Foreign university or semester abroad - how to choose the right college?

Prep School Admissions Prep School Parents
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I know most of us begin gravitating to the college boards at some point, but for those parents of graduated students who still stop by occasionally, this one is for you. :slight_smile: I’m intentionally putting this in the prep school forum, because often these kids have an independence and maturity that ties in with my question. And I know many (like my D) are ready for something bigger/different than “Boarding School 2.0.”

D22 has had an amazing time at her BS (day student, but there 100% of waking hours) with all the perks we talk about here, and a lot more on top of that! She’s grown in ways we didn’t expect, and she now has some amazing college acceptances in hand. They offer very different experiences, so I’m looking for some discussion about whether to encourage her to go to a foreign school for her bachelors, or whether to focus more on a semester/year abroad for undergrad. Grad school is also a possibility for a foreign experience, or an opportunity for a return to the US in preparation for a US-based job search. But that’s a thread for another day.

She now has multiple US honors program acceptances - “likelies” with fabulous merit making these highly affordable. She has one reach acceptance that is truly an incredible opportunity and (among other perks) builds in a semester of study-abroad in a well-established and highly regarded program. She also has multiple acceptances in Scotland and Ireland, 2 of which are top schools and internationally known, with high student satisfaction and great career prospects. All of these options are within our top budget, which was very carefully calculated to not put us in “bean&rice mode” for 4 years!

She is very unsure of whether to accept the US reach with the awesome extra programs and the semester abroad. Ironically, one of the locations she can choose is ALSO one of the top schools she was accepted to overseas.

She also is very drawn to living in another country for her university years, and has invested a lot of effort to getting to know the different uni cultures, engaging in social media, signing up for multiple “meet a student” online events. She is excited to try it, but also trying not to let herself romanticize the reality of living in a region where the sun sets by 3 p.m. for weeks on end. And there are also options for a semester abroad - including at US schools. :slight_smile:

DH and I are fully supportive of either plan, and honestly, the foreign programs are a lot more affordable (even with tranportation and other costs), though not quite as affordable as the honors programs she was accepted to. It’s not entirely about money though - as long as it’s “in budget,” we are ok with funding it.

Having never done a study-abroad myself, I’m not sure what more I can do to help her decide. But I do know my own preferences will color our conversations (even if I try to be impartial), so, please, share your BS/prep school child’s experience with study abroad, years abroad, degrees earned in other countries, whether you would now choose differently, and what you would be looking for. Did your student have both these options, and how did they decide? How does a full degree from another country vs. a semester program resonate with different types of students? With a foreign degree, is it difficult to return to the US for grad school or finding a job? What are some things your student wishes they knew before they went and would they choose differently now?

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Congrats to her! What an amazing array of options.

Personally, I’d go the “domestic reach acceptance” that offers a built-in study abroad program. Seems like a way to have cake and eat it, and also use it as means of determining whether going all-in on international grad school is the right path. I went to one of those schools and the % of participation in the study abroad programs is very high, everyone returns raving about them, and you slot back in pretty much without missing a beat both socially and academically, so “normal” and in-baked is it.

Based on what you’ve said about her, my guess though is that whatever she chooses, she’ll come out feeling it was life changing, phenomenal, and definitely a great choice. Doesn’t sound like there are any bad options here. Good luck!

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Congrats to your daughter! Sounds like she has excellent options! I’m glad to hear she had an excellent experience as a day student, too. We are looking at the day student option for our daughter at the boarding school local to us right now.

As someone who has worked in student affairs and on the faculty in US and UK universities, I think the US college experience can’t be beat and I would probably encourage the reach acceptance with the study abroad option. I think you get more of the traditional college experience from US universities, and I would encourage my own kids to do US for undergrad and go abroad for graduate school, personally. Plus, study abroad programs are so good at acclimating students to life abroad and you have a built in network to rely on and to travel and explore with. I did a study abroad internship program back when I was in college with students from all over the US and I’m still in touch with the friends I made there after all of these years.

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My first reaction is that your daughter has multiple very good options. I do not think that she can go wrong as long as you can afford whatever she selects, and as long as she is intending to work hard wherever she ends up (which sounds like it is the case). Whatever you can afford and whatever she wants to do might be near the top of the priorities.

We had a daughter graduate from a university “slightly abroad” (Canada) this past May. She worked up there for a few months at a temporary job (at a COVID clinic) and then traveled. She was not able to find an appropriate long term job in eastern Canada, came home for Christmas, and started looking around here. In one month she had way more interviews than I could count and three job offers.

In general I would not expect US companies to recruit at foreign universities. However, at least right now based on this experience getting a job with a foreign degree does not seem to be a problem. Of course each individual student’s situation will be a bit different.

My impression is that universities in the UK (including Scotland) and in Ireland are similar to Canada in the sense that the university systems are well respected by employers and by graduate schools in the US.

Either plan sounds great to me also.

Finances can of course vary a great deal, and how much this matters to each of us will vary based on our personal financial situation. We saved a lot by having a daughter attend university outside the US.

Studying abroad will be very interesting and give your daughter a slightly broader view of the world. Studying in the US will reduce the amount of travel needed and might make it a little bit easier to find a job after graduation.

I think that this is a tough call. Perhaps your daughter should carefully research the options each way, then spend a week just forgetting about the entire issue and just having some fun, and then do whatever she wants to do.

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I would give a lot of weight to your daughter’s own academic temperament. The collegekids have gone to colleges on both sides of the Atlantic. As examples, #1 has been passionate about her academic subject all her life, and loved that she could marinate in it in the UK system. #2 knew what she wanted to specialize in (physics)- but explicitly wasn’t ready to give up on being able to also take courses in history, literature, etc, so she chose the US. The others have made similar calculations.

So: if your daughter already has a subject that she knows she loves and wants to do that, no required GenEds (that was a big motivator for one of ours!), go for the international options.

If not, take the US + Study abroad.

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While a rural LAC strikes many BS students as BS 2.0, I don’t know that your D should make that assumption about all U.S. colleges. I don’t think most students at any larger campus would see much similarity.

With that said, US schools tend to offer much more to their students – housing, cafeterias, clubs, sports, etc-- with the goal of creating an experience beyond academics for their students. European schools tend to provide academics and leave students free to build the rest of their lives as they like. (One of the key reasons they are so much more affordable!) In that regard, even big public flagships may be closer to what your D has experienced at BS in terms of school "sponsorship ".

Attending a foreign college will be much more immersive than a semester abroad. In those study-abroad programs, it’s easiest to meet other American students. Otoh, I have known many students who were able to spend two semesters in different locations through study abroad programs and to really tailor those experience to academic goals. There is probably more flexible in that study abroad option – but by being more of an extended tourist than a non-native local.

The academic models are different and easiest to explore and understand. For every kid who discovers a new academic enthusiasm through freshman core classes is another who just wanted to study what he likes. Id give this reasonable

I agree that your D’s temperament and expectations will heavily influence which option she prefers. They are really quite difficult options in so many ways. She’s smart to talk to current students. Curious to know what she decides!

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Thank you so much for all your thoughts! I myself took a “week off” - just needed to focus on my own life and my own future for a while. In fact, I was planning a vacation for DH and myself after D heads off to college!

@collegemom3717 @gardenstategal You both mentioned temperament. For some reason, this really resonated with me. She keeps weighing features based on a vision of what she thinks she’ll be… but her own temperament is a factor I had not encouraged her to include! Sounds silly, I know. But here’s where I think it matters:

D is unbelievably resistant to change - she’s an old soul trapped in a 17yo body. She likes trying new things, but then they have to be stable. So… that actually seems to be an indicator in favor of the foreign school where she can settle in and simmer there, vs. the semester-abroad, multiple-internship model she’s considering for a US school.

You know, this is ridiculous. She’s comparing U. of St. Andrews to Northeastern NUin, with yearning glances at U. Oregon Honors and UWA Seattle. Still waiting on a couple more (including Edinburgh). We visited Scotland last summer so she has seen the campuses (and snuck into a few buildings), spoken to students overseas (US and foreign) and really connected to both StA and EDI. She’s an Environmental Science major with the expectation of grad school. She also really connected to NEU and the US west coast schools she applied to. They’re all so different and not really comparable. They offer different benefits and come with different challenges.

@cam2932 @DroidsLookingFor also put it very well that the semester abroad experience is well supported by the school and transitions are well-facilitated, and the semesters abroad are a good test for grad school choice. I’ll have to ask her how she’ll feel about all the potential transitions.

She’s been signing up for some admitted student events and trolling social media to get the student flavor. She needs to make a decision SOON because if NEU wins, the deposits are massive and due April 1.

Things are starting to get real!

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Sample size of one, but a family friend’s child graduated from Edinburgh with a 2.1, and tremendously struggled finding a job on his return. It took him over 18 months to land a really crappy job, and after a year of that he is paying big $$$ now for a graduate degree in finance. The career infrastructure just is not there for US students coming back home. I also found this to be the case 30 years ago when I got a graduate degree from Cambridge, but in reverse.

However, if your daughter is certain about graduate school this may not be such an issue.

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@cinnamon1212 These are all points I’m concerned about. Was your acquaintance in a finance course for UG? I am prepared to be helpful in finding summer internships and yes, grad school is very likely. Probably in the US, which will help with the job search a LOT.

Because she is definitely headed to Scotland and we are solidly on that path now. This was a difficult decision for her - but she’s extremely happy with her choice and we’re excited about going to visit her!