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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Studying and living in London will be a fabulous experience. It will feel much more cosmopolitan and international than even NYC, partly because the London universities are very diverse with a large quotient of international / EU students. I would not hesitate to send a child to the UK for university, either London or outside London.

However, a few things to consider.

1. The three schools you mentioned (University College, King's College, and Imperial College) are all top ranked British universities and admissions is stiff. Don't be fooled by their relatively higher admissions rates than top American schools because in Britain schools will generally only allow the qualified to apply to the top schools, it's not a case of weaker applicants tossing in an application just for the sake of it and hoping for the best, so the application pool will be stellar to start with. There are many universities in London so if she's dedicated on London she should have several safeties and back ups as well, although if you're paying full tuition charged to international students that will give her a leg up in the admissions.

2. The British university experience is quite different. Three years rather than four (Scotland goes four years but she's not considering Scottish schools). The London universities are urban based campuses, you won't get the beautiful quads and colleges of Oxford/Cambridge, or the traditional American university. Students will study their course and their course alone. So if she wants to study history, she will apply for a history course, and if admitted, study nothing but history (to clarify, you don't just apply to Kings or Imperial, you apply to study a particular course at King's or Imperial). This does give you a certain advantage because there are less popular courses at the top schools and if your daughter is flexible with her interest she can find a less popular course and apply to to it, upping her chances of admissions if she only cares about being at a certain school in London. But it's also more than that. There is far less hands holding in British universities, students literally hit the ground running with less administrative or faculty support, especially at the top universities. Once fresher's week is over, you are expected to take full responsibility of your education and what you get out of it will be what you put into it. UK grading standards are also fairly high and final grades for the class based almost entirely on the final exam and a paper, so it's not uncommon for people to flunk out of universities if they didn't take their studies seriously and partied all the time. They're less forgiving of students who didn't take their studies seriously and flunked their exams.

3. The good news is that the education costs will likely be cheaper, even with overseas tuition. Three years versus four!

4. As you know, Britain is shortly to begin the process of withdrawing from the EU. Immigration laws will drastically change in the next several years and they have already tightened up in the last five years. Immigration is a huge issue in the UK right now. This won't affect your daughter's status as an overseas student but in the not too distant past it was quite easy for an international graduate of a UK university to work in the country afterwards through policies that allowed this for a certain number of years, and people managed to hold on long enough to get permanent leave (five years' residency, I think) and with that the passport. This is no longer the case. Only PhD level students now have this option available. I bring this up to show that it won't be as easy for your daughter to stay in London after graduation as it may have been in the past. If she's a stellar student recruited by a major firm (consulting, finance etc) they will probably make it happen but she would have to be dedicated on that track. Of course she could always marry a nice English boy ;)

5. While I understand the London or bust mentality, there's a lot more to the UK than London. Edinburgh is a fabulous place to study and Edinburgh U is excellent. St. Andrews in Scotland is another popular option for American students. Both are four years, which gives her another year in the UK. And there are many more universities across England that will give her a more "English" experience than London. Just a thought. [/quote]

This was extremely helpful; thank you for your input. [/quote]

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