Advice Needed please ! DD1 obsessed with studying in the USA

[lloydjam]

I'd be very grateful for any advice please - my DD1 is taking GCSEs this year and is predicted to do well. She has chosen her A levels but after that she is obsessed with the idea of studying in a USA university - ideally california to do an Economics/business degree. Do any mums netters have any advice on this whether this is a good/bad idea, realistic or should I really be trying to steer her back to UK Uni.

Any advice gratefully received. thank you !

OH, AND there might be a rule about being able to stay on to work in the USA afterwards as long as job is roughly in the same industry as the major. But it's not a fast track to green card. Just a way to stay on for a while longer.

Shallishanti It's really hard to generalise about fraternities/sororities because people can have very varied experiences. Where I went to college, there were hard core frats like BETA which was full of ice hockey players and thrived on how drunk they could get girls and how many they could have sex with. There were druggie frats like Psi U and Delta Sig where people were pretty chilled and high . There were frats like ARU where people pretty much focused on academics. Looking back, I'm horrified at some of the things that went on, but while there, it was like living in a little bubble and everything seemed normal. It was great fun, but you had to take great care.

I disagree with Toomanyexams about tiny universities "no one heard of being a problem". It is jolly easy to google info about anything, and if the Uni has a good education program in subject X it will be easy to confirm that to those who care.

I'd hate a tiny Uni. Bad as small town for being totally claustrophobic.

OP: remember that USA has 4 yr degrees for most subjects so that's an extra year of costs. A place like Northridge your DD will have loads of extra classes to take that have nothing to do with her major, kind of a shock to have to take biology-speech-art history-developmental studies-history of western Civ etc. when you think of your degree as simply economics.

Gen Ed requirements for USC.

I did an exchange programm and did a semester there. It was nice enough.

The university I went to was huge (34, 000) and I came from a Uk college of 1, 000. I feel the USA is highly over rated and actually a very dangerous place to be! Sorry I'm a scardy cat, all those guns.

I think she will find it very expensive.

Do you know why she wants to go there?

I found some Americans absolutely lovely and hospitable but I am afraid I found the culture awful in some ways, apologises to any Americans! Very judgemental around looks etc. It was a few yeas ago so no offence to anyone, please!

Do you want her to go?

I am not sure if you discouraging her would work or would have the opposite effect.

Whatever you want to happen, think strategically about how to make it happen!

If you want cheap I have heard you can study with a Dutch or Swedish university, in English, very cheaply, but no idea if it is true!

New College (Sarasota, Florida, not Oxford) are $30K/year for foreign students. But, foreign students who gain a place are guaranteed a $15K/year scholarship for four years. Interesting. www.ncf.edu/scholarships

I agree bringmejoy. I'd pay for DS to go to an Ivy/Stanford/MIT, but there's no way I'd spend that sort of money on a college that will elicit the response of, "where???" back in the UK. I had to do a PgDip before anyone would take me seriously.

I'd agree with this. If you cannot afford an international brand, there is no point going to the U.S. The exception being if you plan to stay in the US either to start your career or to go on to graduate school. Some of these unknown schools are surprising feeder schools to well regarded graduate programs, but again, no good if you just want to come back to the UK and get stuck in.

We looked into this and decided it was ridiculously expensive and at undergrad level there is no advantage for most students. Get a good degree and look at going as a post grad.

Or do a degree that has a year abroad

I worked in the US for a number of years and there was extreme snobbery in my firm about where someone went to university in the US.

I know a few kids who have gone to US universities in their "year outs" and it elicits more of a "Oh, that's nice," reaction among people rather than being something that's impressive.

Unless you are at a respected institution doing a respected subject then it's seen rather in the same light as building orphanages - just something that your parents happened to have been able to afford.

Why does she want to go to college in the US? I think you need to get her to articulate this. Does she really know, or is it about California & the movies etc etc etc?

I suspect that there may be too many US teen films about college: the reality is rather different.

How independent is she? While my 1st year students are ahead of US Freshmen in knowledge terms, they are a long way behind in independence and resilience. (I've taught in both countries, btw). The UK A Level system is so spoonfed now, because of schools needing the league table wrecked education system blah blah blah ad infinitum

You can't drink in the US until you're 21

UK education is emphatically not expensive either in absolute terms or in comparison to a decent US college. The £9k fee doesn't quite cover the cost actually. A decent US college will cost a minimum of $20,000 pa for 4 years, plus accommodation, travel etc. No loans, and very little ability to do part-time work because of visa restrictions etc. And health care???

Also and I'm sure you've thought of this a UK university with a year abroad is the best way to get the US college experience, with guaranteed quality.

If she wants the variety of subjects (although I doubt she actually knows how the US college degree works) then a Scottish university is worth looking at: 4 years, and you start off with several subjects, narrowing it down in the last 2 years at Honours level.

Most US colleges require a broad range of subjects which go towards educatig to create rounded & broadly knowledgeable graduates. So there will be science, maths, stats, and language requirements, which will be compulsory. It's a wonderful system, but very different from the UK.

I've just remembered the bit in The Social Network - admittedly I don't know if it was actually true - where Mark Zuckerberg insults his girlfriend because she goes to BU and not Harvard. Ime this is actually quite realistic.

I'm British and had my schooling I the UK and then went to an American university. It was brilliant and one if the happiest times of my life, consequently my dc want to do the same. I went on a sports scholarship so luckily fees, board and lodge were paid for, however it was still very expensive as I needed spending money but couldn't work due to not having a green card, also health insurance had to be paid.

Before I went I had to prove I had money in the bank, probably the equivalent of about £10k now, my parents had to loan me it to sit in the bank for 4 years.

Also consider flights and the fact she'll want to come home for Christmas occasionally as campus will be dead. Summers, campus will be closed so she'll either have to come home or will have to find off campus accommodation.

My sister also went to an American uni but just for her masters, she worked for a professor which paid for her fees, maybe worth looking into something like that.

Oh and even though I was fully immersed in the sports life on campus and went to hundreds of frat parties, I never slept with a single frat brother and never felt pressured. I have some of them as fb friends and they've all turned out to be lovely (even the worst one I knew). Just give her some plain talk before about protecting herself and recognising bullshit.

Thank you Ludways , its good to hear a positive experience but all the advice seems to be to study in the UK then have a year out. I will definitely be showing her these posts to try and convince her otherwise. She is bright but i think the ivy league units are out of her league, and I don't think she would qualify for any scholarships/grants. thanks again everyone.

Here is a link to a ranking of best value college's by Forbe's magazine:

www.forbes.com/sites/chasewithorn/2014/07/30/top-25-best-value-colleges-2014/

There are quite a few in Florida, which isn't California, but it does have beaches and sunshine.

I didn't go to an Ivy League uni but have never had anyone turn their noses up at my degree. I've never had anything other than positive comments about it. It is a uni which is very esteemed in certain fields, I didn't study in those fields though, lol.

We have looked into this extensively focussing on small liberal arts colleges in California

Costs are at least £60k per year including accommodation costs and food. This has to be paid in full upfront for each of 4 years. No loans are available either from UK or from US sources for overseas students.

Students share accommodation sometimes 4 to a not very large room in bunk beds and mostly with shared bathrooms. This is a huge deal to self conscious teens

Scholarships are for the truly gifted only (sports or academics) and not necessarily a large percentage of the costs

Overseas students can only work in campus in term time on a student visa. These jobs can be hard to come by. And are low paid.

Unless you opt for a "name" College the value of the not very specialist degree to UK employers may be questionable. Bear in mind most US students truly specialise in postgrad study.

The applicant will need to study for SAT tests, a quite specialised way of testing in itself which needs experienced guidance. The application process needs far more input from teachers than UCAS- are your schools teachers experienced in this?

Because of all this (and the obvious distances involved) the idea has been ditched

homes thats is very interesting and Its really useful to get a figure . That has saved me working out all the sums !

I second the suggestion of going for a UK university which includes a year, or at least a semester, in a US college. I did this, back in the day, and it's still a life experience I can't quite believe I had. When I was there, there used to be a course at Leeds - Econ, Politics & North American Studies - a quick Google search suggests it no longer exists but it's worth investigating what has replaced it and looking at similar options.

Another option, if she can't find a course she likes here that includes a year/semester abroad, is to go on a J1 visa in the summer holidays & work. I went for 4 months back in the day & loved it. I felt that I really became immersed in the American way of life - I went to a non-touristy area