There are hundreds, if not thousands of reasons to consider going overseas for higher education. Here are just a few of the most common we encounter:
Admissions is Much More Transparent
For a variety of structural reasons, American university admissions seems to be designed to stress students (and parents, and teachers!) out. As recently as 15 years ago, applying to more than six schools was overkill. Now it’s perhaps not enough. Because of all this, and the utterly absurd way that universities are ranked, admissions rates are tiny. After all, you can only attend one university at a time, and if a bunch of students aren’t accepting an offer to attend, then clearly the college isn’t great (sarcasm alert).
Compare that to the rest of the world. The University of Melbourne, a top 30 global institution, has an acceptance rate of nearly 70%. That’s comparable to most non-elite public flagship universities. It’s also about as expensive.
Meanwhile, Oxford’s acceptance rate is around 17%, and Harvard’s is around 3%. Is Harvard six times as good of an institution as Oxford?
Yeah, we agree. It’s pretty perplexing.
(To be fair, the reason for a lot of this is self selection – international schools post their minimums. American schools will consider everyone, but not tell anyone how the decisions are made. Therefore, unless you’re an ‘institutional priority,’ like a recruited athlete, a donor’s kid, or have a very unique background, you’re facing an even more uphill battle.)
It’s Absurdly Cheaper Overseas
It is cheaper to go to Oxford than it is to earn a degree at some public colleges as an in-state student.
Let that sink in.
While a lot of people have heard that ‘college is free in X country,’ and there’s a shade of truth to that, the other side of it is that it is almost always less expensive, even as an overseas student. Moreover, US financial aid from the government, in the form of subsidized loans or GI Bill benefits, can be applied to universities overseas.
Admissions Is Much Less Stressful
You know what’s not fun?
That despite the Common App being, well, common, many universities have supplements that are often as long as the application. Many of these supplements have off-the-wall questions (looking at you, Chicago), or discuss things that many 17 year olds don’t feel comfortable writing about (Duke’s questions on sexual identity and gender expression).
One UK university asks for a supplement if you apply via UCAS, and it’s Cambridge. Their supplement is essentially three short answer questions.
Some Australian and Canadian universities have supplements, depending on what you apply to study. Spoiler alert – computer science students will be writing.
Also, application fees are a fraction of what you’d pay in the US.
Adventure, Travel, Food!
Who are we kidding? There’s something about the things you can’t quantify. We’ve worked with students who want to see the Great Wall, who want to swim with sharks, and who want to play Civilization with a view of a World Wonder (apparently building Petra while overlooking Petra is a thing?).
Going Abroad gives you an amazing opportunity to travel and experience the rest of the world first hand. If an education is about understanding the world around you, then going overseas is a great way to do it.
And as good as American food and all our ethnic cuisines are, it’s just better overseas.