Hi all,
I’m an American high school senior who was lucky enough to receive offers to study at these three UK universities. In addition to consulting The Student Room, I was wondering whether anyone on CC has any experience with these universities. First off, can anyone talk about their transition from an American high school curriculum to the Scottish/English university system? Also, how are undergraduate degrees from these universities perceived by employers and graduate schools in The States? Would it be tough to gain admission to a top US business school after attending these universities for my undergraduate years.
All the best,
Jarrod
Congrats.
American grad schools would know about them and their quality. So would global industries. What grad schools and industries are you considering?
What will you study?
Mods, could you move this to the UK subforum under “International Students”?
Lots of expertise there.
As @PurpleTitan noted, grad schools will know all 3 of them, and top MBA programs will be looking at your (post-graduation) work experience as much as the name of your undergrad. As a full-time student you are eligible for summer and holiday work in the UK, and all of the big finance, law & consulting groups recruit from those schools for term & summer break internships (summer internships are paid well enough that you can just about support yourself in London, if you share a flat with a bunch of other students/interns). They are competitive, though (there is a multi-tier selection process), so apply early and often.
Transition shouldn’t be hard, as long as you remember that 1) you are the foreigner, so it’s not their ways that are odd- it’s yours; 2) you need to have a lot of self-discipline to keep up with your work (less continuing assessment/fewer & bigger exams); 3) there is much less hand-holding (UK students look to their peers more than the adults for help sorting things out); and 4) it gets dark really, really early (and light really really late) during the winter. Of the 3, St Andrews is the most American-centric- has the biggest % of American students, and does the most to accommodate them.
What degree program at each one?
I’m in a similar position as you and am accepted at all three of these schools as well for psychology (with IR at St. Andrews), after taking a gap year and changing my plans. I mean obviously the Durham degree is a year shorter, but location should be also taken into account. Edinburgh is a big/ mid-sized city with lots going on, though if you’re a creature of habit, then that would matter less. St. Andrews and Durham are both in small towns, with St. Andrews being far smaller. That being said they both have wonderful communities as I’ve seen so far. I feel like for post-grad, Edinburgh might be better, as they have lots of research going on, but you get more personalized teaching at St. Andrews and the small community would be great.