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Hi there!I know most ppl here are intending to continue schooling in the US. Is anyone interested in applying to England? What does England have to offer over the US and vice versa?
What kinda students are recommended to apply to England?

Please enlighten me!

Thank you!

By jenniferpa on Sunday, July 07, 2002 - 09:06 am: Edit

Well one of the primary differences is that you are expected to complete your undergraduate degree in 3 years. Also, as a non uk or eu student (I assume) you will be expected to provide documentation regarding your ability to pay and support yourself before entry into the country. Although in many cases you will be issued a visa which allows you to work part-time (upto 20 hours a week) in the school year plus an unlimited work permit for vacations, you will not in most cases be allowed to use this as proof of ability to pay. Further most universities frown on you actually working during the year, as the expectation is that you will have litle time left after you have completed your studying.
The following links give you further information
http://www.ucas.ac.uk/studyuk/index.html
(UCAS is the organisation you must use to apply to any university in the U.K. as an undergraduate, with the exception of Oxford and Cambridge)
http://www.ukcosa.org.uk/pages/advice.htm
The council for international education

As for the type of student who would be successful? Well it's more to do with the type of person you are. It's important to note that the UK is NOT a small version of the USA, despite a supposedly common language. You must be prepared to to deal with the possibilty of anti-american sentiment (this is assuming you're an american). There is a stereotype of a loud-mouthed american you will have to overcome, but on the other hand there are those who will have overly romantic notions of what being an american entails. You WILL be a minority, can you handle that?

If you post more details, perhaps I can help you further.

Jennifer

By nightstar on Wednesday, July 10, 2002 - 05:54 am: Edit

hi again!

thank you very much for replying. You seem to be extremely knowledgeable in this area.=))
If applicants to Oxbridge don't use the UCAS then how are they gonna apply?I know application is earlier for Oxbridge (15 oct).

In the US, how would a degree from an established UK uni compare with a degree from the top 5 US colleges? Let's say the subject major is Econs...


Thank you for your patience!

By jenniferpa on Wednesday, July 10, 2002 - 08:26 am: Edit

You might want to start here
http://www.oxbridge-info.co.uk/resources/uni_sites.htm

This site gives a view of the oxbridge application process from the student's point of view, plus this specific page gives links to both universities.

Regarding applications: you choose a course of study and a college. Note: Both universities are loose organizations of individual colleges. Your degree is awarded by the specific college, and it is to a specific college that you apply.

As for how a UK degree would stack up against a US one, I feel an Oxbridge degree is definitely comparable to one from an Ivy. For any other university I think it would depend on the subject. According to The Times (London that is) the top schools for economics are University College London, Warwick, Nottingham, Cambridge and York.
716%2C00.html,http://www.timesonline.co.uk/section/0,,716,00.html
I think in terms of reputation you would have to do some digging to find out what happens to graduates afterwards.

Please remember that in the majority of cases reading (which is what it's called) a subject at an English university is just that:- lots and lots and lots of reading on your specific subject. They do not, on the whole, pay a lot of lip service to a well rounded education: you're supposed to have done that by now!

Speaking as the parent of a child who really wants to do this, and as an Englishwoman by birth, I have to say you need a compelling reson to go that far to obtain an education. A subject for which you have a passion (e.g. Medieval History) or the opportunity to study with an admired leader in the field would be valid reasons, in my opinion. The fact that it is just different is not. If either of those circumstances exist, yet you are still concerned about the reputation of the university I would stongly suggest that you do NOT do it, particularly if you will feel the need down the road to constantly justify your decision. Such justification is, in my mind, a good marker for "poor fit".

Personally, I'm encouraging my daughter to think about taking her graduate degree in England, rather than Undergraduate. Despite having family there (and 2 godparents) I think she would be better served by a US university since she had neither of these compelling reasons (although as a dual-national she might find it an easier decision to justify).

Jennifer

By starry on Thursday, July 11, 2002 - 08:34 am: Edit

It's such an irony about LSE...it's supposedly a school of economics but it's ranked 6th for economics!!!Or have I mistaken it....LSE is an umbrella school of University College London.Yet they operate their econs programs separately.

why would you encourage your daughter to take her grad degree in England.Why not in US?

By the way, I'm Singaporean though I greatly wish to work in the US in future. We follow the British system with A levels and specialise much sooner(down to 4 subjects now). I'm just wondering if a 4 year college course will be a waste of time (and $$$$) for me since i've already more or less decided on econs as a major.However a problem does crop up with double majors -- it seems like only the US offers joint-degree programs though Cambridge does have its version of Tripos. Major dilemma here since current ec conditions have forced me to diversify (more than one major) rather than specialise.

And I read something about honorary master degrees awarded in UK for ppl who just got their first degree.I was wondering if you knew anything about this as it seems rather odd to me...

Thank you for sharing your views with me.I'm ever appreciative of your advice!!!=)))))))))

By seeker on Tuesday, July 16, 2002 - 08:53 am: Edit

I'm not sure about 'honorary master degrees' but I think an Honours degree from a British university might be comparable to an American Masters. British universities expect students to come in with A-level knowledge (i.e. some of 1st-year undergraduate knowledge) so more material may be covered in the time spent in British universities compared to American ones. I think 4 years in a British university will get you an Honours degree, or a Masters degree in an American one.

Also it seems that the 'style' of UK education means you read for a degree in a specific subject. Possibly this is linked to the amount of work and time expected of a student pursuing a degree in a specific subject; a double degree would place significantly greater time demands. In the US perhaps requirements for a major are somewhat less stringent, so double majors are more doable. Someone else will have to verify this, though.

LSE's always had a great reputation for Econs, I thought, though Oxbridge is probably at the same level in terms of reputation. Either Cambridge or Oxford offers PPE (politics philosophy economics) as a degree, forgot which.

By ImperialLondonStudent on Thursday, September 12, 2002 - 05:44 pm: Edit

Hi, LSE is not an umbrella school for UCL they are both separate institutions within the university of London along with Imperial College, King's College, Royal Holloway and a few others. I think the situation might be similar to the University of California in the States but I could be wrong.

They all admit separately and basically have little to do with one another as regards teaching, the degree you are awarded when you graduate is from the University of London irrespective of which college you have gone to.

It does however tend to make a difference which college you have been with recruiters, they don't consider all the London ones equally.

Most of our investment banks in London only consider students from Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial, LSE, UCl and Warwick last time I checked but don't quote me on that, and beyond that it'll vary company to company.

In the UK we don;t have majors and minors and such-like. The degree you take is just the subject as our education system is geared so that entrants have had all the rounding required through GCSEs (aged 16) and A-Levels (aged 18) so you will basically study the one subject and that's it.

An undergraduate degree in the UK also allows us to complete our PhD in 3 years rather than the 5 or so reqd in the states as no further taught element is required, it is completely research based. This all stems from entering university later and focusing at an earlier stage.

Hope this is of some help

By BigRed on Thursday, September 12, 2002 - 10:38 pm: Edit

I thought this thread was about whether you should go to college or the University of Kentucky. Guess not...

By lexy on Monday, October 14, 2002 - 10:17 am: Edit

i want to find out about doing A-levels in the uk. i do not have any particualar school of choice, but i want a reputable place of study. could you please give me a lead on that in searchiong for a place. i do not know much about studing in th uk, so i don't have information on when the schooling season starts over there, and the necessary qualification i need to start my studies. please give me a feed back as soon as you can.

thank you

By Kiana on Wednesday, October 16, 2002 - 05:15 am: Edit

I don't think it really matters where you study but if you find an area you would like to live in you can check out the local schools and colleges there.

Schools here have 3 terms and they go from early september - late december then we have christmas vacation then school starts again in early january - late march/early april when we have easter vacation and thats 2 weeks and you go back to school usually until late july but it might be slightly different if your doing A-Levels cos they might break up for the summer sooner.

Are you from America? Cos I love the way the school system works there where you can study loads of different subjects still Im dreading doing my A-Levels next year cos I can only pick 3 or 4 subjects and we have to do General Studies which looks pretty bad so you'll have to choose a few subjects to focus on which makes it hard if your going to apply to an american college because you cant always meet all of their requirments like 4 years of math e.t.c.

Oh by the way not to put you off or anything but have you heard about the problems they had this year with the A-Level exam boards? They completely messed up and loads of people who should have been getting A grades were given an E so that the exams didnt look to easy, but they had to regrade thousands of papers and all those people lost their places to college because of the wait.

Anyway hope this helps :-)

~Kiana~

By Brady McCarthy on Wednesday, December 04, 2002 - 11:01 am: Edit

I'm an American student studying at Trinity College School in Ontario, Canada. I am interested in pursuing a degree in government or international relations and have applied to LSE. At this time, LSE and Georgetown University are at the top of my list insofar as my undergraduate degree is concerned. What are the benefits of studying at LSE versus Georgetown? Would I be better off to attend Georgetown over LSE? Would a BSc from LSE in government or international relations be just as prestigious as a similar degree from Georgetown? I've heard from students that LSE is not a 'good' school for undergraduate students. Is that true, and why? I've also heard that dormitory rooms at LSE are in need of serious repair - and that it is difficult to acquire university lodging in your 2nd and 3rd years. PLEASE HELP ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS - I'm not well-versed in the UK education system, nor in the innerworkings of LSE.

Thanks,
Brady

By Shelinda (Shelinda) on Saturday, January 04, 2003 - 08:38 am: Edit

Well, one good thing about LSE is that it's in London (obviously), which has a really mixed student scene - there are loads and loads of students there from all over the world.

True, it is hard to get lodging in London, but that's true generally for London as a whole. It's also very expensive - if you want to live cheaply in London, you either have to live way out of the centre and spend all your time commuting, or get a cradboard box and sleep in a Tube station (ok, slight exaggeration).

I think that a degree from LSE would be well thought of in the UK (not sure about US though), as it's part of the University of London. It's definitely one of the top unis for social sciences though - politics, law, economics etc.

By pink on Wednesday, January 08, 2003 - 10:44 pm: Edit

A few years ago, I studied british history and literature at Oriel (Oxford) and loved it! How ever, I returned to US and commpleted my undergrad degree in communications at a small University in Oregon. My goal is to return to England and complete a graduate program in International business or relations. Any suggestions on searching for a suitable program?

Thanks, Pink

By sophicita on Friday, February 07, 2003 - 09:50 am: Edit

Lexy,
talking about schools in the UK. I am from Germany and did my A-levels in Britain. I think, if you go to a public school you tend to get better teaching quality as class sizes tend to be smaller and they help you a lot more with the whole UCAS process and getting into Uni. Besides some of them offer some great scholarships. State schools dont charge you any fees, but offer less extra-curricular activities and are not as good. In the end however, it doesnt really matter what school you attended, but what grades you got, which Uni u attended and what class of degree u r holding. There r also a couple of international sixth form colleges in the uk which r pretty good. U r a lot more independent at those than at a usual boarding school where u r locked up 24/7 and u will meet lots of overseas students all in the same boat as u. i went to international school and loved it!