Pushing North American Universities

[KillingEvenings]

I'm mid way through another cycle of DC applying to state and independent selective secondary schools in London and have noticed on the tours they all bring up North American Universities as destinations for the leavers, in the same breath as their Oxbridge numbers.

Any thoughts as to what is behind this? Seems a very expensive option when we have so many great schools here. (They will mostly be 4+ year degrees and with tuition at £50K+ a year. Yikes! )

@Postapocalypticcowgirl I agree with you except that 'widening participation' applicants are favoured.

Based on grades alone, independent school students make up a greater share of Oxbridge students than their share of top A-level grades (26%of top grades vs 30% of admissions). State school students in general are accepted in the ratio at which they apply relative to private school applicants. This is still less than grades alone would predict which is why more outreach is needed. Outreach (not tipping the scales) has been responsible for more qualified state school pupils both applying and being accepted to Oxbridge. Contextual offers exist only for foundation courses which are for only a handful of pupils that have been through true hardship at Oxbridge.

Other top universities in the UK do take a different approaches that sometimes do favour state school students to be clear. I am only taking about Oxford and Cambridge.

The U.K. is in a fairly perilous position and lots of parents would prefer their children are educated in the US. There are far more jobs over there that pay a very decent wage and offer a great standard of living. There are so many choices of uni in the US and they vary enormously. I'd take a small New England liberal arts school over just about any other choice. 4 years gives them more time to try different classes and most don't declare a major until the 3rd year. A US education is far broader.

Yes. I made the point when this thread was new that of my 3 kids, one ivy, one Oxbridge one small New England liberal arts, the third is having by far the best educational and all around experience. I would urge anyone considering American universities to do some research and not discount Amherst, Williams, Bowdoin, Swarthmore, Wesleyan, Middlebury, etc. They offer fantastic all-round educations (undergraduate focussed, small classes), opportunities galore and ultimately have fantastic networks of alumni and contacts.

I agree a US education is more well rounded. This is also true at secondary level. I hope the government does actually implement the IB style reforms recommended by independent research. Things become too narrow far too quickly in the UK.

Back to chime with @unici5 regarding the American liberal arts college experience. I have no personal experience of these colleges but know many who have come up through this system. Almost all if them loved their experiences and their institutions.

The academic staff are extremely well qualified. They have simply chosen to prioritise teaching over their own research. These colleges are where bright undergraduates can really be seen, heard and encouraged by their professors. Research experiences for undergraduates abound. (Of course such opportunities exist in American universities, also. But there are proportionately more of them, including undergraduate seminars and supervised independent study, at the good colleges.)

As @unici5 says, the networks and career support are fabulous as is the preparation for PG study. The only slight drawback I can think of is that top students do not have the opportunity to sample PG courses early, because there are none.

To her list, off the top of my head I would add Reed, the Claremont Consortium (Claremont, Scripps, Pomona, Pitzter (sp?) and Harvey Mudd), Mt Holyoke, Wellesley, Smith and Bryn Mawr for women, and Oberlin. There are at least a dozen more of similar calibre. However some on both of our lists may prioritise Americans for financial aid.

I'd add Vassar, Colby and Bates to that list. There are so many incredible choices. Almost all have fabulous accommodation for all 4 years and proper campus life.