COLLEGE COUNSELOR: Thinking Internationally For Higher Education

Two years ago, my friend’s daughter was accepted into St. Andrews University in Scotland. Her academic credentials, intellectual curiosity, and insatiable work ethic helped her gain admittance; had she stayed in the United States, she probably would have entered a highly selective school. Yet, with such a range of options, she chose St. Andrews, which was founded in 1413, almost 600 years ago, predating Harvard by more than 200 years.

Besides St. Andrews, which now uses the Common Application, Cambridge, Oxford, and the London School of Economics beckon international students. More than a quarter of St. Andrew’s undergraduates are from outside Britain. Its admissions selectivity is comparable to Cornell or Emory. Beyond the outstanding academics, the tuition (even in the face of the recent tuition increases by the British Government) is $23,000 per year. This is a fairly good value for the dollar.

One warning: The British educational system is quite different from the American system. University-bound students in Britain, at age 16, must pass the rigorous GCSE exam across five to 10 subjects. Then the student commences with A-level exams across three or four subjects. To pass A-level in any subject requires years of study and a proficiency in whatever subject. The AP or IB higher levels are almost comparable to the mastery of a British student, but not quite. Even beyond taking the comprehensive A-level exam, certain competitive universities, especially Cambridge, require a STEP paper (a subject specific examination paper) that will assist the admissions committee in evaluating a student’s talents and capabilities.

At first glance the demands and subject specific mastery by the British applicant appear vastly superior to an American aspirant (and during the first year, even the most dedicated and capable Americans are overwhelmed by their British colleagues). Yet, it begins to even out over time. Moreover, students from the United States who have participated in IB Diploma Programmes, and who study a range of subjects at the HDL level, are not far apart. Nor are those with ample AP courses under their belt. One other key ingredient for potential British University attendees is that they want to study a specific subject as early as possible in their undergraduate career.

If you can bridge the academic demands, this might be an ideal opportunity. In Britain you begin your major immediately upon matriculation. Switching majors or departments is almost impossible. Most work is done in one-and-one tutorials. Exams are infrequent, meaning intellectual independence and strong self-discipline is essential, and you finish your undergraduate degree in three years.

The intensity and effort required to successfully achieve a degree in a British university is high. Should you be able to attain highest honors from Cambridge or Oxford, which would mean you would receive a degree ‘first class,’ you will then be awarded an honorary master’s degree three years after graduation. In short, in three years you might receive both a bachelors and master’s degree from one of the most prestigious universities in the world.

Your candidacy might warrant an interview, especially for Oxford and Cambridge, and these are interviews inquiring into the depth, passion, and substance of your academic knowledge, conducted by faculty in the department of your interest. These are the most thorough and involved interviews of undergraduate candidates in the world.

A British university education is for someone who wants to reduce their overall university educational costs, develop initiative and independence, and gain a superior education from some of the most elite universities in the world. Britain might be a good place to spend a highly concentrated undergraduate career. For more than 235 years we’ve been independent of Britain; it might be a good time to discover what we’ve been missing.

Ralph Becker, a resident of Long Beach, has been counseling students for the last seven years. A former Yale Alumni interviewer, he holds a certificate in college counseling from UCLA Extension, and has published SAT* Vocab 800 Books A, B, C, & D.