Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Note that university in the UK is 3 years not 4 and there are no real electives--you study just what's in your major, and you can't easily switch majors. So it's definitely not for everyone.

No….England….In Scotland it is 4 years and there are plenty of electives. And you do have a LITTLE bit of flexibility to potentially change majors in end of year 1 or 2.

Changing majors after matriculation is uncommon in Scotland, and is done by a request, which the University is free to deny. So do not count on this.

It might happen in adjacent degrees. Contrived example might be a Physics student changing to Maths, because Physics already will require a lot of Maths and student likely also met admissions requirements for Maths.

By contrast, a History student changing to CS is fairly unlikely to be approved. They are not adjacent fields and likely have different admissions requirements.

My son was a Management major at Edinburgh and changed to International relations in semester 4. It is very easy to do so IF and only IF you take your electives in the other course. At Edinburgh you typically have 3 compulsory classes in year 1 and 3 electives. The 3 electives can typically be at any college that open classes for the whole university. My son took 3 Compulsory business classes and 3 electives in the Political Science school. Same for the 1st semester of year 2 and then he made the official request to change and was granted.

He had a buddy that went the other way. From IR to Management. The difficulty is finding the appropriate class times to make it work. But if you do have the compulsory classes, 9 out of 10 times, the different schools at Edinburgh will accept your transfer request. This is something that just doesnt exist in English unis due to the 3 year nature of their program vs SCotland’s 4 years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The OPs question and premise of …. I didn’t get into ED1 so I’ll just go to UK….. does that actually happen? Like, I didn’t get into BC, none of the other schools are interesting or prestigious enough in the US so I’ll just go to St Andrews.

Maybe not at the very top schools if DC's academics are not high, but there also are a range of other UK universities (e.g., former polytechnics) where admission would be easier for an overseas student (partly because overseas students are full pay).

Overseas students pay overseas rates, UK students pay UK rates. They are now, very recently vastly different. The advantage of the ex-polys is that their fees for overseas are not that high. So a UK student at any college is paying approximately 9500 per year tuition, regardless of course and college. If you're an overseas student wanting to study art at an ex poly, you'll pay around 15000 pounds per year, if you want to do it at Oxford it will be around 30k. If you want too study medicine at Oxford it will be around 73k/ yr tuition. There's a lot of variation now.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This was really helpful, OP. I have a junior. My kid keeps saying she wants to apply in the UK. I know the process is different, but I have no idea how it's different?

I heard that they had to take a completely separate admissions test that isn't offered frequently-- is that only for Oxford and Cambridge?

Oops. Sorry. I meant I have a sophomore. So there's time!

OP here. To answer your question, if you apply to study Math you have an entry test, similar for some other STEM courses at places like Imperial / UCL etc. The websites for those colleges will explain the admissions process in some detail of you look them up. Each course is handled differently.

It is actually very hard to switch majors. Often this involves starting again at year 1. I had a friend at Cambridge who started Russian and Persian, switched to Persian and Arabic and then one more time (I can't remember the variation)). that was not so difficult a change but it took him 5 yrs to finish a 3 yr degree in the end, because of the changes he made.

Anonymous wrote:The OPs question and premise of …. I didn’t get into ED1 so I’ll just go to UK….. does that actually happen? Like, I didn’t get into BC, none of the other schools are interesting or prestigious enough in the US so I’ll just go to St Andrews.

Maybe not at the very top schools if DC's academics are not high, but there also are a range of other UK universities (e.g., former polytechnics) where admission would be easier for an overseas student (partly because overseas students are full pay).

The OPs question and premise of …. I didn’t get into ED1 so I’ll just go to UK….. does that actually happen? Like, I didn’t get into BC, none of the other schools are interesting or prestigious enough in the US so I’ll just go to St Andrews.

Anonymous wrote:It can be a very good option. There are some differences to understand.

Universities in the UK generally do less hand-holding than some US universities, both for living arrangements and academics. Students need to know to self-advocate.

Also, the American notion of "extra-time" for kids with learning differences is at least uncommon; many places it does not exist at all.

Nearly all UK students - even in Scotland - have made a firm decision about which degree to pursue in college before applying. Their last 2 years of HS were concentrated accordingly.

Housing in London is tight and often expensive. Most 1st year students at one of the constituent Colleges within the University of London can get a dorm, but after that the student needs to find/arrange their own accommodation. Important to understand housing options for any UK university one is applying to.

They can get familiar with the concept of a lounge conversion, which is a learning experience of sorts.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Note that university in the UK is 3 years not 4 and there are no real electives--you study just what's in your major, and you can't easily switch majors. So it's definitely not for everyone.

No….England….In Scotland it is 4 years and there are plenty of electives. And you do have a LITTLE bit of flexibility to potentially change majors in end of year 1 or 2.

Changing majors after matriculation is uncommon in Scotland, and is done by a request, which the University is free to deny. So do not count on this.

It might happen in adjacent degrees. Contrived example might be a Physics student changing to Maths, because Physics already will require a lot of Maths and student likely also met admissions requirements for Maths.

By contrast, a History student changing to CS is fairly unlikely to be approved. They are not adjacent fields and likely have different admissions requirements.

Anonymous wrote:They have to pick a major though? That's held my ds back. He doesn't know yet.

Yes. One applies for a specific degree, even in Scotland. Further, the precise admissions requirements do vary with the selected degree.

They have to pick a major though? That's held my ds back. He doesn't know yet.

It can be a very good option. There are some differences to understand.

Universities in the UK generally do less hand-holding than some US universities, both for living arrangements and academics. Students need to know to self-advocate.

Also, the American notion of "extra-time" for kids with learning differences is at least uncommon; many places it does not exist at all.

Nearly all UK students - even in Scotland - have made a firm decision about which degree to pursue in college before applying. Their last 2 years of HS were concentrated accordingly.

Housing in London is tight and often expensive. Most 1st year students at one of the constituent Colleges within the University of London can get a dorm, but after that the student needs to find/arrange their own accommodation. Important to understand housing options for any UK university one is applying to.

Anonymous wrote:Note that university in the UK is 3 years not 4 and there are no real electives--you study just what's in your major, and you can't easily switch majors. So it's definitely not for everyone.

No….England….In Scotland it is 4 years and there are plenty of electives. And you do have a LITTLE bit of flexibility to potentially change majors in end of year 1 or 2.

Note that university in the UK is 3 years not 4 and there are no real electives--you study just what's in your major, and you can't easily switch majors. So it's definitely not for everyone.

Are families really “grieving”’from ED1 and ED2? Sounds like people need some grit.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.ucas.com

If your kid didn't get their ED / EA and is getting rejections and wants to go to Edinburgh, St. Andrews, UCL, Bath or similar they can still apply. (Oxford and Cambs is completely done for this year).

Most of the top UK universities require 3-5 AP exams at grade 5 in major-relevant subjects and if you have an SAT score to submit, it only needs to be over 1200/1300 (bare minimum).

It costs around $30 to apply for 5 colleges via UCAS

The Personal Statement is important for some colleges and less so for others. Some only look at grades, others use the PS as a tie breaker between similar applicants and others will look at it very closely for subject relevant understanding.

I guess there is either a UCAS PR person around here or UNIs are begging for American Students to pay their bills…

I am a parent who has been using DCUM since 2014. Some advice has been invaluable to me on these boards. My kid is going to the UK for college in the Fall and I just want to be helpful for anyone out there who is seriously considering this themselves. If you're just here to spar and berate you can find plenty of other threads where you'll get a bite.

Agreed. I don't know how this thread got options?
Lot of families are grieving from ED1 and ED2 rejections right now. If youbhabe a DC that is up for the adventure, why not treat this idea seriously and look into this great opportunity?

Anonymous wrote:This was really helpful, OP. I have a junior. My kid keeps saying she wants to apply in the UK. I know the process is different, but I have no idea how it's different?

I heard that they had to take a completely separate admissions test that isn't offered frequently-- is that only for Oxford and Cambridge?

Oops. Sorry. I meant I have a sophomore. So there's time!