<p>Other things being equal (e.g. the amount you have to pay), would you choose Princeton or Oxford? And why?</p>
<p>It would depend partly on what I wanted to study. For most things, I'd pick Princeton, because I'd want more flexibility in what and how I study.</p>
<p>Exactly. Do you have only one subject that you're passionate about and want to study exclusively, or are you more interested in a broad liberal arts education? If the former, choose Oxford. If the latter, choose Princeton.</p>
<p>Well, at Oxford I would study PPE (philosophy, politics and economics), and I guess I would study something along those lines at Princeton as well. But I like the both systems so it shouldn't come down to that...
By the way, do you know what possibilities are there for European (from the EU) students like me to stay in the USA after getting an undergraduate degree, either to continue studying or to work? Is this possible and easy or are international students expected to leave after getting their degree?</p>
<p>Oxford is cheaper. Only 3 years vs 4 years. You can also have access to the financial market job market in London. But they are both great universities.</p>
<p>Oxford is an amazing University and PPE is an amazing program. However, the difference is that Oxford is much more focussed on academics and less on ec's. I would definitely choose it over Princeton, its PPE program is excellent (too bad I didn't get in there).</p>
<p>In terms of staying in the US, you can get a 1-year practical training visa. Once that term is up you have to leave the US, get your company to sponsor you for a green card, or go back to school. I believe Princeton just announced a program to help all their international students get these visas upon graduation if desired.</p>
<p>In terms of cost, Princeton will meet the financial need of foreigners, while Oxford does not. If your family is very affluent, Oxford would be cheaper. If they are not, Princeton would likely be cheaper.
From what I understand, the Oxford system works something like- "Here, go read this stack of books and come back and we'll talk about it". This would appeal to some people, including me.
There is a Princeton-Oxford exchange program. My daughter is a first year Princeton student who hopes to study at Oxford Junior (third) year.</p>
<p>I believe the cost of Oxford is lower for EU citizens than Americans; it is even lower for UK citizens.
The tutorial/lecture system, with everything riding on final exams, is quite a different model from ours and American degrees are generally somewhat more prestigious, at least in the US, especially at the graduate level, because of the greater breadth of studies. Your particular program may be different.</p>
<p>Whereas in the UK British degrees would generally be somewhat more prestigious because we would see studying a broad sweep of subjects as something that's appropriate to high school, not university.</p>
<p>EU citizens who've been resident in the EU for the last 3yrs qualify for government fee subsidies and an interest free loan in real terms to cover the remaining £3000 fee on the same basis as UK students. They aren't eligible for the maintenance loans UK students get to cover living costs. And the degree is 3yrs long, rather than four.</p>
<p>Your week will likely consist of a handful of lectures, a stack load of reading and one or two papers to write, followed by a discussion with a tutor of your work and related ideas and stuff (either individually or in pairs). Most people doing PPE drop one of their subjects at the end of their first year, and just doing politics and economics say. All your assessment is based on exams at the end of your degree, although you might be able to substitute a thesis for one of them. You have exams throughout the course (formal prelims at the end of your first year, which you just have to pass, and termly 'collections' which technically you only need to pass if you're on probation), but they don't contribute to your final degree classification.</p>
<p>In terms of prestige, honestly the differences are minimal and entirely subjective. Whether you prefer to concentrate on a few subjects or do a broad degree is entirely up to you. Oxford has a reputation for supposedly offering the best u/g degrees in the world due to the tutorial system and it's depth and rigour and PPE is it's flagship course. Whether this is really true depends who you ask- princeton will undoubtably have better facilities due to it's vast wealth (not that oxford's particularly lacking, plus the 500yr old buildings are amazing to live and work in), but you'll have less regular access to top academics- at oxford tutorials with experts are a major part of the course. Bear in mind at an u/g level this is not actually necessary- a lot of tutorials could be done in larger groups with TAs, but it is very nice having such personal contact with people really at the top of their fields.</p>
<p>For me, having been accepted by oxford, there was no point in continuing my US applications, since it'd be in no way worth running up a £200k debt going to MIT or Stanford (the £20k i'll have borrowed scares me enough- and i won't even be paying commercial interest on it), even if i thought they would give me a better education.</p>
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For me, having been accepted by oxford, there was no point in continuing my US applications, since it'd be in no way worth running up a £200k debt going to MIT or Stanford (the £20k i'll have borrowed scares me enough- and i won't even be paying commercial interest on it), even if i thought they would give me a better education.
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<p>How is it 200K pounds? It should be around $200K and with the exchange rate it should be 100K pounds right?</p>
<p>Also the UK system is less test intensive. I think you have a major test once in a blue moon. So the real focus is on learning not testing.</p>
<p>sorry $200k, £100k. The £/$ are right next to each other on a uk keyboard.</p>
<p>And as i said, you'll only have 2 or 3 sets of major exams at Oxford, or indeed most of english universities. But that then makes those that you do have very intense, since everything rides on them. Depends how you measure intensity. As you say- it does mean you spend more time learning as your routine isn't interrupted with regular exams.</p>
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Depends how you measure intensity.
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<p>For high school, testing is weekly(quizzes and exams). For US colleges, probably 2-3 times plus quizzes per class per semester. Multiply that by so many classes and double that for 2 semesters or tripple that for 3 quarters. Yes it takes time to prepare so that is why it's more test intensive than the UK schools.</p>