doesn’t end up with an affordable option at that level.

At least in the social sciences, students who are good students here are good students in the UK and EU.

The level of academic sophistication at good UK/EU schools is high and comparable to here. The classes are good.

The programs are not necessarily two-test-a-semester or final-exam-only classes. My son had some discussion classes, and professors seemed to have a mix of papers, quizzes, presentations and major exams.

The full cost of the bachelor’s and master’s was less than one-year at USC.

The cons:

Those schools don’t provide much support. They don’t even have many on-campus jobs for students.

My experience is that it’s hard to find U.S. students who’ve gone to UK/EU schools and come back here, because that’s a somewhat new thing. So, I still have no idea how well or poorly that will work.

But the real con is simply that the world looks a lot more complicated than it did five years ago. I think the only way you can send your kid to Scotland for school, for example, is if your kid is a rugged survivalist who can handle anything or if you have a friend or fourth cousin in the UK who’d take your son in for a few weeks if all the universities suddenly shut down.

Tufts is not the same level as Rice and Emory. So it seems like you went to Tufts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I’m not the poster above. I’m the poster with the kid accepted at USC and Durham. …

But yes, the cost at Durham full pay vs USC full pay is not even in the same dimension, specially when one is 3 yrs vs 4.
…

He applied mostly to US privates….and so far, despite some good acceptances (USC, WashU), he has revived zero merit. …

I was just asking others about any experience with these schools and kids who turned down good acceptances in the US for UK/EU schools.

….. I think the only way you can send your kid to Scotland for school, for example, is if your kid is a rugged survivalist who can handle anything or if you have a friend or fourth cousin in the UK who’d take your son in for a few weeks if all the universities suddenly shut down.

You were doing so good until this last part…..Really?

I sent my 2 kids to Scotland from Texas…none of them are rugged survivalists….and no 4th cousins in the UK,,,,One graduated from Edinburgh and the one a 3rd yr at St Andrews….please….dont be ridiculous….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ohio State or LSE? Or Oxford? Or Cambridge? or UCL? Yeah, I'm going to the UK

You personally are going nowhere, because you need to get in first. Even so, studying a major like engineering at Cambridge is £44k tuition + £13k college fee is about $77k, on par with HYPSM.

Meanwhile Ohio State is $13k a year, and it’s a very solid Top 50 school. I’d take it over Durham, Edinburgh, Essex in a heartbeat, especially if cost sensitive.

The above ignores that English university degrees are 3 years. It slso omits cost estimates for Durham, Edi, and Essex. Also, one's specialty might matter. Essex overall is 2nd tier in the UK, but their Photonics is world-class.

That said, for engineering it usually does not matter as much which college one attends and 4x $13k << 3x $77k.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I’m not the poster above. I’m the poster with the kid accepted at USC and Durham. …

But yes, the cost at Durham full pay vs USC full pay is not even in the same dimension, specially when one is 3 yrs vs 4.
…

He applied mostly to US privates….and so far, despite some good acceptances (USC, WashU), he has revived zero merit. …

I was just asking others about any experience with these schools and kids who turned down good acceptances in the US for UK/EU schools.

….. I think the only way you can send your kid to Scotland for school, for example, is if your kid is a rugged survivalist who can handle anything or if you have a friend or fourth cousin in the UK who’d take your son in for a few weeks if all the universities suddenly shut down.

You were doing so good until this last part…..Really?

I sent my 2 kids to Scotland from Texas…none of them are rugged survivalists….and no 4th cousins in the UK,,,,One graduated from Edinburgh and the one a 3rd yr at St Andrews….please….dont be ridiculous….

What were your Edinburgh’s kid job prospects after graduation? How do oyu as a parent compare Edi to St Andrews having had two kids there?

DS was accepted to both and is trying to decide.

[Anonymous]

They both loved their choices. My Edinburgh kid was in a STEM field. His professors were top in their fields and he ended up back in the states for a masters degree at Stanford. He will likely come back to the UK for a PhD. He wants to do research. That is his thing.

My younger one is now a 3rd yr at St Andrews. I think he parties more than his older brother even with a much smaller town. But it is not a fair comparison since he is in a humanities field and although his workload is big, his brother’s was much worse in a STEM field. Thye both enjoyed their time there. But I think the St Andrews kid is enjoying a much closer community of friends than my older did at Edi. Edi is a huge university in comparison. You kid has a great problem! Two amazing places. Just two very different environments.

[Anonymous]

Edinburgh is super convenient if your kid is a traveller. They have direct flights to everywhere in Europe for peanuts….

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Anonymous wrote: I realize this is an old, reactivated thread, but anyone who thinks it is always cheaper overseas should check online before jumping in. St. Andres is now $66,000 a year for international students, so $264K (not including airfare) and Oxford is now $81,765 pounds, so x 3 years. A better option is to do state flagship for undergrad and grad overseas.

First of all NOBODY here (just ready the whole thread) insisted or said that it is “ always cheaper overseas “. You are the first one that said that.

Clearly you are you quite grasping the point being made here by a lot of people. The avg kid going to St Andrews or elsewhere in the UK or Europe is NOT the same kid that is forgoing their state flagship to do so. Please…..different universes…..these kids are kids that likely going to be full pay at T100 US privates. Don’t be naive.

Po is correctly responding to OP’s claims: “the pros are still massive. The most obvious is the cost, which is just staggering. We're talking about the potential to get a degree for a price that's less than a single year at some private US colleges. The math is pretty compelling: with many EU public universities having tuition at a fraction of US schools, the savings are life-changing. Specially if you are able to invest that savings on behalf of your kids for when they graduate.”

And there is nothing wrong with OP claims…even at this exchange rate, it is still true. A place like Exeter at 24k Pounds x 3 years (73k pounds) is still less than $100k dollars..and you get your degree…..

PP cherry-picked two schools to make a point (with one being a 4-yr degree) and even then. Still cheaper that ANY top 100 Private full pay uni in the US. As a PP mentioned, there very little IF ANY crossover between in state flagship uni applicants and kids who go abroad….noen of these kids are making these decisions (maybe. Tiny percentage). I have had 3 kids study in the UK from California. None of them had friends that made decisions to attend their UK school that were forgoing a State Flagship to do so. Different crowds….whether you like it or not.

And you are cherry picking as well. That is tuition ONLY for Exeter accounting, the cheapest tuition as you know, because you went to this list and picked it. However, we all can see that Exeter fees can go as high as $38k+ pounds a year plus then you have to tack on accommodations, fees, books, travel, etc, which is a separate Exeter tab altogether. Others here are providing he sensible “all-in” fee. You do sound like a cantankerous nutter who has to fight about everything. Just stop or go take a drink. https://www.exeter.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/fees/

Not at all. My kids are in humanities and business. SO that is what I focus on. The vast majority of these are under 25k pounds. You are not medicine there, so if STEM you will be at 30k pounds. Even with room and board and the fact it is 3 years you are still MUCH MUCH MUCH cheaper than ANY US Private school full pay.

Tuition only

Argue all you want. Show me on Private US university in the top 100 that is equivalent in total pricing for a degree to a school like Exeter or Warwick or Bristol or Durham ?? You wont be able to because it doesnt exist.

Top privates in US give generous aid. Yale for example waves tuition for all families making under 200k. Similarly ranked privates are need based and comparably generous.

A family making >200k a year should have saved money for their kids college, so it won’t be a major drag on family finances. But if money is the main concern then well regarded state flagships will be cheaper and arguably better.

UK universities are public schools, it’s silly to flat out reject the comparison with public US colleges and only compare with privates.

This doesn't answer the PP's question. Just because a family making 200K+ a year, should be capable of paying 90k/year in tuition, according to your opinion, doesn't mean they want to do so, if cheaper comparable opportunities abroad exist.

The decision on what college to attend depends first on getting in, cost, available money, educational quality, career opportunities and many other factors.

If you’re looking at cheaper comparable (comparable to what?) opportunities abroad than also look at cheaper comparable opportunities in state. When this is brought up, the UK cheerleaders are nope, you can’t do that, only US private full pay vs UK is an allowed comparison, which is both silly and pointless.

+1. It’s so weird how dug in some people are getting about this. If you care this much about costs then you care about costs, plain and simple, and you have options domestically too. Even OOS publics can save money in many cases for a full pay family.

Part of this is that there are a lot of private school families here where going abroad is about saving face/bragging to the other private school parents when the T20 door closes, rather than the money itself (or, god forbid, the actual academic programming and opportunities). The cognitive dissonance kicks in when people mention going to a public school because, no, couldn’t possibly consider that idea, imagine telling Sara’s mom that’s what we’re doing, why would you suggest such a thing?

100% agree. A lot of these UK universities posters are chasing prestige at deep discounts. The kid can’t make it to top 20 in US, and/or they don’t have money saved for college.

Then they are checking the sales rack in search of a good deal, after all Cambridge, Oxford are on the same level as Top 20. But the chances of getting in after T20 rejection are inexistent.

Next they go down the list to Leeds, Essex and Aberdeen, prestige is in short supply, but a least they clam to be savvy shoppers because they saved on cost. Never mind that costs are not exactly rock bottom and the savings are $10-20k a year at best. And that’s at the cost of being in another country, doing internships overseas if even allowed, building a network in another country etc. If the intent is to return to US after graduation, that’s not ideal, and in my view it’s not worth the savings.

Its better to go to a solid state school, aim for Top 20 in grad school if that’s your thing.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with a kid and a parent that sends their kid to the UK if they dont get in to a Top 20 or so and end up at Durham, UCL, Kings, St Andrews instead….is that a problem? I dont think so.

+1

Some kids are adventurous, and would be better served by being a pioneer at a 2nd tier UK school or an EU university than by going to their state flagship (along with half their high school friends).

Vive la difference!

Yes, but that’s different than claiming that you are choosing based on cost and then flipping out when someone suggests a flagship and claiming that no one would do that.

+1. And arguing endlessly about it long after everyone else has left the thread.

+2

It’s fine to look, apply and decide to go to college in another country. It’s another thing to pretend it’s so much cheaper or better.

It’s just an option, and if one looks into it it’s not that different than what’s available at home in US, in terms of money, prestige or career opportunities.

Nobody here is saying it is better. But if you remove Scotland and the London schools, you can still get a much cheaper total price at a place like Durham, Exeter, Manchester, etc.

Exeter for instance is 25k tuition for most Humanities/business/etc plus 10k for room/board. That totals 35k pounds x 3 = 105k pounds. That is 141k dollars with Feb 23 2026 exchange rates. That is equivalent to $35k dollars per year in a US university. Very few Out of State publics charge that little for Tuition/Room and Board.

Are you taking financial aid in consideration, did you run a net price calculator?

A lot of the “savings” are coming from the undergraduate degree being 3 years instead of 4, but you’re getting education for only three years. You need to have taken many advanced courses, equivalent to APs that also get US college credit and potentially shorten the time to graduate. If you’re not well prepared, I’m not sure a three year degree is advisable.

Look at the tuition alone, 25k ponds is $35k. Sticker price tuition in US for OOS and privates is about $70k, but if you run a cost estimate for a family making $200k a year with $2M in assets, tuition is roughly $40k. Not sure Durham is that great of a deal if you take this into consideration.

The issue is people in this thread massage the numbers to make it seem that UK colleges are so much cheaper when that’s simply not the case. Even then, taking a riskier, less beaten path to save $50k in college cost is not wise in my view. Consider the internship opportunities, name recognition, what you want to do after graduation etc.

Again if cost is the main driver, then go in state. If you’re counting every dollar you’re not looking at privates and out of state. Guaranteed that in state tuition is far less than $35k a year, and likely has a better name recognition than Durham or Exeter for US employers.

My guess is that a fair number of the kids that go overseas for college are interested in further study (grad school) or employment abroad, so their concern wouldn't necessarily be internships, name recognition, etc. with strictly US-based employers.