<p>My daughter (a junior) has become obsessed with going to school in London. I have a few questions regarding finances and value of the degree.</p>
<p>She is not looking at Oxford, we understand they are super selective. She wants to study English/Creative Writing and Philosophy. She is an honor student with very good PSAT scores (SAT pending) and is currently taking AP classes. We are still looking at what schools might work out.</p>
<p>I consider we might save $$ given that the programs can be only three years vs. four. While a student, would she be able to work in the UK so that she can offset her expenses and tuition? Are any financial grants/scholarships transferable to UK schools? Do they offer US students any grants?</p>
<p>Upon graduation, if she wants to continue on to grad school in the U.S. or go into the workforce, what would the comparable value of that degree be? Top Tier school? Second Tier?</p>
<p>I am just trying to understand if it makes sense in the long run. </p>
<p>All the British universities are super selective regarding internationals.</p>
<p>Has she considered what she will do during her school breaks? I can't imagine coming home > once per year. Maybe the rest of the family could go visit her :)</p>
<p>Honestly we lived in London for 2 1/2 years and the locals all went further afield for uni. Granted part of that depended on their field of major, but I've never heard anything about anything other than LSE which doesn't sound like it would be a good fit for her.</p>
<p>Maybe have her research the websites of the schools she wants to attend and see what their requirements are for international students.</p>
<p>Many colleges in the University of London system might fit the bill - LSE, Imperial College London, UCL (University College London), KCL (King's) are all regarded as Tier 1 in the UK. </p>
<p>HOWEVER a word of caution - when returning to the US very few people will know anything outside of Oxbridge, a few will know LSE/St Andrews - almost nobody will know anything else, like all the University of London schools, redbrick unis, etc.</p>
<p>I applied to a couple UK schools this year and will most likely be going over there - either Scotland or England, not sure yet.</p>
<p>LSE (referred to as "the" LSE in the UK) and St. Andrews may be a notch below Oxbridge, but they are still terribls selective - - and more than just a few are familiar with both schools. Among their more famious alumni are Mick, Tony Blair and Prince William (and his sweetie Kate M.).</p>
<p>lia,
My DD has two high school friends who are at Richmond University of London. (I think that is the correct name.) It is a small liberal arts school, with international diversity and with American credentials. The both love London. Richmond</a> - The American International University in London</p>
<p>Another thing to bear in mind also is that typically students live in halls (dorms) only for their first year, then live out- for example, I rent a flat with two friends in Edinburgh. Usually, it's lower rent (although not that much lower, it is london!) but you also need to keep bills in mind. Lots of my friends from sixth form (last two years of high school) went to various london unis and all enjoyed it, although you need to keep in mind that London is VERY expensive to live, even though the degree is shorter, and that your daughter would need to pick a course before applying since we don't have majors.</p>
<p>I think theres probably good and bad sides to choosing your degree first- you might be able to combine english and philosophy in what's called double honours- essentially, doing half and half. My point was that the OP's daughter would need to narrow down her interests and be sure she wanted to do the subjects before filling in UCAS.</p>
<p>Thank you for your replies. DD is set on her subjects, which is why she likes their system. However, from a mom's point of view I know this can change, which makes me a little nervous. </p>
<p>Mominva, thank you for the link to Richmond University, that might be interesting, a little bit of both worlds. We will certainly look into it. </p>
<p>We did talk about the breaks. She knows that she will only be able to come home two to three times a year. We will also probably visit. </p>
<p>The financials also concerns me. We live in New York and are used to expensive etc. I just wonder if she will be able to work over there as most students do here to cover here personal expenses. If she cannot work because she is a foreigner, that can cause a hardship as we would be so far away.</p>
<p>Please don't take this as any kind of legal advice, but all my friends who are international students work, as do some of the visiting students on arcadia. I believe theres a work hour limit per week during term time, but any of the unis would probably have this information on their website, failing that I'm sure it's on Edinburgh's which is The</a> University of Edinburgh. Lia_b - I've lived in both the US and Britain, so if you have any specific questions about differences in the university system etc, feel free to ask or PM me.</p>
<p>I think she would be able to work for up to 20 hours a week, but I heard that UK made some changes to visa legislation, so it might have changed or be going to change.</p>
<p>The UK Council for International Student Affairs site has a lot of information on studying in UK:
[UKCISA[/url</a>]</p>
<p>Or the sites of the schools she is interested in should also have a section for international students.</p>
<p>The comparable value of her degree would depend what she wanted to do with it. For grad school, I would guess they would know which schools in UK are good, but for finding a job it might be more about which schools are well known. It seems the two are not always the same once you get beyond Oxford/Cambridge/LSE/Imperial.</p>
<p>D studied aboard at King's College. She had a wonderful time but spent a fortune. She did not find the courses as rigorous as those at her home institution, Barnard.</p>
<p>King's has wonderful location and is a well-regarded school.</p>
<p>One of her roommates who grew up in London is returning to England for graduate work at Kings.</p>
<p>A little premature perhaps, but London may be a good place for grad study. Our MAs tend to be 1 year (which would save money) and by that stage your daughter may be more ready than ever to specialise in one subject.</p>
<p>London is an amazing city but living elsewhere than halls after the first year makes for a different uni experience, and may involve some commute by tube/bus each morning as living further from the centre is cheaper. But this could be great for certain students, and living in this more independent way is not all bad. Bristol, Durham, York and Edinburgh are very highly regarded universities and may offer a more typical student lifestyle. Redbricks such as Leeds, Manchester and Birmingham are great too, though are situated in larger, more industrial cities. Subject rankings on timesonline are a good guide, but like all rankings, take them with a pinch of salt.</p>
<p>Does it have to be London? Sounds to me like the University of East Anglia would be a great choice for her. Living outside London would be a bit cheaper, but it would be easy to get into London for visits. In the field she's interested in, it has an excellent reputation internationally.</p>
<p>I think there's anothe CC poster whose child spent a year there and might be able to give info. Can anyone else remember who it was?</p>
<p>UEA has a very strong creative writing/english BA. Norwich is also an ancient, interesting little city. The UK is tiny, so visits to London would be a breeze.</p>
<p>Yes, UCL is probably the best choice, though most courses require minimum AAB/AAA at A Level (no idea what the equivalent of this is) and this by no means guarantees a place - how you appear in the interview is key. Otherwise LSE has an excellent Philosophy degree, same entrance requirements. I know UCL gives out scholarships to internationals but these are v competitive.</p>
<p>According to the Times Higher Education, the rankings for the London schools in English are:</p>
<ol>
<li>UCL (Entry standards 2nd)
=13. Royal Holloway (20)</li>
<li>Queen Mary (27)</li>
<li>Goldsmiths (30)</li>
<li>King's College (16)</li>
<li>Middlesex (80)</li>
<li>London South Bank (97)</li>
<li>Kingston (86)</li>
<li>Westminster (87)</li>
<li>Greenwich (90) University</a> Rankings League Table 2009 | Good University Guide - Times Online</li>
</ol>
<p>Royal Holloway College (of the University of London) has a strong English with creative writing degree.</p>
<p>It is very near Heathrow Airport (7 miles) in a smaller town community. 40 minutes by train to London. From London to NYC the flights can be extremely cheap. The new Heathrow Terminal 5 is great, very comfortable and efficient.</p>
<p>I do not think UK universities are more competitive for fee-paying international students, especially Americans. They will understand and appreciate high SAT/ AP scores.</p>
<p>I am sure "London" is a recognizable enough brand-name on a degree, even in the US.</p>