I think a few important points haven’t been mentioned.
US colleges offer career services and alumni networks. I have known a couple of grads of non-Oxbridge UK universities who had trouble “launching” in the US. They loved their experience in the UK, but found that their colleges were largely unknown to American employers. They had trouble getting summer jobs in the US because UK summer vacation is different and shorter than those of most US colleges. (The UK schools have longer vacations at other times of the year.) Like the US, the UK limits the number of hours non-citizens can work. My understanding is that it makes it difficult for US students (with only American citizenship) to get substantive summer work in the UK. So, new American grads of UK schools often have less work experience than American grads of US schools, a real disadvantage in getting hired. Except for Oxbridge, which have made a concentrated effort to beef up their alumni networks in the US, the UK schools don’t offer the kind of alumni networks that help launch a career. Unless things have changed in the last few years, it’s rare for US companies to conduct on-campus interviews at UK schools.
One of the Americans I know gave up after a couple of years and moved back to the UK because she couldn’t get a good job in the US and could get one in the UK. She’s a grad of the University of East Anglia, which is actually world renowned in her field, but just wasn’t recognized by most US employers.
My understanding is that there are fewer such problems studying at Canadian schools.
I can only tell you what I have learned about St. Andrews and we thought about all of those things.
Summer break is mid may to early September. No problem for my kid on the normal job front as she is highly in demand as an experienced lifeguard. If she gets research or something in the UK she is allowed to work full time in the summer on her visa.
She intends to go to grad or law school in the US and their admission rate in to US schools is quite good.
No surprise as St Andrews has a great academic rep in its own right. The fact Prince William went there…especially considering he enrolled because his A-Level grades* earned him that place in its own right meant there was no legacy factor involved.
Prince William publicly announced before he applied that he will only enroll in a university to which he's earned a place through his academic merits....not using royal legacy like his father or uncle did with Cambridge.
@VickiSoCal Not exactly, GCSEs are the qualifications you take before A Levels. They are easier and consequently, students take typically 9-10 subjects at GCSEs as opposed to the three you take at A Level.
Her A Level grades were ABB which are still respectable nevertheless.
“The University of Toronto has a policy of relatively lax admissions standards and willingness to let students fail. I am not certain how exactly that plays out among its various campuses, however. My impression is that the main campus is a lot like, say, Wisconsin.”
You should remember that there are some differences between countries. At the risk of slightly generalizing and simplifying: In the US getting accepted by Harvard is impressive, and once there graduating is no big deal. In Canada getting accepted at Toronto is no big deal, but being able to graduate from Toronto is impressive.
I’m not aware that Prince William ever made any public statement about his education. However, with a good reference from Eton (which I’m sure he got) his grades were within the usual range for the University of St Andrews, but not Cambridge University. What happened in the sixties with his father is not relevant. It was not the sixties when he applied, things had changed, and there may have been public protests at any favoritism. It is not true that Royals or Aristocrats now enter Oxford or Cambridge unless they have the usual top grades required for entry. They are public universities and it would be too controversial.
One of mine is getting a degree overseas. It was the best place to be for this particular major (involving languages). Her uni was actually more difficult to get into, as a very specific set of scores, AP exams, and other exam scores had to be met, including a terrifying (I was told) language exam containing an oral component, where people were snapping orders at you in their native language. She had to make sure all requirements would be met while still in the middle of high school.
Things have changed at Cambridge since the sixties re admission for royals etc. When I was there in the late 80s there was plenty of controversy about Prince Edward’s relatively low grades (though they were still better than Prince Charles IIRC). I also lived next to someone with the same surname as the building I was in, whose A-levels weren’t at the usual standard (though having said that he ended up as the CEO of a multi-billion dollar company). Nowadays I don’t think being raked over the coals in the press about their admissions criteria is something any UK college would want to repeat.
my daughter just graduated from St. Andrews this past year. She loved everything about the experience, and was very sad when she had to leave such an idyllic location.