By Nirek Dandanayak

While many Upper Sixth students in the RGS will have already submitted university applications, Lower Sixth students will be looking more and more into where they will be applying in the 2023/24 cycle. Recently, many students from the UK have been inclined towards studying in the US as part of their university education. The flexibility of the US system is attractive to many students all around the world as you are not restricted to one degree as you are in the UK. In addition on average, there is a larger variety of majors and minors in the US than the UK. However the big caveat of course is the price. In the UK, tuition costs £9,250 per year however in the US, it costs approximately a whopping $60,000 to go to a private university and to go to a public university it is $40,000. Bear in mind, this is just the cost of the tuition, excluding housing, food and utilities cost which itself is about $20,000.

In terms of UK universities, the main advantage is the cost. However many programs are 3 year programs compared to 4 year programs in the US. This is quite useful for many as it allows UK students to potentially complete a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in the same period of time that a US student completes just a bachelor’s degree. In addition there is no hassle of visas and no travel costs at holiday times. For this core reason, many students from the RGS will choose to apply to these universities.

However a top university graduate in the UK like UCL, will earn approximately $40,000 after earning their university qualification. By contrast, a Dartmouth graduate may earn $80,000 immediately after graduating. In addition, US graduates are generally employed within 3 months of graduation due to their advanced career advising teams. However UK graduates are often employed within 15 months, which is a considerably longer period of time. Also, the flexibility of the US system is appealing for many students. This is how it works: usually, in the first year, students will explore different courses every semester (term) to see what interests them. Then they will most likely declare their major in their second year, essentially telling the university that they have decided what major they would like to do and that they are focused on completing the required courses. Most majors will have prerequisite courses. These are the core courses needed to complete a major. These will be introductory courses and/or basic level courses intended for those who are new to the subject. Then students will be allowed to take elective courses. While this is available in UK degrees, the range of elective courses is much larger in the US meaning that students are able to really dive deep into the specific field of study that they are interested in. These elective courses will usually take up the last two years of one’s undergraduate study. This structure can be appealing to many as it allows for much more flexibility.

Interview with RGS Students:

I had the opportunity to interview two students in the RGS who were willing to give their ideas on the topic: Jasper Freeman and Xavier ( Xavi) Wallin. While Jasper argued on the side of UK universities, Xavi had some ideas on the US side. Jasper gave an interesting idea regarding the high gun violence in the US, saying the ‘he was scared of being shot’ if he were to go to the US for his higher education. In addition to the obvious points of the cost being too high, Jasper also mentioned the fact that if he were to go abroad, he would be ‘unfamiliar’ with his surroundings and ‘far away from home’ and his family. On the other hand, Xavi seems to have very high ambitions regarding his higher education. The prospective economics major said that he would not want to go to a UK university unless it was a top school such as Oxford, Cambridge or LSE. Apart from these top universities, Xavi mentioned that he would much prefer to apply to the US and achieve a better education even at the cost of having a potentially large student loan to pay off.

I hope if you are considering where to apply in the winter of 2023, this article has helped in some way to help you make an informed decision about your future.