uni choice help aka america (columbia spo dual degree, princeton) or uk (lse,ucl)
hi guys, i actually posted this in a couple of subreddits and sorry if this is the wrong way to use this particular one. i just lowk really want opinions of a level students too lmao and in general british people. i’m on a gap year rn and decided to reapply to unis and this is my sitch, i originally wrote this for a more american subreddit so which is why i call myself an international student.
i’m an international student from the UK and am so lucky i am in the position of having to make this choice.
i have offers to the SPO-Columbia dual degree, LSE for economic history, UCL for philosophy and economics, UCL management science, Princeton and Berklee college of music.
luckily i do have pretty solid financial aid for princeton and columbia (plus a scholarship for SPO portion of the course) and a scholarship for beeklee. that being said financially the Columbia SPO DD works out to be the cheapest US course by a mile (due to two years in france) and places it in the same financial bandwagon as it would be for me to attend LSE. Berklee realistically is out of my budget and I also do not think I would want to study music at an institution, I am drawn to economics, mathematics and policy. Everyone who i have spoken to have said princeton is wayyy better than Columbia however the price difference is stark and whilst I am fortunate enough to have parents who can afford it, i do wonder if it is worth it. I don’t know much about US colleges and only applied to these 3 unis/colleges (no idea what the exact term is lol).
heres where my head is at
UCL (philo and econ, management science)
Benefits
•proximity to home ( couple hour train) but honestly this doesn’t really bother me
• i have the option to take out SFE (but i have also spent my gap year working and saving up so i can pay of tuition without a loan luckily)
• i guess i have some friends there??
Concerns
• honestly the course - not a massive fan
• also as someone who grew up in the UK and went to a pretty good school UCL is considered nothing greatly spectacular
•post graduation of course there are prestigious jobs but UCL would be a target AFTER oxbridge and LSE. additionally post grad salary isn’t that high in contrast to the US (still very high tho and ovbi the job market kinda screwed so this relies on the assumption i can bag a job)
LSE ( economic history)
benefits
• same as UCL
• i‘d say it’s a better reputed uni than UCL as it is specialised
•best in the UK for econ but that’s not my course exactly lol
Concerns
• honestly same as UCL, i have some friends at lse doing this course and quite a few who have done it and have been unable to find a job in finance and have been “forced” into a masters
• i do like the course but its not AS quantitative as i would like. i guess thats on me for applying to it but straight econ is very competitive and i kinda wanted to get in
Berklee
now that im out here typing this out i think its clearer and clearer this isnt the option for me. i think i did like the validation of getting into a music program but i don’t want a degree in music but i think i just wanted validation lmao. music has always been a pretty big part of my life and i think i will always do it on the side as a hobby and release my own music but yeah this isn’t for me. plus it’s the most expensive program even with scholarships.
Princeton
ah princeton. as a kid the only ivies i knew of were harvard, yale and princeton and i guess i got fixated on princeton as it was the closest to NY which was my childhood fixation.
Benefits
• i guess the flexibility of the program. i could major in anything and even tho rn im pretty set on econ related courses, i can do a major in anything. this contrasts a bit to the DD where SPO is specialised in social sciences but i guess i could also major in anything at columbia
• i‘m guessing i could be getting a BSc
•better rep than columbia (what ive been told)
• better rep than the UK unis
•pretty solid financial aid, it is very much possible but a stretch
• i guess we have friends in NJ??
Concerns
• moving to the US RIGHT now. as an international ) trump has scared the shit out of me like i don’t want to get detained
• US fees for four years, despite aid being solid (honestly really really good), US fees are higher than british by a bit. over four years this does add up.
• i want to work in finance or go into econ/policy post graduation. unsure if the location will hinder me or rep will carry me further
Columbia SPO dual degree
for context nyc growing up was my fixation lmao. i also have ties to france (via colonisation so boo)
Benefits
• 2 degrees from two separate institutions. this would allow me to study two different disciplines without compromising the rigor of the degree (for context if you study philo and econ for instance you learn less philo than a philo degree and less econ than an econ degree so you compromise on context for the jointness)
• price: the program rivals UK programs mostly due to the first two years in france that are cheaper than UK tuition and living costs. the Columbia portion has aid (similar to princeton) but since it’s only two years it ends up balanving
• location: having two years in france gives me some proximity to home atleast for some time, and i can always hop on a train back home (my campus is in the south but still very much possible lol). also on the south the weather is really nice but that’s not much of a concern for me. NYC is NYC and it’s got great links for finance and policy etc. also it is a dream city of mine for a very long time
• by the time i get the America i trump would be on his way out, then again a gamble no idea who‘s next but yk. also in general looking at linkedin a lot of international students have found jobs in nyc with pretty solid starting salaries (i mean i used glassdoors but yk). i’m sure princeton would be pretty similar but it’s a lot easier to find international students on this course online as i guess it is an international course??
Concerns
• despite liking this program a lot i worry that it’s not as reputed as princeton or a straight columbia course. some people say it’s a backdoor to ivies and columbia GS is not great.
• it doesn’t really bother me but it is a four year course (longer than 3 years at UK uni) AND i alr did a gap year so id be like 23 when i graduate (i feel a bit old lol)
• i guess i‘m stretching but i grew up in the Uk education system (A levels, GCSE) but if this makes any difference
• i‘m not guaranteed a job, i had no idea how hard it is to get an internship in the US and i’ve heard you need to be enrolled for one year before you can apply or something. if anyone can clarify this i would greatly appreciate it. i’m not guaranteed a job anywhere but i worry how hard it will be as an international in the US in NYC. additionally if i do move back i worry about how “legit” and respected my degree would be.
sorry for the long post and i would really appreciate some insight!! thank you in advance