To ask if anyone has experience of British DC going to university in America?

[Pieinthesky1111]

DD is 18 and in her second year of college. She’s on for somewhere between ABB-A*AB. She has expressed interest in exploring international options as well. She’s got an offer from Sheffield so I guess my questions are:
Is it too late to apply for a start this September?

How would you go about applying, is there an American equivalent of UCAS?

How do you asses quality of these universities?

What are indicators a university would be equivalent to or better than Sheffield in terms of quality of teaching, prospects, academic rating etc.

What would the cost be like compared to UK unis?
What’s the typical experience like for British international students?

What is the system with student loans and repayments?

DD isn’t absolutely wedded to the idea but I think it’s interesting. I think she would prefer somewhere with a good party atmosphere and
preferably warm, maybe Florida (but doesn’t have to be).

without scholarships it is insanely expensive. Years ago (I’m in my 30s) a school friend went to one in New York and I think it cost about £30k a year?! I dread to think what it’s like now.

The OP seems to have buggered off for now but yeah, unless you score an exchange program or scholarship then prepare to be very rich if you want this to happen. American uni prices are obscene.

It is very expensive if you're not on a scholarship. My friends paid more than usd200k for a 3 years degree. DH did his masters in NY and it was more than usd100k for 1 year. These are all costs from more than 10 years ago so you'd have to factor in inflation as well.

My friends generally enjoyed their time there but none would go back to work or live there now.

My son is currently applying for soccer scholarships in the US. He has already been offered an athletics scholarship of c $50,000 for the first year, but that only covers about 70% of costs(including accommodation). He will need to get an academic scholarship too or else it will be unaffordable. Unless you're wealthy, studying in US without scholarships is impossible. Your daughter won't be eligible for a UK student loan as they don't include study in the US.

Good luck! The journey is just beginning for us, but it should be an adventure.

If she attends a UK university she will be charged the (almost standard) UK university undergrad tuition fees, £9250 max per year. Plus living costs. She can apply for UK grants ( means-tested) and student loans . Plus academic bursaries on merit.

UK student loans and grants are not available for a whole degree course abroad.

If she goes to USA,either, you would have to fund all her US tuition fees university costs, living expenses and transatlatic travel, OR, she would have to compete with US students for US bursaries and scholarships.

If DD had any genuine interest in university study in USA she would already know all the above from 10 minutes spent on google.

Your apron strings won't stretch as far as Florida, nor would the fuel supply in parental helicopters.

Obv you won't know your friend's circumstance but why would she remortgage instead of going to a British uni.

Feel £200k uni bill is typically reserved for those who don't need to remortgage to pay for it! Seems like a financially crazy decision

It's a long story..

Why doesn’t she see if she can work abroad instead and then go to university?

in addition to what others have already said, yes, it’s too late for an application for September to most US universities. The deadline for regular admission to most colleges is early January. There are some that offer rolling admissions but they are not prestigious enough to make the costs and travel worthwhile imo.

Unless she gets a scholarship it’s very expensive. We are in the US and our son is in his third year of University, we pay - and thank our lucky stars it’s relatively ‘inexpensive’ - $40K per year plus probably another 5K at least in travel, fees, etc. He’s in his third year and has a year to go, so we’ve already paid $135K and he’s not done yet. We’re paying out of pocket because we don’t want him to get in student loan debt.

It's too late for admission for the next academic year (2023-24).

American students have already started getting acceptance letters.

Lots of Uk unis offer a year abroad inc at a USA university. Unless you are extremely wealthy or she has a sports scholarship it’s not realistic as tuition fees are far higher than uk.

There are a few extremely selective universities that offer financial aid to international students.

They are all far better quality universities across all indicators of quality than Sheffield. They can pick the cream of the crop from all over the world. Otherwise, it's expensive.

Universities are ranked by many major organisations, and rankings are published online. You can look at private schools, state schools, small schools, schools in certain regions, etc. But I don't think your DD should be looking at university in the US as a reasonable option.

She shouldn't abandon hope, however.

If she is keen on a warm place to visit, to party, have a good time, she should go to Sheffield for university and apply for a J1 student exchange visa that will allow her to spend the summer in the US, work legally, travel, have a good time. Thousands of Irish university students get a J1 every year and have a blast. It's a kind of a rite of passage at this point.

Fwiw, my (American citizen) DCs all got fantastic financial aid in their US universities. Their debt at graduation was extremely low. One is graduating this May owing only $5k.

No two families will pay the same price for a university education in the US. Most universities offer financial aid to admitted students whose family income is less than $150k, on a sliding scale. State universities coat less in general than private universities, with in-state students getting better rates than out of state students.

There are 66 (iirc) universities that offer to meet the full demonstrated financial need of all admitted students. They are the most selective of US universities, admitting only a fraction (maybe 10 - 12%) of applicants.

Why has noone asked the OP what the DC wants to STUDY?
Or have I missed the point of a degree?

US undergrad degree is very general due first 2 years of 4 - only at year 3 do you have to choose a”major”. It’s one of the better things about their system: no need to specialise too early

But aren't some universities better for some subjects than others, like in the UK? To just pick on the basis of 'a good party atmosphere and warm, maybe Florida' makes me think the OP is having us on.

There are thousands of universities and liberal arts colleges in the US. The top 100 or so universities are all round excellent.

There are schools that are renowned for STEM - MIT, etc. The University of Chicago is the place you might want to do economics in.

But the broad 'core' or general education curriculum requirement in the top half of American universities means you study a wide range of STEM, humanities, MFL, literature, etc topics as well as coursework toward your major,or double major, or major and minor, before you commit yourself to what you'll end up with a degree in. This doesn't apply to engineering, though you do have to do some Gen Ed in most engineering schools.

American students choose universities to apply to based on all sorts of criteria.

Big city campus, rural college town campus, somewhere near the Rocky Mountains, somewhere within a two hour drive of home, east coast, west coast, somewhere near relatives so they don't have to spend money or time going home for Thanksgiving, somewhere they won't have to bring snow boots, somewhere they can ski, party school, swotty school, school with a religious ethos, a women's college...

My DCs applied to universities that offered to meet full demonstrated financial need.

You're spending four years there. You want to be somewhere you feel comfortable. Maybe you want to go somewhere very affordable, and that's your comfort zone.

Most of the huge number of selective US universities are six of one, half a dozen of the other when it comes to quality. You'll get a degree and hit the job market, where your personal qualities will either shine or not.