Hi everyone, I am an international applicant who got into WUSTL, University of Notre Dame, UCLA and U Mich in the states and am currently confused about what school to choose. On the UK side, I am thinking of going to LSE to do Economics. Right now, I think I will pursue Economics in college although I do admit that there could be a chance of me changing my mind half way through college, which only the US schools allow. May explore other options like CS or Maths/Stats.
I have a few questions:
- Is the liberal arts education really gonna change me and make me a ‘better’ person? For example, if i go to UND, i will study philosophy and other general courses. How much will this experience benefit me in the future as a person? Significant?
- Which school in the US should I go to and for what reason? (US is more expensive than UK for me but let's just ignore the cost factor for now. Want to focus on how it will impact my future and myself :) )
- Is any of the schools worth choosing over LSE, which is much better known in my home country than the schools I got into? Even if I go to LSE I still intend to do postgrad in the States. Would that make a difference? This decision would have been a lot better had I gotten into a school like Duke, Northwestern or Cornell..
Thanks a lot! To be honest I am rather frustrated right now, having received so many rejection letters in the past few days despite having decent credentials. Feels like I am letting everyone down haha. Anyway, any input will be much appreciated! Help me make this tough choice please!
- A liberal arts education exposes you to more fields. If you only study econ, for instance, how would you even know if you would have been happier and more proficient in CS or math or some other subject? It allows you to explore more areas and consider more paths.
- That depends. What goals do you have and where can you work afterwards?
- You'd probably get more individualized attention at WashU and ND, which matters for US grad school admissions because faculty recs and connections certainly may matter (a lot). That said, good students at LSE, UMich, and UCLA would also do well in grad school admissions. LSE probably has the most prestige in your home country. Probably a good alumni network though I'm not sure how big a deal it is. In the US, ND has a really tight alumni network, WashU alums tend to be happy about their time there, and UMich has a big and proud alumni base.
Note that the assessment method and teaching methodology would be pretty different between LSE and the American schools.
You also haven’t addressed the locales at all. A city U with no real campus in London would be quite different from a pretty campus in the inner suburbs of a mid-sized industrial city would be different from a campus in a small industrial town would be different from a gigantic flagship in a fun college town would be different from a campus in a well-off residential part of LA.
And, finally, elite private American admissions is too capricious for anyone to feel like they may have let people down. You could literally be perfect in all stats and wonderful in multiple different areas and ways and still get shut out completely everywhere.
All of these US schools are excellent for business. One issue with internationals is getting summer internships. This would be relatively easy for UCLA and WashU since they are located in major cities, but might be more problematic at ND or Michigan. Frankly though, I would save the year and go with LSE, and then think about a US Based MBA down the road.
I don’t have much advice, but I would like to add that the schools you were accepted into (especially Notre Dame) have a very comparable reputation to Duke, Northwestern, and Cornell. I live in Chicago, and all four of your US choices are pretty well known and amazing schools. Good luck!!
Thanks for your response! It’s really detailed and helpful! To be honest that’s what I have been hearing a lot but I am still leaning slightly towards LSE for its reputation. Will there really be that big a difference between a liberal arts education and a UK one?
Thanks for the input!
Yeah I agree that internship and job opportunities may be limited at ND or Michigan. Thanks for the input! You are one of the few voices recommending LSE haha everyone seems to want me to go to a US college.
That’s comforting to hear! Being an international also means that I have never really heard of schools like ND or WashU to get a better understanding of them. Thanks for the input!
The type of education would be very different.
Again, if you study solely econ, how would you know if you are actually more proficient and interested in CS?
Also, at LSE (and top UK unis), students mostly ramp up the months before year-end spending almost all of waking hours in the library studying for a few big tests at the end of the year that determine your marks.
In the US, with continual assessment, you’ll have projects, homework assignments, quizzes, tests, papers, class participation, etc. etc. taking place all the time. Very different type of education.
@Zinhead: UMich is in the suburbs of Detroit and you can take the train from ND to Chicago. In any case, companies come on campus to recruit.