<p>Hello everyone,</p>
<p>I hope everyone has enjoyed their weekends!</p>
<p>I have a question regarding the relative strength of Master's Programs in the United States versus the United Kingdom. I realize that this topic has been covered in past threads, but most of those offer very little substance and rapidly degrade to bickering and silly comments. So i was hoping to get some fresh perspectives on this topic as I get ready to apply!</p>
<p>First, a very brief account of where I currently stand in my academic career and where I wish to go. I am a senior at a US undergraduate institution (top 15 university) and am now wishing to pursue a Master's in Health Economics. My current objective is to eventually do research towards a PhD, but am most likely looking to work directly after completing my Master's for a couple of years. I believe I have a fairly strong CV and academic record, but am now unsure where to complete my Master's.</p>
<p>As I will have received a bachelor's from an American university and will eventually want to work in both Europe and the USA during my lifetime, I thought it might be good to continue my studies and gain exposure to the European educational system. At the moment, I would really like to study in the UK (either at Oxford, London School of Economics or London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine), if I were lucky enough to receive an offer. I am particularly interested in the MSc in International Health Policy (Health Economics) at LSE, which also allows you to take classes at LSHTM. This would allow me to receive my policy/economic background at LSE, while taking epidemiology courses at LSHTM. Having little knowledge as how the different universities/systems in each country are seen by people from around the world, I was hoping I could hear some people's opinions on this matter?</p>
<p>I think of LSE as one of the leading institutions in the world, on par with the best universities in the United States. The study is only one year, however, and I am not certain how this is viewed. Although many Master's in Europe are 12 months, most top programs in the US last two years. How are UK Master's seen by European and American employers, as well as for a future PhD application? From speaking to people, I am personally under the impression that an employer in the US or Europe would be equally as impressed with a degree from LSE/Oxford as one from Duke/UChicago/UPenn. I would say that LSE is highly regarded by most people in the world and holds the same weight as the aforementioned US universities. The acceptance rates to the programs at each school do seem a bit higher than their American counterparts; it is ~15% for the LSE program and ~12% for Oxford's MSc in Global Health Science. These are going to be bit higher, however, as it only takes into account the number of available places and number of applicants, not the actual number of students that were offered a spot. What are people's views on the topic and is there a significant difference in the end between attending a top US or UK university?</p>
<p>I look forward to hearing from everyone and thank you very much for responding to this rather lengthy post.</p>
<p>As you noted</p>
<p>British degrees are shorter in all aspects: our bachelor degrees are 3 years, master degrees are one year, and our PhDs three to four years. The American system is the other extreme, and most of Europe is somewhere in the middle. It is my understanding than American students generally either do master degrees or PhDs, whereas here almost all PhD students will have completed a master degree before starting.</p>
<p>I am not an employer, and not in your field, but Oxford and LSE are world leading institutions and a master degree from either of those will serve you well in your future. I would probably even say that they are up there with the best of the US institutions in terms of general worldwide opinion but specialists in your field will obviously have a more informed opinion. The admission rates may be slightly higher than top US universities, but I would say that’s primarily because US universities receive so many more applications, both domestically and from abroad; and not really an indication of the strength of the program. Looking just domenstically, the UK is less than 70 million people and while the US has more universities to compensate for its larger population, I am sure most applicants apply to top universities just in case they get lucky. All these things while important, are secondary to finding the people you want to work with and the material you want to learn and research, especially if you are considering a PhD.</p>
<p>Finally it cannot be understated how useful living in London and the UK in general will be if you want a you want exposure to variety, both academically and culturally. It is very much the hub of Europe if not the world, and you will meet a wider variety of people than perhaps anywhere else in the world; and I’m not talking just about tourists or even British nationals, but people who have decided to live and work in London from abroad. Anybody from any country in the EU can live in the UK without restriction and I typically here dozens of different languages on my daily commute. Also it is very cheap to travel to mainland Europe, and you can sometimes find deals for less than £5. Living in London is not cheap in general though and you might be surprised at how expensive some things are, like food in restaurants; but on the other hand the supermarkets can be very cheap, and offer pretty good variety and quality. Somehow, people always seem to adjust, and find ways to make money stretch.</p>
<p>I hope some of that is useful, but hopefully someone with more knowledge of your field will reply.</p>
<p>Zenna</p>
<p>From what I read online, US universities are more research oriented and focus more on conceptual things while UK universities are very practical.</p>
<p>What I’ve heard about UK vs US doctoral programs is mainly that in UK you jump straight into full-time research and don’t spend time taking courses, thus taking 2 years off the time. The actual research portion is probably not less extensive.</p>
<p>What William said is true, there are generally no classes to take, you should generally decide your research topic by December if not at the start. As for intensity, it may well be the case that US institutions are more intense in terms of hours and pressure and so on, I wouldn’t say that translates into more effective research though.</p>
<p>The UK has maybe 8 really world class, top flight universities. Oxford, Cambridge, UCL, LSE, Imperial, Kings, Manchester and St Andrews.</p>
<p>I am awaiting a reply from KCL, a school I stupidly dropped out of once in 2006. :(</p>
<p>Yes, UK PhDs are usually straight to research, though there could be a “taught track” in some majors, but in my family’s limited experience, most of the fellow PhD students at my DDs UK school seem to already have a masters, hence the coursework is done, but done before you hit the specialised research of your PhD.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses, everyone!</p>
<p>An important aspect would be if any of the course work could later be used towards a potential PhD in the US. I would likely return to the US if I were to pursue a PhD and I know that these are a bit lengthier just for this reason, as several have pointed out, that the Master’s is not a “requirement” in the US. The first couple of years are instead studying and taking quite a bit of courses. This would obviously be program-specific, but does anyone have any general comments/knowledge about this process? I have not at all looked into PhD programs yet and am taking things one year at a time, so any information would be very valuable.</p>
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<p>Usually, but not always, you have to start at square one with all the other first-year graduate students when you enter a PhD program, even if you already have a master’s degree. The better the program, the less likely they will count work done at another university. Although you might be able to waive certain courses/requirements, you probably would have to substitute other, related courses to equal the same number of credit hours that other graduate students must take. </p>
<p>In general, a US PhD program consists of two years of courses and research, exams to prove mastery, and an unspecified number of years (usually another 2-4) of intense research and writing. You can’t skip or fast-forward through any of the above.</p>
<p>I think you should add Warwick, Edinburgh, Bristol and Durham to UKdude’s list of top flight universities.</p>