Anonymous
Post 02/09/2025 20:21     Subject: Consensus world view of TOP 5/6 UK University Rankings (Prestige/Research)
Anonymous wrote:There are about 22k american undergrads in the UK.

1) St. Andrews - 2200
2) Edinburgh - 1600
3) Oxford -1500
4) UCL - 1000

These are not an insignificant number.



Yes and these are by far the largest US alumni bases from these UK schools.

Edinburgh historically had the highest number of american students ever until St Andrews made an effort to push for Americans 20 yrs ago.

A lot of people here have no idea of how influential U of Edinburgh was on US Universities.

1) James Blair founded the College of William & Mary.
2) John Witherspoon reformed Princeton’s curriculum based on Edinburgh’s structure.
3) Samuel Bard one of the alumns that founded Columbia’s Medical School.
4) Penn, Harvard, Yale medical schools used the U of Edinburgh Medical School as their model.
5) the US university flexible curriculum was modeled originally after Edinburgh’s approach…
David Hume was very influential on Princeton’s and Harvard curriculums
Anonymous
Post 02/09/2025 20:17     Subject: Consensus world view of TOP 5/6 UK University Rankings (Prestige/Research)
Anonymous wrote:There are about 22k american undergrads in the UK.

1) St. Andrews - 2200
2) Edinburgh - 1600
3) Oxford -1500
4) UCL - 1000

These are not an insignificant number.



Your numbers can’t possibly be correct if those schools only account for 6300 students. Where are the other 16,000 students?

However, considering there are over 16 million US college students…those are in fact insignificant numbers.
Anonymous
Post 02/09/2025 20:10     Subject: Consensus world view of TOP 5/6 UK University Rankings (Prestige/Research)
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Oxford and Cambridge - everyone knows them. Someone tells me they went there and I think =s our tip 3 Ivies.

Never heard of any of the others and I doubt many Americans have either.


Good thing “many americans” arent the target employers here 😂😂

Those who matter, know….it is just that simple.


+1
Thank goodness.
Anonymous
Post 02/09/2025 20:09     Subject: Consensus world view of TOP 5/6 UK University Rankings (Prestige/Research)
Anonymous wrote:Oxford and Cambridge - everyone knows them. Someone tells me they went there and I think =s our tip 3 Ivies.

Never heard of any of the others and I doubt many Americans have either.


Well, I think that was the point of this thread, at least when it started! OP helped shed light on some of the other outstanding UK academic institutions, since many posters keep asking about schools in the UK.
Anonymous
Post 02/09/2025 20:08     Subject: Consensus world view of TOP 5/6 UK University Rankings (Prestige/Research)
Anonymous wrote:Oxford and Cambridge - everyone knows them. Someone tells me they went there and I think =s our tip 3 Ivies.

Never heard of any of the others and I doubt many Americans have either.


Good thing “many americans” arent the target employers here 😂😂

Those who matter, know….it is just that simple.
Anonymous
Post 02/09/2025 20:06     Subject: Consensus world view of TOP 5/6 UK University Rankings (Prestige/Research)
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:And still….these employers know what is what. That was the whole point of this stupid discussion.

I’m the previous PE poster. At my firm, i looked it up after posting. We do not have any Oxbridge undergraduates. But we do have 1 imperial, 1 Kings, 2 UCL, 2 LSE and 2 Edinburgh undergrads working here. 5 out of the 8 are Americans. Degrees are in Econ, some variation of Business, 1 engineer and even 1 PolSci.


Working in the US offices?


NYC
Anonymous
Post 02/09/2025 20:06     Subject: Consensus world view of TOP 5/6 UK University Rankings (Prestige/Research)
There are about 22k american undergrads in the UK.

1) St. Andrews - 2200
2) Edinburgh - 1600
3) Oxford -1500
4) UCL - 1000

These are not an insignificant number.

Anonymous
Post 02/09/2025 20:00     Subject: Consensus world view of TOP 5/6 UK University Rankings (Prestige/Research)
Oxford and Cambridge - everyone knows them. Someone tells me they went there and I think =s our tip 3 Ivies.

Never heard of any of the others and I doubt many Americans have either.
Anonymous
Post 02/09/2025 19:57     Subject: Consensus world view of TOP 5/6 UK University Rankings (Prestige/Research)
Anonymous wrote:And still….these employers know what is what. That was the whole point of this stupid discussion.

I’m the previous PE poster. At my firm, i looked it up after posting. We do not have any Oxbridge undergraduates. But we do have 1 imperial, 1 Kings, 2 UCL, 2 LSE and 2 Edinburgh undergrads working here. 5 out of the 8 are Americans. Degrees are in Econ, some variation of Business, 1 engineer and even 1 PolSci.


Working in the US offices?
Anonymous
Post 02/09/2025 19:54     Subject: Consensus world view of TOP 5/6 UK University Rankings (Prestige/Research)
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Yes this is helpful! My husband and I are currently discussing this with my son.

He is in the exact situation as you described. He didnt want to apply to our state flagship and now his options are a few expensive private schools. Tulane, Miami, Syracuse, SMU.
He also received Offers from Edinburgh and Exeter. He wants to study Business (International Business).

He is conflicted. What do you think?


I’m NOT the original poster, but I’m also English and I have lived in the US for 12 years.

I can’t speak for the private schools you mentioned in the US, but both Exeter and Edinburgh are among the top undergraduate business programs in the UK, according to the League Tables. Exeter, despite being a younger university, has built a strong reputation for placements in London. They even have a partnership with JP Morgan, where many students secure roles directly from Exeter.

One major advantage of Exeter is that the degree is only three years, meaning the total tuition cost would be roughly equivalent to just one year at many US universities. You do the math.

Between the two, I would choose Edinburgh due to its long-term prestige and name recognition in the US. While it is a four-year program compared to Exeter’s three, it would still be significantly cheaper than US options. Edinburgh has much stronger name recognition in the US and is, quite frankly, the more ‘prestigious’ university, if that matters to you. Outside of St Andrews, Edinburgh likely has the highest number of American students in its undergraduate program.

For International Business and considering how the university is viewed in the US, I would lean towards Edinburgh.


One thing to bear in mind is that Exeter is a very small town. Edinburgh is not huge, but it’s a decent-sized city.


yes, this is true. Exeter is a small town. Only 2 hrs by train from London. Nice coastline for being in the UK. Completely different environment. Exeter is more inline with a US University Campus. Beautiful campus. I think it is the greenest campus (as in number of trees) in the UK. Their business schools is good and has a decent path to London based jobs. Edinburgh is a real city. An amazing city. Not very big, only about 500k people. But a really cool place to spend 4 years. But it is not a real campus environment….it is very urban. Sure you have your Kings campus and George Square where the basset majority of courses are based, but it is still a city environment and very different from Exeter.

Anonymous
Post 02/09/2025 19:52     Subject: Consensus world view of TOP 5/6 UK University Rankings (Prestige/Research)
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Curious when you say employers outside the UK consider these universities the best.

Do you mean outside the UK and outside the US?

I doubt most US employers recognize anything beyond Oxford/Cambridge. Maybe they know London School of Economics or St Andrews.


STEM employers know that Imperial College London is the UK equivalent of MIT/CalTech. STEM employers also know that University College London and Cambridge both are in the very top tier globally for CS and ECE.



100%


Makes sense…but the number of Americans attending these schools are minuscule. Supposedly only 100 Americans attend Imperial in total…so like 30 grads per year.


Both UCL and Imperial are tough admits for anyone, at least in STEM.
Anonymous
Post 02/09/2025 19:49     Subject: Consensus world view of TOP 5/6 UK University Rankings (Prestige/Research)
And still….these employers know what is what. That was the whole point of this stupid discussion.

I’m the previous PE poster. At my firm, i looked it up after posting. We do not have any Oxbridge undergraduates. But we do have 1 imperial, 1 Kings, 2 UCL, 2 LSE and 2 Edinburgh undergrads working here. 5 out of the 8 are Americans. Degrees are in Econ, some variation of Business, 1 engineer and even 1 PolSci.
Anonymous
Post 02/09/2025 19:47     Subject: Consensus world view of TOP 5/6 UK University Rankings (Prestige/Research)
I know US kids purposely moving to UK for banking and FANNG jobs. They didn't get the tip top job they wanted and see 2-3 years in London allows you to come back at a higher position. Not sure why exactly
Anonymous
Post 02/09/2025 19:41     Subject: Consensus world view of TOP 5/6 UK University Rankings (Prestige/Research)
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Curious when you say employers outside the UK consider these universities the best.

Do you mean outside the UK and outside the US?

I doubt most US employers recognize anything beyond Oxford/Cambridge. Maybe they know London School of Economics or St Andrews.


STEM employers know that Imperial College London is the UK equivalent of MIT/CalTech. STEM employers also know that University College London and Cambridge both are in the very top tier globally for CS and ECE.



100%


Makes sense…but the number of Americans attending these schools are minuscule. Supposedly only 100 Americans attend Imperial in total…so like 30 grads per year.
Anonymous
Post 02/09/2025 19:36     Subject: Consensus world view of TOP 5/6 UK University Rankings (Prestige/Research)
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Curious when you say employers outside the UK consider these universities the best.

Do you mean outside the UK and outside the US?

I doubt most US employers recognize anything beyond Oxford/Cambridge. Maybe they know London School of Economics or St Andrews.


STEM employers know that Imperial College London is the UK equivalent of MIT/CalTech. STEM employers also know that University College London and Cambridge both are in the very top tier globally for CS and ECE.



100%