Colleges outside US

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Does anyone have an experience sending kids outside US for college? My daughter, a rising junior, is quite interested in going away for college in Britain. Is it doable?</p>

1 Like
2

<p>Can you afford it? No problem in you can, it might not be Oxford, but there’s lots of schools in the UK.</p>

1 Like
3

<p>I have a friend who studied in Berlin for a year in wood working. Im not sure what school, but he really liked it. I wouldn’t be looking at europe though because I believe Baba Vanga lol</p>

4

<p>I spent a year of grad school at both U of Toronto and U of St Andrews in Scotland.</p>

<p>It’s definitely do-able
every British university has a noticeable amount of Americans. Be aware that there are some pretty big differences in the way things are set up at British universities. At most of them, undergrads study only one subject the whole time they are there. Like if you major in math, you take nothing but math for 3 or 4 years. This is great if you are positive you know what you want to study, but horrible if you don’t. Also, the lifestyle might be a tad less pleasant than at American colleges. At St Andrews the dorm food was pretty bad, and in the winter they’d turn off the heat in the undergrad dorms at night.</p>

<p>Canadian universities give you a taste of being in a different country, but their curricula and creature comforts are much more like in the U.S.</p>

1 Like
5

<p>Neighbor’s daughters are at University of Bath and University of Richmond in England (both interested in international business). Eldest started at London School of Economics but found that the environment wasn’t very supportive of freshman, who are on average two years younger than the average incoming European LSE student, so she transferred to Bath. Friends confirm that LSE is better for the ‘year abroad’ experience or grad school.</p>

1 Like
6

<p>Thank you for the replies. My D is looking for Liberal Arts type major, Creative Writing, Cultural Anthropology and a few others. She is not seeking a pre-professional education, not pre-med, not business. Would it still be a good idea to go to UK for college? I don’t think she minds having to choose a major. She will probably choose something generic, like English. Are colleges more expensive in UK than in US?</p>

1 Like
7

<p>Schools in the UK have higher tuition rates for foreign students. You can check tuition rates online and compare. Here’s an example. <a href=“http://www.ed.ac.uk/polopoly_fs/1.32067!fileManager/ugfees09-10.pdf[/url]”>http://www.ed.ac.uk/polopoly_fs/1.32067!fileManager/ugfees09-10.pdf&lt;/a&gt;
From the University of Edinburgh.</p>

1 Like
8

<p>I would recommend UCL, King’s, Bristol, Durham, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, New Castle and Edinburgh for UK unis. All these unis are located in the heart of exciting cities to study and live in for 3 years.</p>

1 Like
9

<p>musiscamusica, Thank you for the link. The tuition for foreign students seems reasonable compared to the US 11K in pounds vs $30K and up. We will be full pay whereever we go. </p>

<p>My daughter looked into UCL and St Andrews. She had an impression UCL was for business and St Andrews is strong for pre-med. Are they all strong in traditional Liberal Arts?</p>

1 Like
10

<p>UCL is strong for med. Med in the UK is generally not a postgrad level, so your D can get into med school straight out of A-Levels or IB. UCL is also strong for physical sciences, which are mostly premed programs in the US.</p>

<p>St Andrews isn’t really that good. It’s a boring place and very cold up there. You go to St Andrews to play golf!</p>

<p>If your D wants an excellent business/economics/finance program, she should look into Oxbridge, LSE, Warwick, UCL, Bristol, Durham and Manchester. </p>

<p>But if she likes lit or creative writing or English, ask her to check out Warwick, Durham, Edinburgh, Bath, Nottingham and York, aside from Oxbridge.</p>

1 Like
11

<p>The place that people rave about and gets very high ratings for Creative Writing is Uni of East Anglia, which is based in the City of Norwich in the east of England. However, I’ve never been to it. there was a poster on this board called Gloworn and her daughter did study abroad there so maybe search for her.</p>

<p>As you only study one subject in the UK (explained above), it’s best to look at how a university is rated in that particular subject, rather than overall rating. If you google the Times or Guardian, both of these newspapers product university ranking tables which will provide you with a start at least about where to look. </p>

<p>(As Schmaltz says, everyone turns their heating off in the night in the UK BTW. That’s the norm as it is considered wasteful of energy and money to heat the house when you’re in bed. On the flip side, you won’t have to share a dorm room. The thought horrifies UK students. They just can’t believe US students pay for the experience LOL!)</p>

1 Like
12

<p>RML - Thank you. That’s a very helpful list. She will go for creative writing or english. Are they all in an exciting place to live for 3 years, too? She is somewhat reserve but quite funny with dry sense of humor.</p>

<p>cupcake, Thank you for the tip. I’ll add Uni of East Anglia to the list. Turning off heat at night, we experience that when we spent a year in Essen Germany. I forgot about it. No roommates? Won’t that get a bit lonely?</p>

1 Like
13

<p>“St Andrews isn’t really that good. It’s a boring place and very cold up there.”</p>

<p>It’s boring, but I spent a year there and winter and summer were both mild compared to Boston, Detroit, and especially Chicago.</p>

14

<p>Schmaltz, Was that a study abroad program?</p>

1 Like
15

<p>No, I was a grad student there.</p>

1 Like
16

<p>Hi, cupcake! Nice to “see” you.</p>

<p>Indeed my daughter did go to study English at East Anglia.</p>

<p>Norwich is a great little city, and the U is about a 20 min. bus ride from the town centre. It is about a 90 min. train ride from London. It rains less there than in most parts of England.</p>

<p>Even if an American is a full pay, it is still less expensive than the US, except for in-state public.</p>

<p>I will be gone for 6 days, but after that I will be glad to help. The website for the school is very informative. I only know about East Anglia for visitng students, though, not for a full 3-yr. course.</p>

1 Like
17

<p>

</p>

<p>UCL is extremely strong in the humanities and social sciences, not just science and business! It offers over 20 languages including some very obscure tongues like Icelandic, Ukrainian and Yiddish. It also offers a number of interdisciplinary courses which might interest your daughter. They’re also developing a US-style Liberal Arts programme for launch in 2012.</p>

1 Like
18

<p>Hi Igloo. </p>

<p>The universities I mentioned are all quite respected and located in a bustling city. I haven’t been to East Anglia but I’ve heard it has a good creative writing program. I’d recommend UCL if the finances aren’t a problem. Otherwise, I’d go for Warwick, Durham or Edinburgh.</p>

1 Like
19

<p>My daughter loved what she saw on the website of Warwick. What do they mean that they may require ayear of remedial study before applying to Warwick? Is it something she can place out? Her SAT is about 1500 for reading and math.</p>

1 Like
20

<p>I wouldn’t advise you to send your daughter to a British university unless she is very, very certain of her future career. As a previous poster has mentioned, there’s very little flexibility in undergraduate studies. Around 65-80% of your studies might be concentrated on your major, compared to around 25-35% for a typical U.S. student. Graduate studies is fine.</p>