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!

As a mother I wouldn’t ant my kids in Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham or London. I’ve lived and worked in two of those cities and haven’t come through unscathed. I know my degree/work opens one up to the darker side, but still.

At the risk of throwing a wrench into things, our daughter tells us she would actively consider a foundation year program. I see that Durham offers an international foundation year as a pathway to many undergraduate courses and the entry requirements look rather attainable. Worth exploring or better to focus on 3 year courses elsewhere?

Most of the ‘national’ universities offer these programmes, OP. It’s a new ball game!

PS And most of them are good. You typically need to choose an area: STEM or Social Sciences or Humanities or Art, etc and to achieve well during the FY. Then you are automatically admitted to the degree programme of your choice but you also have the option to apply elsewhere.

As your DD is a native speaker of English she need not restrict herself to International FYs, where most students will be improving their English. She (with you in the background) may want to consult the FY admissions officers as to whether the International or regular FY best suits her. There are enough pedagogical differences between the US and the UK that I think one or the other is a great idea.

Not wanting to offend anyone but Kent University has always been distinctly "meh" since I was a student and right up til now.

Consider Lancaster University, dept of Geography/Environmental Science. In the Times league table the university is 13th and the subject dept 11th. It is a campus university with Lancaster City about 3 miles away with good transport. The location is coastal (near to Morecambe Bay) about half an hour drive to the Lake District… good for fell walking etc and is close to the Yorkshire Dales. Many students stay in the area after graduation.

Well as someone who was born in Birmingham, lived there for 18 years until I went to university and has lived in London since I graduated, I'd say I had more thefts and bad behaviour in Cambridge where I studied than either of the others.

I can't speak for Liverpool , Manchester or Leeds, but everywhere is what you make of it and you have to have your wits about you.

Her fees will go to service debt.

The danger is that she gets through each year never knowing whether the department she's in will exist for the coming year.

Look up the endowment figures for all the universities she's considering, and google finances of each university too.

Have you tried Plymouth, lots of freinds have had children go there, great location culture and train link right into London, Bristol airports. Maybe one to consider 🤔

Yes, I work in health care / community and I don’t mind where I go but if I was sending my child to a different continent it is something I would want to bear in mind.

I remember my southern/Londoner well off dad was horrified by the level of petty car crime in Leeds when I studied there! He was also horrified (but less surprised) by the dodgy private rental properties

Things are a little posher there now at least regarding purpose built student accommodation.

Oddly, as long as you stay away from the strongly sectarian areas, crime in Belfast, my left field suggestion, is very low. The University has a lovely situation in safe south Belfast not far from the City centre and adjacent to the Botanical Gardens. Housing and general cost is living is also reasonable. The City is served by an international airport and Dublin Airport is not that far away.

We did not give crime a second thought. We had drummed in about women staying safe etc. You cannot plan for every eventuality.

Belfast and cites like that have everything on the doorstep with the need for travel eliminated. Other than home. If she actually wants to see more of London (and millions do!) and other great cities, it’s not handy. Do students travel 1 hour for a night out in Manchester? Or the theatre? Not sure they do. So it’s worth considering not just the university, but the life she expects to go with it. Students, from what I’ve seen, don’t travel much away from university city. So has that city got what she wants? Especially as you are now talking about 4 years.

I'm biased in where I'll recommend but I mostly wanted to ask...
what are her lifestyle habits? Does she envision lots of social life, or doing conservation work? Does she care about clubs, societies, activities, sport? What would she be doing in her spare time? Does she want to be "close enough" to an international airport (where in USA would she fly back into to get back to her family?)

Is she used to living in a rainy or cold climate, will she need or want a car while here?

Good points and Queens University Belfast is pretty high on her current list. As far as what I think she'll want to do with free time, I'd be extremely surprised if she gets really excited about nightlife. The two extracurricular things she has mentioned that are of interest to her are joining societies and part-time work. I suspect she would also appreciate a location that has outdoorsy activities nearby.

what kind of outdoorsy? White water rafting or country walks by herself or dry stone walling or birdwatching or rowing or fell running or gravel-rides or surfing or ...

If she does not like wet, Belfast may not be the place for her😀. (DS did not look at climate when making US PhD applications. He found the mid-West climate quite challenging.)

Outdoor activities, yes in spades. And lots of outdoorsy fellow students. Not least it is becoming increasingly common for rural students from the Republic to prefer Belfast over Dublin. Dublin is shockingly expensive. Flights to London can be cheap, cheaper than rail fares within England.

Yes! 😁 But if I had to narrow it down, my guess would be activities that are on the lower end of risk and exertion. Definitely country walks, punting?/boating, swimming, camping, possibly wild camping. In the US she might be called "hiker trash"

@Valleysaurus If she's interested in a foundation year for international students at Durham, check WHERE this is. A number are at their Stockton on Tees campus. Stockton is quite a deprived northern town (though it does have a great theatre, close to the North York Moors and lots of rowing on the Tees).

OP speaking as fellow "hiker trash" (what a great expression!) I stand by my previous recommendation of Leeds. Lots of international students, lovely countryside, lots of culture and a small airport that would get you to a hub like Schipol for an international flight.

Or maybe Exeter or possibly Chichester if she likes watersports.

Is she used to living in a rainy or cold climate, will she need or want a car while here?
This is a good point actually - we advise all our north American students (mostly postgrads) to take VitD when they come here as we have had instances of them being severely deficient - even one with osteomalacia. Not much sun in the north!

I have a daughter in her final year at the conservatoire in Leeds - there's been ups and downs and now she takes taxis if leaving a rehearsal after dark. She has also spent several weeks staying with a friend out at Headingley when her city centre Unipol student house had police constantly on the street outside who wouldn't tell her what the problem was. I wasn't happy.

Saying that, she wants to stay in Leeds after graduating 🤷 there is a lot going on musically and lots of jobs

@Valleysaurus Societies might be better for collective activities like these. I think punting only at Oxford or Cambridge so look at their other universities. Boating? On a river? Or sailing? Or on a reservoir? These will be minority interests. Walking - just about anywhere is attractive after a short bus ride. Camping. Again a bit niche so she will need to find like minded people. Anywhere with decent access to wild areas! Eg Liverpool, Sheffield, Leeds and all of Scotland and Ireland fit this. Finding students who want to camp might be more difficult. Most want a good time having a drink even if they didn’t before university!

Not sure about jobs in small cities either. Do we require visas for work? Others might know.

Durham is a lovely safe small city to be a student - I happily walk around there at night. The main danger seems to be falling in the river. There is a college system with pastoral care/tutors where students eat and socialise in their colleges. So that provides some reassurance if you are overseas.

As @ScoutFinchMockingbird says, I think most/all international foundation year students are based at the Stockton campus though which is not the same type of environment.

I would apply direct and see what happens and then accept a foundation year place if rejected.

International students on a student visa can work up to 20 hrs/wk. IMO during term that is too much, anyway, unless absolutely necessary.

@TizerorFizz she would I think be on a tier 4 visa which does allow students to work - they can work for the university for example - and other types of work but there are restrictions
www.gov.uk/student-visa