<p>Hi everyone,</p>
<p>I'm an American (female from New England, at boarding school) considering- among U.S. schools- some European universities (in Ireland, Scotland, England and maybe France.)</p>
<p>Do any of you have any information about/insight into the experience of American students at European universities, the application process, anything related? Or know where to get more information?</p>
<p>Thanks so much!!! I'm sure there are lots of people wondering about this :)</p>
<p>Hey, nice to see another American looking at foreign schools. For the universities in the UK you have to apply thorough UCAS [<a href="http://www.ucas.com%5D%5B/url">www.ucas.com][/url</a>] and they don't care that much about your transcipt grades they care mostly about AP test scores and a little bit about SATs. There is a forum similar to CC for british universities [<a href="http://www.the">www.the</a> student room.co.uk]<a href="no%20spaces">/url</a> What schools were you looking at if you don't mind my asking?</p>
<p>Good Luck!</p>
<p>Thanks!
The whole going-to-school-abroad thing is a recent development, but I would probably be looking at:
University of Edinburgh
University of London
Universite' Paris- Sorbonne
University College Dublin
Trinity College Dublin
and possibly St Andrews, Cambridge, Oxford
:)</p>
<p>When you look at the UCAS website, start here:</p>
<p>I have a similar list, remember you can only apply to either Cambridge or Oxford. You have to apply to the particular course (major) at each school.</p>
<p>This is my list:
Oxford-Experimental Psychology
Edinburgh-Neuroscience
University College London-Neuroscience
St. Andrews-Neuroscience
King's College London-Neuroscience</p>
<p>I'll add to b3tt3Rt[-]4nU's post that you can only apply to 5 universities in total, including either Oxford or Cambridge.</p>
<p>oh, wow, i hadn't realized that. thank you!</p>
<p>One thing to keep in mind is that you'll probably have to fly over there for interviews, especially if you're applying to Oxbridge.</p>
<p>^Oxford does interviews in NYC, the others usually don't require interviews or will do phone interiews</p>
<p>From what I've gathered talking to UK students and friends who've opted for education abroad, most UK schools will accept Americans with open arms, so long as they have decent stats (B average, 1900s SAT, a few SAT II scores over 650). The reason being that they won't extend you aid, and foreign fees are much higher. They use your tuition to help pay for local students. Cambridge, Oxford, LSE, UCL, Imperial, and St. Andrew's are the main exceptions. But most others will be reasonably open.</p>
<p>I would strongly recommend staying in the US for further education.</p>
<p>terrible troll</p>
<p>America is the best nation in the world, why leave? Britain and France had their time now their just washed up.</p>
<p>^America isn't the best nation in the world, the dollar is on the decline, the economy isn't doing very well, it ranks 13th in the world in terms of quality of life behind nations like Ireland, Switzerland, and Singapore, it imports more than it exports, and it is high in debt. It's not getting better for the US its already peaked and is now going to decline.</p>
<p>b3tt3Rt, while there are many valid criticisms of the US, I don't think you cited a single one. It is true that the US dollar was in decline, but signs thus far are quite</a> positive. And as per the economy as a whole, is not that bad. Certainly we've seen better times, but so have we experienced much worse. Moreover, it is not the US alone facing these problems. Canada appears headed towards a [url=<a href="http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=552789%5Drecession%5B/url">http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=552789]recession[/url</a>]. Thailand, Germany, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, and many other nations are starting significant declines at the same time we are starting to pick ourselves back up. </p>
<p>The debt is, of course not something to boast about. But it is ultimately something that can be overcome, and is one of the only serious economic issues. Others that you've selected, such as the gap in imports and exports, are natural. The US is no longer an industrial powerhouse due to anti-competitive regulations that limit businesses, forcing them to move operations abroad. Thus, there is a natural limit on what we can reasonably be expected to purchase. On the other hand, the purchasing power of the average American is high enough, and the cost of foreign made goods low enough, that imports naturally outweigh exports. There is no real need to sound the alarm over this. </p>
<p>And the happiness rankings are utter fluff. Looking at the Economist (who put us 13th in 2004, which I assume is your source, since it turned up most readily), many of the factors are absurd. The clearest example is health. Even if the average person has several health issues, their lack of wellness has no direct bearing on a healthy individual. Nonetheless, it is heavily weighted. And "community life", at least as it was explained in the BBC piece, is fine if you want to live among your family in a familiar setting your entire life. But most Americans like to move around, grow through new experiences, and change venues as needed. So factors like that also impact rankings. Moreover, while many European nations placed above the United States, many of those that Americans think of first were also well below us. For example, France, Germany and Britain finish 25th, 26th and 29th respectively.</p>
<p>Of course, all of this is irrelevant, since the OP is asking about going to college overseas, not moving permanently to another nation. Living in the short term as a university student in Western Europe, where one will likely not hold a job, start a family, ect. is far different than living there for decades on end.</p>
<p>
[quote]
the dollar is on the decline
[/quote]
</p>
<p>
[quote]
it imports more than it exports, and it is high in debt. It's not getting better for the US its already peaked and is now going to decline.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>You contradict yourself right there - the dollar is in decline because the US imported so much more than it exported. The decline in the dollar's value will help reverse this trend.</p>
<p>i'm a graduating senior in America, and going to Oxford to study Experimental Psychology next year (I want to be a neurologist). I also got into St. Andrews and Edinburgh. The sources other people have given you are fantastic for applying, and basically know that standardized test results are the most important quantitative factor in your app (not GPA). With that said, take as many as possible (I took three SAT IIs, six AP exams, and the SAT I). Also, you need to have a very good idea about what you want to study, because you'll have to declare a major on your application, and write about it on the app too. With the exception of Oxbridge, the application process is not toooo different. For Oxbridge, though, there are a lot of resources to help you figure out the process (you submit your app in late september, if they like your app, there's an interview in NY, and potentially a test in certain subjects if they like your interview, then you find out around mid-to-late december whether you're in). Good luck in applying, and if you have any questions feel free to message me, same goes to b3tt3Rt, since apparently we have the same love of brain science ; )</p>
<p>My point was that America isn't the powerhouse it once was, and the "America is the greatest" mentality shouldn't keep the OP in the states.</p>
<p>She is limited to 5 UCAS colleges in the UK. She can apply to the Sorbonne if that is a sixth option she is considering.</p>
<p>he asked a question about European colleges; it wasn't an open invitation to start a spaz war over America's role in the global economy.</p>