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College and University Discussion
Reply to "Colleges in Paris and London."
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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP here. She is unsure at this point what she wants to study. I think probably will land on the business side of design or some thing in the hospitality realm. Nothing hugely academic. She does have a very service and activism oriented mind and spirit but I think would be bored by the curriculum part of international development. Even though that work would be a long-term good fit. Does anyone know anything about the American University in Paris?[/quote] OP, I'm saying this as someone with a grad degree from the UK, a husband with two UK degrees and plenty of family and friends in the UK including several young relatives at university there right now: Have you and she researched how very different undergraduate degrees are structured there, compared to the US? If this is all known to you, sorry to repeat things you already know, but if you and she haven't delved deeply into the undergrad experience in the UK (I can't speak re: French or Italian universities), please consider: You say she's unsure what to study. That's a problem for the UK, where undergraduate studies are extremely focused on just one subject, period. They don't have the concept of "general college" or any time for a student to try out different classes to whittle down potential majors; you go to university in order to study the one topic for which you specifically apply to university. If a student decides part of the way through the three-year undergraduate program that she wants to "change majors" (a very US idea) -- she will basically be erasing all she's done and would have to start from scratch, mostly. It's not like the US, where for the first year to two years of undergrad, a student might take "general college" courses, fill requirements in several different areas, take some electives out of interest, etc. For example, our niece is studying chemistry and that's what she does--chemistry and tightly related subjects. She knew by age 16 that she wanted to do chemistry and her "high school" courses from 16-18 (roughly our "junior and senior years"), called A levels, were solely in chemistry, math and I'm not sure what else but it was another science. So your DD would be starting university with students who have been doing their one topic already for the last two years of "high school" in the UK, and who are there to study just that subject. It's very, very different from here. If your DD is undecided and has varied interests she really might want to do undergraduate here in the US and consider going to grad school in the UK. (You'll see posts here where some people think if you have an overseas grad degree it doesn't help you get jobs in the US -- that was a big thread not long ago. I have only found it a benefit to have a grad degree from outside the US!) Our DD (US born and raised) has a lot of different interests so wanted to do undergrad in the US at a LAC where she could taste and try several things before committing to a major, which is fine with us. In the UK, you are committed to the major from day one -- really, from the age of about 16 or so. It is very difficult to change your mind and there aren't the opportunities for electives done just out of interest. It's not impossible -- but you're expected to focus up on your one area of study. Something to consider as she looks overseas. Again, if you know this stuff already, sorry. I just saw you mentioned she was unsure what to study and that was kind of a red flag to me , knowing the UK system is geared toward students picking university programs based on the idea they know exactly what they plan to study. [/quote]
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