British exchange student: What university should I study abroad at?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi all,</p>

<p>I am new on here - so I hope this is the right subforum!</p>

<p>I am currently studying BA History at the University of Kent in Canterbury, England. Next year I get to study in the US for a year. I am having trouble picking a university that meets my criteria so I was hoping someone could help.</p>

<p>My criteria is:
- Good history programme.
- Quintessentially American location (not overly important).
- Travel links to large cities with (or without) major sports teams.
- Not too hot/not too cold.
- Not a college football-obssessed university.
- Not a complete party school.
- Not an ultra-religious university.
- Prefer a city over a college town.</p>

<p>Here are my options:
California State University, Long Beach
Indiana University
Lehigh University
Marquette University
Penn State
Purdue University
San Diego State University
State University of New York Buffalo
University of California
University of Kansas
University Maryland at College Park
University of Massachusetts at Amherst
University of Miami
University of North Carolina Charlotte
University of South Carolina
University of Tennessee at Knoxville
University of Wisconsin Milwaukee
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.</p>

<p>Thanks for your help.</p>

<ul>
<li>Hugh</li>
</ul>

2

<p>Do you know anything about which University of California branches you’re allowed to attend? If UC-Berkeley, UCLA or UC San Diego are on the list, I would recommend them due to academics and, particularly in the case of UCLA and UC San Diego, access to good airports.</p>

<p>If you want to study on the east coast, the best bet might be University of Maryland at College Park. It’s a strong school and has fairly easy access to Washington, D.C., where you can get trains to Philadelphia, New York and Boston.</p>

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<p>I remember reading that for University of California you can’t choose the campus they just put you in based on availability or something so its pretty much a gamble where you end up at.</p>

4

<p>I’m an North Carolina resident, and I’m going to Penn State this fall. As such, if I had the options on this list, I would knock UNC - Charlotte right off. Charlotte is a nice town, but its not very college-y. The campus is new, but its also got pretty low academic standards, beings its only a branch campus of the UNC system. </p>

<p>IMO - your criteria are a bit specific. I don’t think any of those schools fit that list perfect. 3 of those criteria knock out over half of your schools. But if you don’t like football, don’t like the cold, and don’t like partying, I wouldn’t suggest Penn State. MD is just like that only with basketball not football.</p>

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<p>Not exactly. You choose to which UC schools to apply. All the UCs use a single application, and you specify the campuses to which you are applying. You pay a separate application fee for each campus you apply to. If your qualifications are strong enough you will get accepted to one or more of the campuses you chose. Simple.</p>

<p>But if you are a California resident who legally qualifies for automatic admission to the University of California but your stats are not strong enough to get accepted by any of the campuses you specified on your application, then you are “redirected” to another (usually less desirable) campus.</p>

6

<p>Obviously, if Berkeley is a possibility, I would go there. UCLA would also be high on my list. But beyond those two UC campuses, I would not bother with the UCs. My third choice would be Indiana-Bloomington. It has a strong history department, one of the most beautiful campuses, is located in a very quaint and pleasant college town near a major city (Indianapolis). You would fly direct from London or Manchester to NYC, and from there, a direct flight to Indianapolis International Airport, which is like 40 miles (40 minute cab ride) away from Bloomington. Also, in addition to having one of the best college basketball programs, the campus is within close proximity (one hour drive) of major sports teams such as the Pacers and the Colts. Penn State would be my fourth choice.</p>

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<p>If you don’t want a college football obsessed college, I’d cross out Tennessee, Penn St, South Carolina, Miami, and Virginia Tech. What about a school like Boston University or George Washington?</p>

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<p>I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss the “middle” UCs in favor of Indiana. Indiana is a fine school, but if you put any stock in USNews rankings, it ranks well behind the middle UCs. UCSD and UC Davis are tied at #38. UCSB is #41, UC Irvine is #44, and UC Santa Cruz is #77. Indiana is #83.</p>

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<p>I have never really trusted the USNWR rankings. Besides, even according to the USNWR, when it comes to undergraduate academic reputation, Indiana is right up there with UCI, UCD, UCSD, UCSB etc… Also, Indiana’s history department is ranked higher than any UC other than Cal and UCLA. If the OP were interested in Engineering or the Sciences, I would have recommeneded several other UCs over Indiana. Finally, and this is very important, Indiana has a much nicer campus culture than most UCs, the majority of which have a “commuter school” feel. I stand by my statement, Cal and UCLA over Indiana, but Indiana over the rest of the UCs.</p>

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<p>The overwhelming majority of UCs don’t have a commuter campus feel. You’re thinking about the Cal States. </p>

<p>Also UCSD is an excellent school and seems to fit all of the criteria the OP is looking for.</p>

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<p>The only one of the middle UCs that could even remotely be called a commuter school would be Irvine. The rest have a strong campus focus.</p>

<p>And why should you trust the rankings of history departments but distrust the rankings of universities? Plus rankings of individual departments, such as History, are almost always based on the strength of their graduate programs and not on their undergraduate teaching.</p>

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<p>“Quintessentially American location”</p>

<p>Indiana University
University of Kansas
(Great mid-western locations, but the weather will probably be rather startling for someone from the UK. Check [National</a> and Local Weather Forecast, Hurricane, Radar and Report](<a href=“http://www.weather.com%5DNational”>http://www.weather.com) to get a notion of what it could be like there in February.)</p>

<p>“Travel links to large cities”</p>

<p>University of Maryland at College Park (METRO stops on campus and will take you directly into DC where you can catch train/plane/bus to anywhere on the east coast.)</p>

<p>As for department offerings, your list is short enough that you can sit down and read through each website and decide whether or not the institution can fulfill your academic needs. Take a look at each faculty member’s individual website and list of publications. Email the departments and find out who is going to be on sabbatical during your year there - you don’t want to choose a place because of Dr. Perfect-for-my-interest only to learn that he/she won’t be around. Your home university has already vetted the institutions on this list, so you can safely ignore any comments about low/high rankings according to USNWR or another organization. It is entirely fine for you to select the place based on the availability of Dr. Perfect-for-my-interest, a specific research collection in the library that you want to use, or whatever other random factor you choose.</p>

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<p>

Consider ease of transportation. Some of them are in cities with good transportation (e.g. Berkeley). Others are in smaller locations but also have good transportation (e.g. UMD-CP). Still others have pretty weak public transit (e.g. UT-K, USC). Since you won’t have a car - and may or may not have access to someone with one - I recommend picking an area that you can fully explore without a car.</p>

<p>

Those were my thoughts as well. Maryland seems to fit most of the OP’s preferences. Strong history program with access to all of the awesome museums in the DC area, access to large cities (DC, B’more, Philly, etc.), mild weather, lively but not out of control social scene, not football-crazed (though sports are big), and location in a city (well, very easy access to one). </p>

<p>Berkeley/UCLA/UCSD are generally more apathetic about sports and are warmer than UMD, but otherwise they’re similar in the above respects. </p>

<p>

Really? Penn State’s isolated location and small-ish college town alone knock it out of the running for the OP, I think, and that’s not even counting things like the huge football atmosphere on campus. </p>

<p>

It works a little differently for study abroad students. Depending on the university you attend, you may have limited say in the process or even none at all. For example:</p>

<p>St Andrews
It is important to understand that you are applying to the University of California in the first instance and, if you are accepted, UC will allocate your campus according to the classes you wish to take. St Andrews does not determine campus allocation.</p>

<p>King’s London
Please note: the University of California requires students to choose three campuses where their major (i.e. primary study subject) is taught. Students don’t apply individually to specific campuses, but apply to UC as a whole. The central Exchanges office at UC will then select which campus students attend.</p>

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<p>I guess it depends on one’s standards. I have visited UCSD and UCSB several times in recent years and I was not impressed by how empty and soulless their campuses were compared to public flagships such as Cal, Indiana, Michigan, UCLA, UNC, UVA, Wisconsin etc… The level of campus activity, student activism, school spirit, social interaction etc…does not compare.</p>

<p>coureur, the overall USNWR is based entirely on a methodology that you either agree with or disagree with, and I personally disagree with it. Also, 75% of the ranking is data driven, and if the data itself is not accurately or honestly reported, then properly audited and finally adjusted to reflect differences between private and public universities, the ranking loses credibility. With the number of universities that have been found guilty of falsifying data, the USNWR is no longer a trustworthy source, even for those who naively ascribe to its flawed methodology. </p>

<p>On the other hand, department rankings, such as Engineering or History etc are derived entirely by the deans of the respective departments. Whether one trusts the accuracy of such a ranking, there aren’t many in-the-know who would argue that Indiana is not stronger than the majority of the UCs (not including Cal and UCLA of course) in the humanities, including History. The USNWR and the NRC rankings both seem to rank Indiana’s history department slightly higher than most UCs.</p>

<p>Also, something else to consider is the student demographic. I do not know the OP, but as an international student myself, I think he would fit in better at a university with geographic diversity. Other than Cal, UCLA and UCSD, most UCs have tiny international student populations (3% or less) and over 95% of the American student population is Californian. Not much geographic diversity whatsoever. At Indiana, 10% of the undergraduate student population is international, and 30% of the American students are OOS. </p>

<p>Finally, while this may not apply to the OP, the UCs are typically around $10k more expensive than Indiana when you factor in cost of living. </p>

<p>Like I said, with the exception of Cal and UCLA, I think Indiana is a better option for an international student majoring in History.</p>

<p>I also agree that Maryland-College Park is a great option.</p>

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<p>I’d agree that UMaryland is probably the best fit as you will have access to cities all along the east coast.</p>

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<p>Alexandre, I’ve recently been to both as well. You and I interpret the social scenes at the schools very differently. Though I’ve never been to IU, U Michigan, or the others, I’ve spent extensive amounts of time at UCLA, Berkeley, and a couple of days at UGA. There seemed to be plenty going on during the day and night at both of the schools you listed as not having a vibrant social scene. </p>

<p>Also rankings in history don’t matter much especially given the vast over production of history phDs which makes hiring extremely competitive and more a luck of the draw than anything else. So long as the school offers a rigorous program (which is btw not necessarily defined by NRC ranking) in the subfields the student wants, he should be fine. </p>

<p>Finally I question how useful having a great deal of international students is for a British student. Given that the overwhelming majority of internationals are from the Middleast/ Asia, a British student would probably find he has far more in common with his American classmates than someone from China. </p>

<p>OP, is it possible for you to apply to the UCs as well as another campus? IMO UCLA, UC Berkeley, and UC San Diego best fit your criteria but the other six would probably bore you. </p>

<p>U Miami might also be a great option although it can get extremely hot during the summer time.</p>

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<p>Right, which is another way of saying the departments are ranked entirely by a subjective popularity contest based on the reputations of their research/graduate programs and not on their undergrad teaching and experience.</p>

<p>If I were looking for an undergrad program I’d be much more interested in an objective, data-driven assessment the undergrad performance and experience of the school and its student body.</p>

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<p>“Right, which is another way of saying the departments are ranked entirely by a subjective popularity contest based on the reputations of their research/graduate programs and not on their undergrad teaching.”</p>

<p>coureur, I would agree with you wholeheartedly if we were comparing a LAC to a research university, since the former lacks graduate programs and has a faculty that definitely dedicates more time to teaching than to research and graduate advising while the latter has large graduate programs and a faculty that spends more time on research and advising graduate students. However, we are comparing a number of large research universities to each other. I do not think it is much of a stretch to say that graduate program rankings are a relatively accurate predictor of undergraduate quality.</p>

<p>“If I were looking for an undergrad program I’d be much more interested in an objective, data-driven assessment the undergrad performance and experience of the school and its student body.”</p>

<p>I agree coureur. Now good luck compiling that data in a way accurate and relevant. There is no way to even come close. Which is why the USNWR undergraduate rankings are so off, particularly in its ranking of public universities.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the replies!</p>

<p>I have took all of your replies into consideration and have decided to go with either Marquette, Maryland or SUNY Buffalo. I prefer a city over a college town and Indiana didn’t really appeal to me.</p>

<p>Could anyone give me some advise on:
Marquette
Maryland
SUNY Buffalo.</p>

<p>I heard Milwaukee is probably one of the most all-American cities in the USA, however, the transport links are a bloody pain - no rapid transit system like Maryland and SUNY Buffalo. That is where Maryland and SUNY Buffalo trump Marquette. Does Buffalo have good links to NYC, Philly, DC or NJ?</p>

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<p>Also, I forgot to mention I can go to ANY California campus, but have to put down 3 choices. If I looked into a UC then I’d choose UCLA, UCSB and UCSD.</p>