<p>I'm English and applying to university in the UK this year. I would like to go somewhere that has a good international reputation, particularly in the US. The five universities I have applied to are:</p>
<p>Cambridge
LSE (London School of Economics)
Durham
St Andrews
Exeter</p>
<p>Could you let me know if you have heard of these, and if so, what you have heard about them. I presume most people in the US have heard of Cambridge (which is my first choice), but I would like to know if people have heard of the other ones on my list. Also, what order would you rank these in (if you have heard of them)?</p>
<p>I dont know much about universities in the UK, but I can tell you that people here think that St andrews and the university of edinburgh are REALLY good.</p>
<p>viventi:
You'd be surprised at how LITTLE the general American knows about UK universities. The most well known is Oxford. Don't ask me why Cambridge isn't as well known, it just isn't. When you say you go to university in Cambridge, people in the U.S. often assume you're at MIT or Harvard, both of which are located in the town of Cambridge, Massachusetts. That said, Cambridge while not as well known as Oxford, is still a well-known university. LSE is also very well known. Exeter and Durhan, not so much despite the fact that they're excellent unis. St Andrews has a dual reputation. Many "educated" people know of it but for various reasons. Many think it is the greatest place ever. Others think it's where slacker college juniors go to party and get easy course credits. In sum, I think the perceive hierarchy in the U.S. is:
1. Oxford
2. LSE/Cambridge
3. St. Andrews
4. The rest, including Imperial, UCL, Durham, SOAS and a bunch of other fantastic places.</p>
<p>If you're talking about upper middle class/wealthy Americans, St Andrews has an awesome reputation because a lot of kids from New England boarding schools go there, like from Groton or Choate.
for your list for the "average Joe" american, I highly doubt they'll recognize anything besides Oxford and MAYBE Cambridge. for americans "in the know" your schools:
1. Cambridge
2/3 LSE/St Andrews
4/5 Durham and Exeter (absolutely no one will have heard of these, I'm sorry but Americans just don't hear of the redbrick unis unless they apply in England).</p>
<p>Well, I'm not too keen on English Universities. I've heard of Cambridge and Oxford. It's quite possible that I've heard of Durham, also. With St. Andrews, there's no way that I would remember it. I've also heard of Queen Mary's, as I have a friend who goes there. I've been interested in Cardiff University, but I won't say that American's know much about it.</p>
<p>I'm surprised Edinburgh and St Andrews rank so highly with the American public. Both are world class certainly, but the University of London is held in a much higher regard in Europe. Especially UCL, LSE, Kings College and SOAS!</p>
<p>
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Queen Mary's?! Also known as the terrible London college.
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</p>
<p>No college in the University of London is terrible, what a ridiculous thing to say.</p>
<p>I've heard of them all, but that's because I plan to go to school in the UK. I know Cambridge, St. Andrews, Durham, and LSE are great schools, but I don't know much about Exeter.</p>
<p>Im from the UK aswell, so I won’t be able to tell you about about international recognition. however, this all depends on the subject you are choosing.</p>
<p>If you want to do an arts/social science/language then go for oxford. If you want to do maths/science/economics then go to cambridge. Cambridge is arguably the best in the world for maths whereas maths at warrick/imperial is quite a lot better than maths at Oxford.</p>
<p>If you want to do an arts, language or social science subject like (eg. english lit.) then go for oxford. Nothing in the world really beats oxford at languages and arts subjects.</p>