<p>I'm a dual US/UK citizen, I've lived in England since the 4th grade and will be attending university here, but I plan to return to America and work there. I'm worried however that no one I've spoken to back home has heard of a single British university outside of Oxbridge. Would a degree from UCL, despite it being recognised as in the second tier after Oxbridge in this country, be of little use in the American job market? Would it at least be recognised by top US unis in terms of applying for postgrad, or are those reserved almost entirely again, for Oxbridge students? I'm just trying to get as much input as I can before deciding whether to accept their offer so any information would be helpful. Thank you!</p>
<p>Yes, American graduate schools have all heard of University College London, and they will admit students who graduated from UCL. If U.S. Grad schools only admitted Oxford & Cambridge grads, they sure wouldn’t get many British students.</p>
<p>(I think you may have been living in the UK so long that you have lost track of how low U.S. educational standards are. A lot of people a lot, well, “stupider” than you go to college and grad school in the U.S. You definitely do NOT have to be Oxbridge material to get a graduate degree in the U.S.!!)</p>
<p>I don’t know what industry you will be going into. UCL I believe is quite well known in some industries. But I wouldn’t sweat it. There are so many colleges and universities in the USA (some 3,000) that employers often get applications from people who went to a uni or college they have never heard of. This is normal. If they have any questions, they can just contact the college or uni (or just google it!).</p>
<p>I think folks will be very impressed with an applicant from University College London.</p>
<p>KEVP</p>
<p>US grad schools admit students from all over the world, many of whom have attended far more obscure unis than UCL.</p>
<p>Well I’m sure I could get into A grad school but I’ve gotten the impression for Ivies and similarly prestigious institutions the only UK undergrad degrees they assign real value are from Oxbridge. I have several family members who are academics in America and that’s what I’m hearing, but they’re also telling me to just go to UCL because my only other option would be taking a year out and reapplying and there’s no guarantee I’d end up anywhere better.</p>
<p>There’s no such thing. I’m from Pakistan and I’ve got relatives who got accepted to UCBerkeley and UPenn after studying from here! And believe me, as great as they’re unis were, they weren’t as great as UCL.</p>
<p>If all you value is prestige, you need to decide in your head what to you counts as ‘prestigious’ and refuse to attend any other college. You have decided UCL is not good enough for you, so why are you asking?</p>
<p>I’ve re-read my post and think it sounds a bit harsh. What I am trying to say is choose an undergraduate university based on what is right for you now. If the most important thing in making this choice is the approval of distant relatives then do what they say.</p>
<p>If you want to be in the US, why wait till grad school?</p>
<p>You can of course contact all of the US colleges you would consider for grad school and ask them if they will admit UCL graduates. It is unlikely you will get the answer that they don’t recognise any UK unis apart from Oxbridge, but it seems you are convinced of this no matter what anyone says.</p>
<p>Oh don’t worry you have the right to be harsh; I recognise this question sounds petty–my family aren’t generally part of the criteria (neither of my parents went to uni so they’re simply proud of me wherever I end up) I’m just using them as a reference point but I’ll take into account that their views have been discredited. </p>
<p>I did look into US colleges in my home state particularly (California) but was told despite my dual citizenship I’d probably pay international fees as a requirement is living there directly prior to enrolment, not merely citizenship. In addition I’ve just been much better prepared for the UK system; specific subject goal, little focus on ECs etc, while I was lucky enough to get 3 offers this year from places well respected for my subject I doubt I’d be impressive as a US applicant! Also not terribly keen on the idea of essentially another year of A level type education. I am obviously concerned about US job market but I do value the course suitability the most and I feel much more orientated towards the UK system for now.</p>
<p>The alternative would be attempting to transfer to or reapply to UCL’s joint program’s with America; they have a v104 course (my offer is for v100 the course structure seems exactly the same except with a year out) with a year at a North American institution (McGill, UPenn, UT Austin) all of which seem really great. There’s no garuntee if I rejected this offer to reapply I’d get in of course but I’m waiting to her back from the admissions tutor on whether a transfer would be possible. I honestly can’t remember why I didn’t apply to this in the first place, I think my school made us rush our applications so much I just went for v100 across the board, which I regret somewhat. </p>
<p>That is a good idea, thank you. I also emailed a contact my mother gave me in the HR department of her company’s American branch. </p>
<p>Sorry this response is so long! Thanks for the input everyone, I definitely have heard the argument UK undergrads are valued in America due to the perceived intellectualism of their institutions (I do really admire America for its pursuit of well rounded candidates though as I can’t see myself ever doing that), and I’m happy to hear schools as great as UPenn and UCberkley have a much wider range of intake than I anticipated. 
time to shake off the ‘Oxbridge or nothing’ mentality of some of my peers that I’ve believed too readily.</p>
<p>Whoops meant to say University of Toronto, not McGill.</p>