International Students: How much is an American education valued?

<p>Over time, I've seen students from all over flock to the States to get an education. I've heard that an American education is valued beyond all others. But I want to hear the opinion first hand. What do your parents think of American schools? How are the schools in your home country? And for international students already studying in the States, how do American universities compare overall to those at home?</p>

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I've heard that an American education is valued beyond all others.

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<p>That's definitely something that no one has said in my int'l school. A LOT of kids are going to the UK and Australia to study, and those schools are definitely right on par with American schools as far as respect is concerned. America is certainly not held on a high podium at my school, and depending on your geographic locus, America is not very highly respected in general. NOT MY OPINION, just the viewpoint I've come across here in my community and in Europe.</p>

<p>I've lived in America 8 years and plan on going to college there, because it's where I'm most familiar with colleges, not because the colleges are somehow superior. If I was more familiar with European colleges and if I was more fluent in languages besides English and Finnish, I would certainly go there, especially since a bachelor's takes only 3 years to complete.</p>

<p>My two cents.</p>

<p>^^ I hope that didn't come out too antagonistic? Sorry, the tone of that is just bad.</p>

<p>I've lived in Asia, Oceania and Africa and the consensus I've noticed is that American education seems superior, especially in Asia, where "going to America" is seen as a sure sign of future success. Even in the other places, anti-Americanism doesn't seem to affect American education's reputation, which is as stellar as ever according to what I've seen.</p>

<p>American edu > Asia edu</p>

<p>so far.</p>

<p>UK's is right on par, but the no of very highly respected universities are fewer in number(namely Oxford, Cambridge, LSE, Imperial, UCL). Australia still lags behind i would say.</p>

<p>Totally agree with Elastine.
And so far, esp in the Asian's eyes, US is a land that has more opportunites compared with the other place in the world. So it is not only education itself that makes American colleges superb.</p>