I don’t know if I’m allowed to link or not…so google student room UK and you’ll find a site a bit like CC which focuses on UK universities. She can get a lot of useful info there.
The UK has a complex immigration system. Getting a UK degree does give you some “points.” The more “points” the more likely you can stay.
The Irish call their language Irish, not Gaelic. Gaelic is actually a broader term and includes Erse, or the language spoken by the Scots. Primary school teachers in Ireland have to teach Irish.
If she wants to study in the UK, she should take as many AP courses in her areas of interest as possible. Her grades on AP tests are among the most important criteria used for admission.
Just to add one other option into the mix: she can attend a German university, tuition free – and no need to speak German. She can opt to take instruction entirely in English.
There are actually quite a lot of universities in Europe that offer courses in English- two good search engines for them are [url=<a href=“http://www.eunicas.co.uk/%5Dhere%5B/url”>http://www.eunicas.co.uk/]here[/url] and [url=<a href=“http://www.studyineurope.eu/%5Dhere%5B/url”>http://www.studyineurope.eu/]here[/url]. The OP’s friend also has fluent french. But in all cases, she should do her homework on what the experience will be like.
I sure hope she knows UW has plenty of nonpartying students! It sounds like she really needs to check on her job options with her intended major. btw- she also needs to be sure a degree in education at a given school includes everything necessary for licensure- a friend’s son majored in education at Emory but they didn’t have student teaching- required for licensure. He did teach English abroad for a few years.
my take on people who have a romantic notion of going to college in europe or some other place…is do not do it. after the novelty wears off, it is not ideal. do I think the united kingdom(as an example) have awesome schools with top notch research and learning…yes I do. but the concept of undergrad college in the united states is different and is the best choice imo. you can do a semester abroad or apply to a British or french, Brazilian etc…(if you speak the language) for graduate school. an 18 year old will be out of place at a university in most places outside the united states. just my opinion.
Be aware that the standard European commuter university assumes that 18-year-old students are functional, competent adults who will take care of their own housing, food, social needs etc. without assistance or support from the academic institution. In Germany, for example, even if your academic program is taught in English, you will still have to manage your own day-to-day life and navigate the extensive civic bureaucracy, so not knowing any German or not having someone to help you will be a real problem. The average European university also does not have the counseling, advising, and lifestyle amenities of the typical American college or university. It offers a very different experience, and Americans should not expect American-style levels of institutional coddling and oversight.
This is a generalization, for sure, but unless you are at a top European university, you’re not going to get the same caliber education you’d get at even a second-tier school here in the US. My daughter is at Aix-Marseilles University for her junior year and says the quality of education, the facilities, and the low expectations for both faculty and students are “appalling.” She usually gets the top or second-highest scores on her exams, ahead of native French speakers, and this is true for many of her Wellesley peers studying in Aix. How do they know what other students get, you ask? The professors announce the scores publicly as they hand each student’s tests back.
She’s just there for a year for the culture, the French language, and the fun (yes, European students absolutely do party, and this is something she never has time for at Wellesley). Europe and the UK have some fine universities, to be sure, but there is a reason why thousands and thousands of international students come to the US for university each year.
So if you are going for the cultural experience (which is priceless), by all means, consider any school in the UK or Europe, but if you really want a top education, either stay in the US or apply to a school such as Oxford, Trinity, or Sciences Po.
Badger-
My daughter is serious about attending a UK school. Last fall, we attended a meeting with UK schools that were in the US promoting their unis. The schools inluded Newcastle, Bristol, York, Durham, Warwick. I mention them because they are actively recruiting US students. We also attended a separate session by Edinburgh and Oxford.
If you dig far enough on the various web sites, you can find upcoming dates of when these schools will be in the US again. You will also find emails of various admin officers to contact.
The sites will also state the qualifications needed for each school. The U.K. uses the UCAS application, which is similar to our common app, but with the catch you can only apply to five schools. One school I know of, St Andrews in Scotland, will accept our common app.
Basically, UK and Scottish schools will want to see either an ACT score of 27-28 or above(or its equivalent on the SAT) plus either/or SAT subject tests or AP scores on subjects the student wishes to study. For example, if you want to study political science, they will want to see AP and/or SAT subject tests in the histories and English. If the student is pursing a science/stem degree, they want to see test scores for math, chem, and physics. The UK schools put much less emphasis on GPA than US schools.
My daughter is considering University of Edinburgh, St Andrews, Newcastle, Kings College London, Trinity College Dublin, and the Univeristy of Glasgow.
Hope this gives you a place to start—
FYI- one pleasant surprise is these schools are not more expensive than US colleges, even with the added travel costs.
If she knows the countries she is most interested in, she should contact the Education Officer at the closest consilate of each of those countries. That officer is charged with responsibility for providing information about all types of educational opportunitied in his/her counrty, and should be able to help this high schooler find out the info. that she needs.
If she studies in a non-English language university, she should plan on spending at least the equivalent of a full US semester in an intensive languagr program before beginning university-level coursework. Depending on the field of study, and the language of instruction, she may need much more than just a semester.
A Montessori diploma or a diploma of some type in language instruction can transport relatively well between countries, however as ponted out above, moving from one educational system to another often requires that the teacher take a significant amount of coursework in order to become re-licensed.
Thank you all so much for the continued advice and experience. I will let her read the thread to see if this is something she is really committed to. She’s a bit of a quirky kid, not very sociable but she is personable, if that makes sense. She prefers to keep one or two close friends than have a large social circle. I’m sure there’s a college in the U.S that fits her but she seems bound and determined to pursue a degree outside of the U.S.
Keep in mind that tuition policy varies and in the UK it’s quite expensive to attend some schools. There are some advantages but depending on field of study things may not work out quite as well.
If you have to learn another language, and depending on what you already know, it could be a couple years.
Dealing with bureaucracy, as others mentioned. Not fun. Far worse than dealing with Big State U. Housing.
I would be very reluctant to proceed given costs (UK at least), language, distance, and the like. There is a good chance one or both of my kids will end up living there (we’re dual citizens USA & EU) but at the graduate level things are different.
Don’t forget accreditation while we are at it if your student wants to study some regulated profession. Make sure the reason behind it is SOLID. Not “I don’t like Austin, TX”. A few decades ago when my birth country was admitted to the EU a lot of students moved to the UK. Why? cost, that was before the UK started their policies requiring residency, and easy-ness. Most of my friends were not all that great students and found the 2nd tier UK schools far easier than those in the USA.