My son is a junior in US at a top school and hates it. he is applying to OXFORD as a mature student for entry next fall. he has a 4.0 and a marvelous resume…thoughts? seems like should wrap up graduation in the states and then head to oxford or uk for grad school. he doesn’t agree and wants to start over there…
love to hear your experience
First question is for you: are you up for paying for 7 or 8 years of undergraduate for your son? Figure the guts of $50K/ year x 3-4 years (depending on the course) for Oxford. If you are good with that, then
Second question: has your son looked at the entrance exam for his subject (most, though not all. Oxford subjects have one)? If he has looked at that and the exam looks realistic for him (and remember that he has to register for the exam by 6pm UK time October 15 and take it on October 30) then
Third question: has your son looked closely at the program of study for his proposed course? Is he aware that the courses are highly structured, and the degree of choice is completely different than in the US? If he has read the course outline in detail and is super excited about all of it then
Why not? he will either get an offer or he won’t. If he doesn’t he can finish his senior year where he is now (though if he hates it, why he didn’t apply to transfer back in March for this autumn is a question I would have asked my collegekid).
Can he finish his degree in the US and apply for a second undergrad degree in the UK (which can be done in two years)? See http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/applying-to-oxford/second-undergraduate-degree#
Doing a second degree is less common than a few decades ago (when it was typical for Rhodes scholars for example), but is definitely an option if he wants the undergraduate experience. If he could finish in the US in three years then he could even apply this fall.
Especially since he’s already close to finishing his undergraduate degree, he really should be looking into this himself. The UK system is far more interested in independent study and learning, and as a parent you shouldn’t really be involved at all (except perhaps to sign checks).
He’s almost out of time to apply to Oxford to start in 2020, especially if there’s an entrance exam involved.
It will be expensive.
Acceptance rates for Americans for undergrad are about 5-10%. For grad school it’s obviously much easier.