<p>I was extremely lucky to be able to get into these two universities, and now I have to make this confusing decision.</p>
<p>I would really appreciate it if you could give me your (unbiased) views on why I should accept either, esp. in terms of quality of education, and future prospects. I really don't know what I want to major in (although leaning towards engineering), and this is mainly the reason I want to go to Stanford. Will i lose much time studying engineering in the states (in the UK it takes 4 years to recieve a masters in engineering), and is spending this extra time worthwhile? People keep telling me that the undergraduate education at Oxford is unrivalled in depth and specialisation, and I completely unsure of what to do.</p>
<p>I would really appreciate it if you could give me some advice. Thanks</p>
<p>"People keep telling me that the undergraduate education at Oxford is unrivalled in depth and specialisation, and I completely unsure of what to do" is completely true, which is I think the fact that you "really don't know what [you] want to major in" means that you should go to Stanford.</p>
<p>I get the impression that it is quite hard to switch majors and such at Oxford. If you start with engineering, I get the impression that you will not have taken many classes in other fields that are not very similar to yours and so will have to start over from scratch. Stanford gives you much more freedom in terms of both class and major selection, as well as in terms of double majors and minors. </p>
<p>I think "spending this extra time is worthwhile" because you get to explore any other interests you may have. Or may develop later on. </p>
<p>With that said, I think the real question is:</p>
<p>Do you want to live in the UK/Europe after college?</p>
<p>(And also: Do you really want to live in the London fog?) ;)</p>
<p>It isn't 1850 anymore, even in the UK. I've never seen any fog there. Do you really think it is like some 1800s history book?</p>
<p>Oxford isn't in London. It's a small town 60 miles away.</p>
<p>Basically you will only study engineering for 4 years at Oxford. No-one will actually stop you from attending lectures in Anglo-saxon or astro-physics if you really want to, but they won't count towards your degree. If you are sure engineering is for you and you really love it, then Oxford is a good choice. If you think you will miss studying other subjects, or might want to change major, choose Stanford.</p>
<p>Im not sure if you know this, but if the Masters degree (from Oxford) you are talking about is the MEng then you should probably know it is considered an undergraduate degree its not the same as a MSc or MEng (in the US) which are actual postgrad degrees. If you really want to study in Oxford then go for it. </p>
<p>I am planning to get a BEng(3 years) from the UK and then do an MSc/MEng in the US. For the area of engineering I want to go into, Elec. Eng, it seems in terms of Postgraduate dgrees which revolve around research nothing seems to come close to Universities in the US.</p>
<p>It is true that undertgraduate education in the UK has a lot more depth, you concentrate on your Major only.</p>
<p>Just to confuse you a little more :P, Oxford and Cambridge are the only universities that don't offer the three year BEng course on its own.</p>
<p>So ill break it down for you. To get a full PG Masters Degree </p>
<p>Oxford (4yrs MEng + 2yr PG)
Stanford (4yrs BS + 2yr PG) Although I think in the US its possible to shave a year off the Undergrad degree by taking more classes.</p>
<p>I picked Princeton over Oxford, merely because I think that to grow as a human being, you need the complete undergraduate experience. Also, with regards to a job, the connections I'll gain at Princeton are more likely to help me get a Wall Street job than, say, the connections I'll get at Oxford. It also helps for me that Princeton has a strong connetion with Oxford, so I can always study there for a year if I wish.</p>
<p>Both are good, but you need to consider many things. I hear Stanford weather is very nice; Oxford is the most polluted city in the UK. It really depends on how focused you are towards engineering. Both are great universities and you're lucky to have such a choice.</p>
<p>See the stanford v. harvard thread. Also, although the prestige thing is kind of BS, and I don't think you should select a school based on it - my brother got accepted into oxford, and he's finding out that a lot of people in the US don't even know about it. Although it's one of the most prestigious schools in the world (moreso than Stanford), you might want to consider that if you plan on working in the US. In engineering circles (I've interned at an engineering firm) - everyone knows about Stanford, and possibly the only other school that's highly regarded by them is MIT (but it's still pretty close).</p>
<p>One more thing - although I'd always thought that I wouldn't want to go to college close to home and that I wouldn't really get too homesick, I'm from Texas, and the trips back and forth are a major pain in the ass. I wish I could come home more often. I can imagine if you went to Oxford, you'd probably only come home during Christmas (or maybe even stay the whole year).</p>
<p>Jason4444: my stats were pretty average. I had 2280 SAT (800M,800V,680W), 3 sat 2s over 770, am a national tennis player (in Sri lanka, not recruited). Did some stuff. 10 As for O levels and 4 As for AS level.</p>
<p>AtoX: so to get a complete PG engineering degree, I would have to spend the same time at both Oxford and Stanford? Thats something I really want to know for certain, is there any website I can refer to or anything (I'm not challenging you, I am just slightly paranoid :) )</p>
<p>And is it true that at Stanford we only get 12 weeks of vacation per year? Because at Oxford its apparently 5 months! Can anyone compare the social life at Oxford and Stanford?</p>
<p>Thanks for all the help guys. Its really useful</p>
<p>As far as I'm aware, a 4 year course is a (graduate) masters degree. lot's of people leave with a BEng after 3 years (undergraduate degrees are only 3 years long in England, due to no minors or any classes outside your chosen subject. In Scotland nearly all are 4 year MA courses) or they can stays on, if they want to be engineers, for the 4th year. it's the same in some other science subjects eg Physics and Biochemistry. I did a 3 year BA in Biology then a 1 year MRes (Masters of Research) at a different university. It's just that for certain subjects everyone doing the undergraduate degree gets the option to stay on for the masters (as longs as they're not failing, obviously). I think in many cases the masters is awarded on the basis of a research project only ie there are no classes in this final year. Like a UK PhD student, all the student does is work on one particular project during this time.</p>
<p>Depending where you live it wouldn't be a major pain to go home. It's only a 6-ish hour flight to New York for example. You could drive for longer than that and not cross the state line in many states! Most people go home at Christmas (6 weeks vacation) and in the summer (end June-1st October!) but stay at Easter. Actually a lot of people travel in Europe at this time (going to France next week myself). Obviously only you can know if you are likely to feel homesick and I think it is a good thing to consider. Your parents can visit you and most (all?) Oxford college will let them stay in "guest rooms" for a very low price.</p>
<p>Oxford is driving hell. But hardly any students have cars (where would they put them? The only place I can park in Oxford is my own driveway!) and are not likely to be cycling/walking on any major roads other than the high street.</p>
<p>Again you might want to actually call up oxford and ask them whether the MEng degree is a postgrad degree or not just to be totally certain.</p>
<p>It also depends a lot on where you want to work, if its Europe and UK then the MEng(UK) route to becoming a chartered engineer would be fine, but in the US it would probably be more beneftial to get a proper post grad degree.</p>
<p>Thanks for the help everyone. In my heart I really want to go to Stanford, because I want to have a liberal arts education, and I want to learn a little bit more about the world before I choose what to spend my life doing. But I guess I can't always get what I want, and my parents are having the last say on where I study, and they tell me to go to Oxford to study engineering. Sigh. I'll just pretend I got rejected from Stanford :(</p>
<p>the 4/5 months holiday include at least two-three months of time when you just have to study on your own. </p>
<p>I am studying at cambridge, but I would go to stanford as oxford is not very strong in engineering or science, whereas stanford is. (though the teaching may be a bit better at ox). If you wanted to do politics or something I'd recommend oxford, but for engineering definitely stanford.</p>