<p>I’m a rising senior from the United States and am completing my college list. I’m planning on majoring in international relations, and I’d also like to study a few foreign languages (continue German from high school, Arabic, and either French or Italian). Going to an overseas school seems like it would be beneficial for this sort of thing, and it’s something I’d enjoy doing. Two schools that stood out to me were the University of St. Andrews (in Scotland) and the University of Wales-Aberystwyth. St. Andrews has a four year degree program like in the USA, but UWA has a three year one like in much of the rest of the UK (because students in those areas have an extra year of schooling before applying to a university). I heard that Oxford (which has a three year program) only admits a couple American students (like two or three) as first year applicants, but haven’t heard anything about how many Americans schools that aren’t the #1 or #2 school in the UK admit. I’ve looked around both of the schools’ websites a bit, but I still have some questions:</p>
<li><p>How hard for is it for an American to get accepted to the University of St. Andrews or UWA? How would they compare to American schools in terms of selectivity?</p></li>
<li><p>Would a middle-class family with between $50,000 and $100,000 saved up in a college account be able to afford either of those schools through a combination of federal financial aid, savings, income, and (a realistic amount of) loans? I know that tuition is generally less than in the United States, but I don’t know how much of that difference would still be there after financial aid differences are considered.</p></li>
<li><p>Is there anything else you think I should know?</p></li>
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<p>I can give answering your questions a shot:</p>
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<li> Entry requirement statistics for UK universities have just been published by the Good University Guide. Overall, St Andrews has the 4th highest entry standards in the country, just behind Cambridge, Oxford, and the LSE. Aberystwyth ranks 53rd. For international relations, those accepted to St Andrews earn roughly 150 more tariff points than students at Aberystwyth. In short, St Andrews is one of the most difficult universities to get into in the UK, while Aberystwyth is a walk in the park.</li>
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<p>Comparing these universities to those found in the US in terms of selectivity is difficult for a number of reasons. St Andrews recruits heavily from East Coast private schools (Exeter, Andover, Deerfield, etc.) and most Americans have a large number of APs. Many of them seem to have chosen St Andrews over ivies, top LACs, etc. I would say that as an American youd have an advantage over British applicants because the university is working to increase its student intake from North America. Aberystwyth is not really selective and probably compares to only moderately selective universities in the US.</p>
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<li><p>I cant really comment on affordability in relation to your savings because its really all dependent on your spending habits. Id say that the average American should expect to spend at least $25K per year at St Andrews, but Aberystwyth would probably be a bit cheaper (St Andrews in one of the most expensive towns in the UK). I think the greatest variable will be associated with your level of travel/socializing. </p></li>
<li><p>Do you have any other specific questions?</p></li>
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<p>Thank you very much! That helped a lot. Are there any schools with good international relations programs that you know of that are somewhere in between the two? How are Edinburgh and Cardiff?</p>
<p>Both Edinburgh and Cardiff are well above average, but they are not really in the elite pool of IR schools in the United Kingdom. What are your specific interests? Programs in the UK are very specialized and knowing your interests would help me to give more thoughtful advice.</p>
<p>Oh, and the idea that there are tons of undergraduate IR programs in the US that are better than all similar programs in the UK, less the LSE, is absolutely untrue, if not laughable.</p>
<p>I'm applying to several US schools with good IR programs (G-Town, Tufts, JHU, etc.), but I think going to school overseas would provide a different perspective on things, and if I'm dealing with an international-related field of study, I'd like to get more than just an American perspective on things.</p>
<p>As for specific interests, I'd like to do something with combined culture and politics, and I'd also like to study languages.</p>
<p>Aberystwyth has a quite well-respected IR program. The problem they have is that they can't get anyone to go there because Aberystwyth is so small and remote (by UK standards) and there is notoriously nothing to do. Because of that, I would guess that although IR degree would be one of the most selective there, even that wouldn't be very selective.</p>
<p>St Andrews is quite selective. I remember a few years ago they had a lot of people from the US going there because of the Prince William connection, so they are probably looking to maintain that now he is gone, which might be in your favor.</p>
<p>Is there a reason why you are focussing on Scotland and Wales but not England? If not, you might consider some of the University of London schools. LSE is very selective, and I think UCL is too. Kings has quite a good department, and if you are interested in perspectives from other countries, SOAS is an amazing place, particularly with your interest in Arabic and other languages. If you like St Andrews, you might like Durham, since it is another old place. Warwick and Bradford are also good for politics/IR, but I think they are not in very nice places. You should also look at politics degrees that allow you to specialize in IR, since that is the more common set up in UK than straight IR degrees. Also you need to check is you are able to study languages as well, because UK degrees are very focussed.</p>
<p>I would go for St. Andrews, all the way. It's interesting that you're even considering Aberystwyth along with St. Andrews. Aberystwyth has almost no international recognition, whereas St. Andrews is regarded as one of the world's best universities.</p>
<p>Getting into the University of St. Andrews will be difficult, but if you're going outside the US, it's well worth it to have a prestigious degree.</p>