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!

What a positive and refreshing approach @Valleysaurus The very best of luck to your DD.

Has your daughter run across The Student Room? She might enjoy spending a bit of time checking it out

https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk

I think your DD needs to firm up on what she actually wants to do and then try and come and have a look at where offers it. Geography won’t be the same as hospitality. She might not be looking at Oxford university, but she might love Oxford Brookes. All the benefit of a world class university city! I also think she would be a very unusual overseas student in England if she didn’t want to visit London. Lots of OB students come from there. Would she really want to be in Preston for example? Or stuck looking at the sea in Lancaster? I would be very careful about a holiday experience driving university choice If university doesn’t matter so much, living in a university city might be good fun but I would not advocate being too remote from other thriving Civilisation.

Every single time..

Great post, OP. And The Student Room as suggested by @ocs30 is one of the best ideas here. I forgot to mention it (I usually do) so I am very glad she did.

But your DD will still need to whittle her list down to 5 British choices, as all applications are made centrally and this is the limit. If she applies across both the Environmental and Hospitality sectors, her Personal Statement - or the answers to the questions that replace it, if the timetable for changes is to be believed (or maybe I am behind) - will need to work across sectors. A bit of expert advice could go a long way.

FWIW I agree that many of the suggestions here are sound and useful, but they are not comprehensive.

Hey, @TizerorFizz has quite a blunt style. But Preston is likely a pretty big adjustment for the American DD of a rather sophisticated mum. I am not at all sure it would suit.

Lancaster is a reasonable train journey to the booming ( in both senses) city of Manchester and IMO it is a lovely campus in a lovely, quiet small city. Many students love it. Not all.

Whittling down to perhaps eight choices and doing a tour is a great idea.

Thanks. She’ll also be using the US common app for that handful of UK unis that accept it. So I suspect her application list will be closer to 10 plus a few in the Republic of Ireland. It’s funny Oxford has been mentioned a few times, understandably. We lived on a canal boat in Oxford on the Thames for a bit. She liked the city but we all agreed that it seemed a bit large. Of the two, I prefer Cambridge town to Oxford. We did like the wild horses though. I’m sure she’ll want to visit London occasionally. We’ve been there a good bit. I’d be gobsmacked if she chose to live/study there.

As a wild card you might look at Queens Belfast, or for more vocational subjects, Ulster U.

NI students for various finance reasons tend to stay at home, and so there is a broader range both of students and or courses than you might otherwise find. Whilst Belfast is relatively cheap and though a regional capital, is fairly small. Queens is very long established with a good location and some lovely buildings.

It's a city that is having its moment. It is 25 years since the ceasefire so the Troubles are a distant memory for current students. Derrygirls (OK not Belfast), Game of Thrones, lots happening, and it is riding on the back of the economic strength of the Republic. (Dublin is less than two hours away.)

Spending all that dosh to end up at Preston or Derby unis and then struggling to find a job after meh…..

Our Ds did a private Uni in CA with a very large price tag, thank goodness for grants, scholarships and bank of Mom and Dad.
We have found with Dd in Uni now in Wales (where we live) it is so much more affordable, we have paid out under $6k for catered accommodations, and self catering would have cost the same only with more weeks, on campus.
No she'll go off campus in sept for even less self catering, she has the option to stay on campus for all 3 years but wants to move off with friends.
Her college fund is managing to keep up just fine and she has the usual government loans for here.
Look on FAFSA there are many FASFA eligible Universities across Europe.
FAFSA

A blunt style is an understatement

Many people are praised for having a forthright style with clarity. We are not all the same are we?

Re. Applying across both the Common App & UCAS so you have more applications. I looked at this when DD was applying last year & you need to be careful. It’s not quite that simple. We did just UCAS in the end so I never really got into the details but off the top of my head I think that if they accept you in the Common App & you want to firm that offer you might need a spot open on UCAS for the acceptance to process through the system. Also I believe that for St Andrews for example you can only apply on the Common App if it is the only UK University you are applying to. I may be wrong but check thoroughly before you do this - or use an advisor who knows the details around this so you don’t get caught out.

I would also consider where you fly to to get to the UK - no good Lancaster if only flights from London - got a bit of a journey to get to London first etc. My DD is in London and there are a few Americans on her course (film based). Uni life is quite insular in that you mostly associate with students only and then your own or linked courses. Daughter is at UAL and it has several colleges throughout London and several Halls places (accom) Most students do Halls yr 1 and then find friends to share with yrs 2 and 3, although I believe many internationals are offered all 3 in Halls if wanted. There are plenty of Unis in the south nr London airports but less well known. I would agree with decide a few broad courses then id the Unis then narrow down geographically

oh and accommodation is usually based on 50 weeks or thereabouts which is nearly a full year - so forget the 9mths business (even in halls)

Are you sure about this? The university websites are reporting 40 or 41 week contracts for accommodations. At least the ones we've researched.

That's usually for 1st year only. 2nd year onwards is usually 50 weeks unless you are in a major city with lots of private halls (Liverpool & Leeds for example )

University owned accommodation which is used by first years is usually around 40 weeks. When students move out into private accommodation the contracts are longer.

although quite frequently US students will live in halls for all three/four years

Another wild card. Bournemouth. Big but not too big. Easy access to airports and London and a decent beach.

Bournemouth will probably be sniffed at by some on this thread, but is has some good practical/vocational courses in things like marketing, and a recognised strength in film (things like costume.) It is a tourist town so tourism courses should be OK, and lots of work experience opportunities.

Also with Bournemouth private lets usually end in June. Landlords want the accommodation back for AirBnB and holiday lets during the school summer holidays.

Yes @Ciri One of my DC is at a university with a huge international student cohort and I think their accommodation choices are quite different to home students. I get that they may feel more protected so far away from home in university owned accommodation than private.

Hi @Valleysaurus I haven't read every single post, but I saw you mention Lincoln, and dismiss it. I used to work at Lincoln and live near there, and I think it is an amazingly supportive university, with a beautiful campus, the best accommodation I've come across (it's all pretty new) and located in a lovely small/compact historical city, with great sports facilities too. Students really rate their experience there. I'd suggest considering it.

I would double check the use of Common app and UCAS simultaneously. My son applied from the US this year and we were told that if he did both, and got an offer from somewhere via the Common App then UCAS is alerted and they cancel your applications through them. I would check this to be sure.

Also, I haven't seen this mentioned, so sorry if someone already said - but Manchester University guarantee all 3 years in halls for overseas students.