Scholarships to USA

[SerenePearlCat]

DS is in year 11 and she would like to go to university in the US. Does anyone have any knowledge of the full merit scholarships available to international students at top level universities? While doing her research she came across the Robertson and the Morehead Cain, I would love to hear from anyone who has managed to secure one of the merit based scholarships to the US.

UCLA is University of California, Los Angeles. 🙄

Also entrance tests tend to ignore university. What you can do is still important. It’s obviously a ludicrous employer who hasn’t heard of Imperial. It’s world top 10.

Most people haven't heard of many universities beyond those of their own country and even when they have their information is often fairly dodgy. Universities that recruit internationally make a point of knowing about/researching the universities from which they receive applications - it's not that hard for people experienced in the matter.

@uberdriverit should have read ‘UCL’, I didn’t notice the autocorrect to UCLA!

St. Andrews is better known in the US.

Career wise what value add does HYMPS have over Oxbridge?

It will have top tier US connections (families) in whatever industry the student wants to get into. Sounds horrible writing that, but I know most of the parents at my kids' schools have been motivated by that.

A lot of American students study abroad, and while some do their study abroad year or semester at a foreign outpost of their own university, many study at an unrelated institution. Two of my DCs did a semester abroad, one at UCL, where she met many other Americans from various universities and liberal arts colleges.

@Muu9 I suspect not for Engineering or Science. In fact it’s quite difficult to find an hard science where St A is ranked higher. (Arts and humanities - obviously). Obviously Americans don’t know everything - international students who flock to Imperial recognise it as a world leader.

In STEM, Imperial would be recognised IME. Also UCL as it's popular with Americans. St Andrews got very popular. LSE is very international so well known (London also gives all these a bump).

Now, Bristol, Durham, Warwick, and so on? Even if they're top 10 in the subject Americans won't know it or only have a glancing familiarity unless they are particularly international. My husband went to one of those so I speak from experience.

@knitnerd90 Not everywhere will be recognised immediately but what often matters is what a student can do. DDs friend is working in the USA and went to the backwater of Manchester. Who cares? She’s ace at her job!

Oh yes! It hasn't been an issue long term. But it's something to be considered in both directions if name recognition is something you're after. Most British people have never heard of my daughter's college, even though it has quite a lot of famous alumni.

@knitnerd90 Most decent employers will look at what she can do. Any grad with the necessary skills can achieve well in the jobs market unless an employer has a policy of recruiting from specific universities. Hopefully not too many of them about.

It is really important to differentiate between university brand (name) recognition among the general public and the actual content/value of courses and how that feeds into the market for graduate degrees and labour markets.

It really doesn't matter at all that the general public haven't heard of a particular overseas university if, within the academic field and related labour markets, the reputation of courses holds up to scrutiny and graduates go on to successful careers. Equally, it matters a lot if the general public have heard of a university (because its marketing department is effective...) but that its courses don't lead anywhere useful for graduates.

Higher education is a minefield, in particular when it comes to international higher education. Most universities are in the business of making extra money by leveraging their brand on the international student recruitment market: they aren't lovely kind benevolent organisations trying to make the world a better place by recruiting overseas and promoting diversity or whatever. Oxford and Cambridge are in the business of training the future élite of the UK and only want international students if they can contribute something exceptional (that mostly means pushing up academic standards because the overseas students are brainier than the British students but it can mean educating the children of the élite of other countries for strategic reasons) and Harvard undergrad and some other of the Ivies can also afford that luxury. But most international student recruitment is merely about £££. The EU Erasmus scheme has much more laudable aims (about getting EU youth to know and appreciate each other) but that of course is no longer relevant for UK students.

Generally though you can make the assumption that a city/state will have a university?

so for example I am British but know there is the ivies, but it’s not a great leap to Ohio state, NYU, UCLA, Miami, etc.

same if you’re from the US- most UK cities have a university.

so someone applying in the uk with a degree from UCLA or in the US from Manchester will at least recognise a BA/BSc.

i’m sure us employers don’t bin an applicant because their BA is from Nottingham, or UK employers exclude everyone with non-uk degrees.

@Whatsgoingonherethenagain Hopefully they are looking at competencies. I think we all know some universities are not producing dc for the most competive jobs in large numbers but employers should not discount applicants from any university just based on university attended alone.

As for international students being brainier than Brits? Really? I think we also want their money.

@TizerorFizz Only at Oxford, Cambridge and a few highly selective courses where academic standards, not income, are the sole selection criteria.

It stands to reason that if top students from all over the world are applying for a very small quota of available spots on the most highly ranked courses that admissions can pick and choose among some of the most brilliant young minds on the planet - and that they are going to be brainier on average than those recruited from the United Kingdom.

It is true that Oxford and Cambridge have the same early closing date for Overseas applicants as for Home applicants. They are probably close to neutral concerning the nationality of their applicants. (In practical terms Overseas applications are welcomed by everyone else for several months after the Jan deadline We may yet get a late surge, because Trump’s craziness is so much worse than the British visa kerfuffle)

I don’t think anyone else is. I remember my then HoS coming back from Imperial over 10 years ago now and saying they had decided to increase the percentage of Overseas undergraduates. Yes these students are superbly qualified but that definitely didn’t seem to be the context of the conversations he was relating.

I think it's important in this context to remember that not all employers are being approached by graduates "cold". There will be plenty of graduates who have an inside track via connections already in place. These don't always have to be huge powerful connections, either.

I would say that at the top universities, it's truly about talent and qualifications. Certainly for Oxbridge and probably for others in the UK (I'm thinking Imperial). As you head down the hierarchy, it becomes more about money. When you're truly prestigious, you get first pick and there's more qualified candidates than you could possibly choose. You don't need to lower your standards.

But as you head down the list, the need to balance the books can become more important. It's an issue in all the anglophone countries.