<p>Just another remark: we must keep in mind that, although the requirements for a doctorate may be somewhat softer in France or Germany when compared to the US, the value of a doctoral degree as an entry-level qualification for an academic career is on the other hand somewhat lower in Europe than in the America. </p>
<p>In other words, anyone with a PhD degree could in theory apply for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position in the US and, if hired, have full privileges in terms of being the head of his/her own research group and advise graduate students. In Germany or France, to achieve a similar status, one would have to do a [Habilitation](<a href=“Habilitation - Wikipedia”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habilitation</a>) first, which in turn would require several years of research experience beyond a doctorate.</p>
Uh, what does winning a Fied Metal have to do with undergraduate education? Also, have you looked the the medalist’s profiles? The majority of them is employed at US Universities! It doesn’t matter where they were born or went to school because they won the Field Metal because of their research at US(!) universities.</p>
<p>^on top of that, the US-borns have “weak” showing in Field Medal mostly because theoretical math has been unpopular or not highly valued in the US.</p>
<p>The point is a more structured and restricted curriculum that forces you to take more advanced classes doesn’t mean “favorable” or “superior”. It’s naive to even bring up the degree requirements in the US because the very point of American curriculum is to encourage you to take courses outside of your major while giving you the option to pursue advanced courses in your field with all those electives “if” you want. </p>
<p>By the way, please look at the international olympiads, when was the last time France or UK finished in the top five or maybe even just top ten in any field, despite all that talk about how IB/A-level being more advanced? On the other hand, USA has done very well, despite the lax requirements placed on high schools.</p>
<p>I came from Hong Kong and we have the same mentality about American system being a “joke” (heck, we think UK A-level is too easy too). I didn’t start to appreciate and understand it until after I came to the US.</p>
<p>Not sure about comparing dartmouth, brown, and cornell to UCL when:
UCL is ranked 7th in the world
Cornell is ranked 15th
Brown is ranked 27th
Dartmouth is ranked 54th</p>
<p>You both are not understanding my post carefully. And I stand by what I said, that, in general, subject prestige for undergrad isn’t as much as important as university prestige.</p>
<p>For econ major want IB job, Columbia in NYC and LSE in London are your best choices. No Oxbridge or HYPSM because you could get IB interviews without long distance travel required.</p>
<p>There has been a lot of discussion about academic differences between UK and US universities. Can anyone comment upon differences in student life, school culture, and so forth?</p>