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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]16:37 articulated my DC's take-away too.

Most US high schools (and many colleges) are designed to be well-rounded, taking cores in all subjects and just a few electives all the way to age ~18 (HS graduation). The UK counterparts end the well-rounded part at age 16 and then either stop school, go to trade school, or continue a path toward college. That path is specialized, so by the time they get to university, they have mostly been studying in their primary area for the last years of high school.

So the US student interested in studying the same subject at uni has had fewer classes in it and has to do a lot of extra work on the side in the subject (this is where some ECs ARE relevant) -- and yes, you have to know what you want to study before you apply. This works to the advantage of kids in public magnets and against kids in traditional liberal arts schools.

If you apply, all they really care about are your SAT scores, AP scores that are related to your intended area of study -- and you have to get a 5 (3 5s for Ox, 5 5s for Bridge) -- and how well you can respond to questions about the subject in your interview. They don't care about your GPA or other courses you took. They don't care if you took 15 AP classes if 13 of them are unrelated to your college path. If you apply to study physics, they really don't care that you aced AP U.S. History; they want to see everything you've don in math and science, particularly physics -- and one AP Physics class will not be enough.

Also most courses are three years, not the US traditional four (or more). Sounds appealing? The hitch is in what comes after university as others have pointed out. Also, you miss out on getting the US internships that lead to top jobs, unless you scramble to make that happen on your own from afar.[/quote]
these are the reasons why my DC (CS major) wants to go to uni in the UK. DC hates the gen ed classes.

Many larger high tech companies recruit from some of the unis in the UK.

And there are *definitely* internships in UK unis.  [/quote]

If you're an American citizen and you are going [I]across the pond[/I] to pursue a CS degree... you're shooting yourself in the foot. Hordes of Brits and Europeans working in tech make the opposite jump every year.

Americans (and clearly the Brits themselves) really, really overrate the UK, generally speaking, and it's clear that this unwarranted Anglophilia extends to higher education. You can get a perfectly good CS degree from so many schools in the states.

Unless, of course, DC wants to settle down in the UK. Then best of luck.[/quote]
My kids are dual citizens. The reason why people want to come to the US is because there are more jobs here.  Large tech firms hire in the UK, as well, but yes, there are more tech jobs here than over the pond.

Of course there are good unis here for CS. That is not the issue.   DC just doesn't want to take gen ed.  Also, DC is in a magnet program so DC is taking high level non STEM classes, as well.[/quote]

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