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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I am suspecting that OP was not meaning college in England.  There is still tuition there ... and room and board - I am not sure that with the travel costs, there is much savings.  Germany has basically no tuition cost, just living cost, and it's more like shared flats, so

But the atmosphere is very different.  In some ways good, in other ways perhaps not.  Basically, kids in Europe know what they want to specialize in and I have heard the education as going deeper in the chosen subject ... not broadly into various subjects, as at a liberal arts college.  So - if you want to be an engineer, it could be great - you won't have to take arts or history credits to graduate and can just focus on the science classes  (more like a graduate school in the US).  But a student who really doesn't know what they want to major in may not get a chance to get a general education before deciding ... including because another difference is that European universities expect students to guide their own studies.  There are not layers of counselors/administrators who look out for the students in the same way as in the US.  The students are expected to know the requirements, sign up for the right classes, and generally to figure things out on their own.  Similarly, there are typically not school teams, school spirit rallies, fraternities, or even dorms.  It really is more like grad school.  You need to be prepared to find your own housing, make your own schedule, pay your own living bills, get your own meals, etc.

The good side of this, IMO as a parent, [b]is that there is no school party culture.  European college students don't have crazy parties during the school year[/b] (though they may go to Mallorca or such on breaks, kind of like Spring Break in the US).  But they don't have keg parties, frat parties, or a heavy drinking/drug culture.  They all can drink (from about age 16), but the context of drinking is more like going out for a few beers and listening to music or talking.  And the prevalent culture around sex is that it is less taboo - so basically once Germans are university age, it's not something they are not familiar with.  As a result, I would say that what does not happen in Germany is there are not a lot of students who suddenly feel free and overact as a result.

The downside as someone who once was not a parent -- there's no school culture.  You will learn and work hard.  You should probably be pretty fluent in German.  You might have a hard time making friends.  You won't get the US college experience of forever and always wearing Duke blue or what have you ...

Just a really different kind of experience.  Probably only a very mature US high school student is capable of making this decision...

http://www.dw.com/en/10-things-to-know-before-studying-in-germany/a-18210563

https://redditblog.com/2016/02/16/is-germanys-free-college-education-all-its-cracked-up-to-be/

[/quote]

Ummmm..... this is probably different in different countries, but I went to college in Ireland and this is definitely NOT the case there.  And, given the drinking age, every person I knew went clubbing nearly every Thursday night.[/quote]

+1 - I did semester abroad in London and visited many college campuses during my time there - heavy drinking with pubs on campus - and the drinking age is 18 so... yeah.  Don't send them to U.K. because you think its going to be less of a party - that's on the kid, not the college.[/quote]

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