Parents of US student looking for general UK uni advice

[Valleysaurus]

Hello

Our eldest daughter is a junior in high school in the States and is seriously considering pursuing her bachelors course at a UK university. Her high school marks and test scores will not be high enough for her to be competitive at the more selective universities. If we understand the UK entry requirements, we suspect our daughter would qualify for courses with entry requirements at the ABB or BBB level. We don't think she is particularly concerned about institutional pedigree, just fit. Likewise, international fees are not a primary consideration in our choice because, believe it or not, even at the international rate, many UK universities are more affordable than their US counterparts.

Like many high school students in the United States, she does not have a clear idea of what course she would like to study in university, but we suspect she will settle on a course focused on environmental studies, sustainability, conservation or tourism and hospitality. Which leads to the questions:

Given her applicant profile, which UK universities (if any) have a closer-knit campus community? Think a lot of students living in university accommodations and/or located in a city that is what we might call a "college town" in the States.

Are sandwich programs at all useful for international students in helping to find work post graduation?

Is it weird that admissions representatives are not returning our emails? We've contacted a few universities with questions about entry for 26/27 school year and it's been crickets...

Thanks!

Exeter is very highly rated for environment and sustainability related courses. Nice campus. Not too difficult to get to for an international student.

What about the university of Chester - if there is a course that might be suitable I think it would be well worth considering.
Chester is a lovely city and as far as I am aware student accommodation is not hard to find. It also has the benefit of a main line train station that has a direct link to London and Liverpool

You apply for the foundation course
On passing you get automatic entry for the full bachelors.

You can, whilst in your foundation year apply to do the bachelors at another Uni. In which case you would declare you’re on the foundation course at another
So you can move to another Uni or stay at the existing.

Thanks. Am I correct that, in our situation and aside from the benefits of the coursework, the advantage to applying for the foundation year is that it has lower entry requirements than a three year program? It seems a shame then to apply (and pay) for a foundation year when a student might meet the entry requirements of the three year course. Or am I missing something?

Usually, or if they need to make up a required subject like maths not taken at A level. Tbh most of the courses will offer direct entry to the degree at the level you expect her to achieve and foundation year may be frustrating as well as additional expense.

Sorry I haven’t read the rest of the thread. UK universities are desperate for international students as they fund the less profitable UK home students. Most UK universities are at the brink of bankruptcy - which will of course be a complete disaster for the UK economy etc.
Why don’t you contact the Universities your DD might be interested in directly and ask for advice. International students would have to try very hard not to be accepted to undergrad or postgrad programs.

If she applies to a Uni that also has a foundation course she is safeguarded.
If she doesn’t get the degree grades she can go through clearing or just phone the Uni and ask if she can do the foundation instead.

Tbh I have no idea if International students get to use clearing so maybe someone else on here has more intel on that.

Have you looked at Bangor Uni in north Wales? It's one of the top 10% of sustainable universities worldwide and jasss the right level of entry requirements. It's a small town but easy access to beautiful countryside and a train ride to Liverpool. Also Liverpool itself is a small city with a strong sense of community. There are 3 unis there so for example Liverpool John Moores would probably fit in terms of grade requirements and has a variety of environmental degrees? Try looking at whatuni.com www.whatuni.com/
Good luck!

Exeter are desperate for international students and will offer as low as BCC to international applicants.

Liverpool University. Great city and she’ll be fine with the predicted grades. Forget everywhere else.

Oh ok.
I have a ds there so I assumed the grades wouldn’t be that much lower for International students.
Interesting

I should add @Valleysaurus Liverpool University offer Earth Sciences at ABB but they also have a foundation degree option where the grades will be lower. I wouldn’t look twice at places like Chester, Keele and Bangor if she could get into Liverpool. Manchester is an international airport and transport links are quite good to Liverpool. Alternatively fly from the US to Dublin and travel onwards from there to Liverpool. Loads of daily flights.

Liverpool and the surrounds are really high on her list. She loved her time there last summer. I'm not sure she will be competitive at U of Liverpool. She has Liverpool Hope on her list of likely to get in. With the UCAS application limit of 5 courses/unis I would hate for her to roll the dice on courses/unis that are advertising higher entry requirements than she has.

How about Oxford Brooks? Amazing university town/history/experience, close to London. Likely be US friends/US students to connect with at either Oxford or Oxford Brooks.

I think she may be surprised. I think there is a bit of wriggle room with Liverpool and as a Russell Group university, it’s well ahead of some of the other suggestions on here. If she is not confident about her grades I would suggest looking at Edge Hill University. For my money it’s streets ahead of Liverpool Hope. It’s a lovely campus and close to Liverpool.

And of course @Valleysaurus there is Liverpool John Moores. That is a very well thought of university and again, I would recommend it against Liverpool Hope.

Yes, was just coming on to say this. The Scottish 4 year degree would suit well as closer to that (excellent) US model of getting to try different courses.
Stirling is a campus uni, although not terribly international. Aberdeen also, although it’s far enough north to put off some. Neither of those would have the high % of US students that St Andrews, Edinburgh or Glasgow would, though.
The asking offer will vary by course - what is she keen on?

As an American living in the UK for many years, with a child a similar age to yours, I would strongly steer them in the direction of university back in the States, and look for a study abroad program here instead.

Uni life in the UK is nothing like the spirited experience of American college life, no sorority/frat experiences, no big sporting events, most residence halls are only for first years so you'll be stuck in an grotty bedroom in a shared house for the remainder of your time. You simply cannot go into the experience without a firm idea of your course path. There is something really nice about the American system of trying out courses and then settling on a major a year or two down the line.
Costs are v high for international students here, and on a more serious note--universities are really struggling financially and standards and staff numbers are being compromised as a result. I really don't think it's worth it to come here now.

I would say that Lancaster is not a good choice for a US student to spend 3 years. I will get shouted down by those who are loyal to it but it is not at all charming, being a concrete wind tunnel squashed on a campus beside the constantly roaring traffic of the m6 and a million miles from London, and has no particular reputation in environmental sciences. I expect she would get an offer, as an international, from Exeter which is on a lovely campus in small college-type city, and has top-tier excellent environmental science and also does a very good liberal arts degree which might suit. I also think UEA is a possibility, again excellent environmental science and campus uni near Norwich which is a pretty, small city. Southampton is not campus and not a pretty city but on the sea and has excellent environmental science department. Otherwise I think the Birmingham liberal arts program is worth a look. Campus uni but the area kids live in 2nd and 3rd year is extremely gritty and that might not meet the brief. Also Reading uni and Swansea are both good suggestions for a lower grade uni, but to be honest everywhere is biting international students arms off at the moment (particularly English speaking internationals) so I think she could apply considerably higher. For those reasons I would not bother with the likes of Lincoln.

finally, and with affection, whoever suggested UCentral lan for this child is smoking crack. Imagine thinking you are being recommended a lovely small collegiate uni in a cool small town and ending up in horrible depressing and depressed Preston for 3 years. Come on!

@valleysaurus - you know she can put in a ucas form in, say, October with eg 2 or 3 of her top choices, see what offers she gets, as I think you will be surprised how higher tariff unis view her applications and make offers to her. Then if she gets rejections you have saved the last two or three spaces and can add two or three more conservative applications later as long as you do so before the Final Cut off date at the end of January. Or in fact if she gets offers from all three top choices, you could add in a couple of cheeky high tariff applications like Edinburgh and see whether they offer too.

basically you do not have to put in all 5 choices up front.

Many universities offer a foundation year now for students with non traditional backgrounds eg overseas qualifications, they are also often broader in curriculum if she's not sure about exactly what she wants to study. Nearly half of the universities are campus based, it's more down to whether they want to be in a big city or somewhere smaller. Some of the newer universities have good programmes in this area so definitely look at the curriculums not just league tables

Thanks for the inside scoop! A little bummed for her to cross Lincoln off the list as I worked there for a month a couple of summers ago and thought it was a lovely little town, but the advice is well taken and it would save our daughter from having to scramble up and down that steep hill every day!

She will definitely get an offer at Liverpool which offers even uk kids much much lower entry in clearing for the sorts of courses you are interested in than their published standard offer grades which are basically fantasy. If she likes Liverpool and the course do not hesitate to apply.

Ps if looking at Scotland note that you can’t do environmental science at the main Glasgow campus, only environmental geoscience which is a lot of geology. Excellent geography department though. But probably won’t meet her interests for that reason.

We didn’t realize this. Thanks for the pro tip! We also have the luxury that a few of the higher ranked UK unis also accept applications via the US Common App. Glasgow comes to mind along with some others, maybe Strathclyde? I think our plan will be to apply to as many of the schools as we can on the common app and save UCAS for what you’re suggesting. Thanks!