Wages definitely haven’t been rising nearly as much here as in the US, and inflation seems to be worse too. I know unemployment is rising and at one point (I think 2021-22) real household disposable income (income adjusted to tax and inflation after necessities have been paid for) fell by around 4%, and is still falling, albeit at a slower rate of around 1% annually. For comparison in the 2008 Financial crisis real income fell by around 6% between 2008-9 in the UK, and 4% in the US.
US real income now has been falling at a much slower rate, with people’s real income in Nov 2024 being 1.1% lower than it was 4 years ago.
Not related to colleges per se just thought it was interesting - I wrote a speech on inflation and real income in the UK two years ago which is what really piqued my interest into Economics.
With Liz Truss’s mini-budget interest rates also peaked at over 5%, reaching record high levels. Interest rates of the Bank of England had remained pretty much under 1% for almost a decade so this was SHOCKING to the British public.
We have free public education from at least age 5 thru 18 (and for children with disabilities, from age 3-21). Most children in the US attend this free education, called public school. Some parents choose to pay for private school, which can range from a few thousand a year to nearly 70K/yr for the top boarding schools. Some families home school, which can range from the family providing essentially no education whatsoever, to families providing intensive, excellent education at home, sometimes to accommodate the schedule of child athletes, performers, sometimes to accommodate children who just do not fit in at school.
Public college for in-state residents (since the state subsidizes the cost of education) can be as little as 25K/yr, including room and board, or as much as 65K/yr for international students. Private colleges’ cost varies, but that of highly selective colleges now is nearly 90K/yr, including room and board.
You sound as if you have a decent chance of getting into some highly selective colleges which has a good econ dep’t, with some amount of fin aid, if your family’s income qualifies for need-based aid, as long as you broaden your search to include private liberal arts colleges.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, these numbers are outdated. Several public colleges cost over $75k for out of state and international students. A few are around $84k.
For lower education it sounds pretty similar in the US as it is here…. excluding everything to do with the actual teaching. We also don’t split middle and high school- you do those at the same school, but some people switch for sixth form (11th and 12th) to go to a school that better meets their needs and subjects they want to take.
We also don’t have a GPA, tests tend to be less multiple choice focused, and exams are at the end of year 11 (10th grade) called GCSEs where most people take 9-11 subjects, with English, Maths and Science being compulsory. A levels are taken in year 13 (12th grade) and are what determine Uni acceptance as conditional offers are typically given, where you are offered a seat if you get certain grades. Our grade boundaries seem low (60% for an A*/grade 9 in some subjects) but they are determined by what percentage of people scored above what mark, like a percentile system. So the top 4-5% get a 9, the next 10% get an 8 etc.
Since the US isn’t my main focus I might apply to a smaller range of colleges/ Universities (if any) if they have courses or an active student body that really appeals to me as a prospective student. The insight into the liberal arts colleges was much appreciated though! Especially Wellesley and Davidson - I just don’t know if I can justify emptying my pockets and travelling halfway across the world when there’s equally good opportunities an hour away from home.
This thread has been very informative though- I’ve learnt lots more about the US system. For almost two months when someone said LAC I thought they were talking about Los Angeles Colleges (hilarious, I know).
But the more I get to know about applications and life here, the more I realise I would probably enjoy it more if I stayed in the UK.
I’m definitely stepping out of this thread with more clarity than I came in with, so thank you to everyone who contributed.
I’m sorry if this felt like a waste of your time.
Nothing is a waste of time - most of us are here precisely to try help students make informed decisions. It’s as important to know what you don’t want as what you do. Good luck!
One perk of attending Wellesley would be your ability to take some classes at MIT: the schools are cross-registration partners.
This would allow you to benefit from a hybrid LAC/University experience, supplementing the outstanding liberal arts curriculum at Wellesley with some advanced Math courses at MIT – or whatever interests you, subject to prerequisite fulfillment – that might not be available at W. It would also broaden your experience culturally.
ETA: MIT also enjoys a lofty reputation in Economics, so that may benefit you. (I assume that the Econ department at Wellesley is just fine – it is a top-shelf college, so presumably everything they offer will be high-quality.)
Sorry, just saw this thread at the last minute so I’m going to add a quick post in case OP wants to have a view from the UK about studying in the US.
Both my kids have gone through the UK school system (private schools on scholarships), and both applied to the UK with UCAS and to the US, and got offers from very good schools in both countries. Both decided to go to America (one graduated in 2024 and the other is a freshman) mainly because neither wanted to be slotted into a narrow curriculum (especially after A-Levels) straight away but wanted the possibility to explore and learn other topics/subjects.
Their experience has been outstanding, both from an academic and social/activity point of view. The resources available to College students in the US are incomparable to UK ones if you want to have a close relationship with professors and/or an active social life that does not involve mostly pubs and clubs. All of my children’s friends have remained in the UK at very good schools and most of them are having a decent time but there seems to be a wide(ning) gap in terms of quality of life/opportunities. The academics will sort of match, because everyone at undergrad level gets taught the same things at all good Unis all over the world (I attended LSE for Economics, Bocconi MSc and spent some time at Harvard later, they were all very good but hardly distinguishable from an intellectual pow ). The main question you should consider is focus and social fit- if you know you only want to study a narrow set of things, UK is your place. If you want to explore more broadly, US is definetely the way. Networking/reputation will take care of itself, especially with your strong background and obvious abilities. Socially/lifestyle wise, the US will offer you more opportunities to get out of the UK bubble.
Regarding the financial side of things (ofc the US is much more expensive on paper)- first, run the NPCs for aid and cost estimates- as other very good posters have advised, and see what results it comes out with.
The common widsom is that NPCs are not reliable for internationals, but my own UK experience (and that of friends with other students in the US) is that the vast majority of results were within 2-3000 dollars from the actual financial aid and total costs for admitted students.
College is not free in the US, but if you live in state, you pay less at a state school. International will pay full out of state costs. College in our state is $25k/year for the in state options, with some a bit less, and we are in a reasonably priced state.
I just want to thank you for the amazing response first, it really is helpful!
I’m just going to write out the pros and cons of both options to help “organise” my thoughts, if that makes sense:
For US universities the sticker shock is definitely …shocking, but after I ran the NPC it came out to around just under double the cost of studying in the UK, so not too bad. Now I’m more torn I think there’s advantages to both sides- with the narrower curriculum it allows you to take a more focussed approach and finish the course a year sooner, whereas the broader curriculum in the US helps students become more well rounded, as well as providing more flexibility to the student (though I’m fairly confident with what I want to major in). I also don’t intend to drink even after the legal age so I’m not entirely sure how enjoyable “pubs and clubs” will be, especially in a pretty much deserted area like Cambridge. So the US social scene is definitely appealing. The choral scholars I know at Cambridge that also mentioned they often rehearse late into the night because otherwise the chapels aren’t free, which isn’t exactly ideal either.
If I don’t get into a highly prestigious college/university in the US there’s no way my parents will go to all the trouble of sending me there, and looking at everyone else’s applications and the stats of people who get acceptances into HYPSM etc., I’m nowhere near that. I don’t want to get my hopes up artificially high and finally fully come to terms with going to college in the US just to not be able to go- which is a very real possibility.
On a separate note, how did you find LSE when you went, did you enjoy the student lifestyle experience?
? Have you ever visited Cambridge on a night in term? It’s buzzing.
It’s also around an hour to London by train (if that seems far, in some US cities it can take an hour to get from one part of the city to another).
Btw I didn’t go to lse but I have a couple of friends who did, admittedly for masters so maybe different experience, but they said it was very urban and did not have the same experience as some other more residential universities. Would you be staying in halls? My understanding is that a lot of different university of London universities share the same dorm buildings, which I’d see as an advantage.
Once, to visit a family friend, but to be honest I can’t recall much I was quite young. From what people tell me it’s definitely not as full of buzz as London, but then again few places are. I know two people who go there relatively well, one loves it and the other not so much, guess it depends And an hour train isn’t too far from London but it’s definitely much further than where I am now so I guess it feels further. I also forget how big the US is sometimes
Yes, this is a chronic puzzle for international students and even some U.S. students who are the children of immigrants; the term “LAC” often translates as some form of compulsory schooling for minors, and you can well imagine trying to explain to the folks in “the old country” why it is that their grandchildren are repeating 12th grade. Which is too bad because, as you can see from the NESCAC (New England Small College Athletic Conference) thread cited upstream, they receive quite a bit of attention from the Eastern Seaboard news media (The New York Times. Forbes Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, etc.) and are - by and large - somewhat easier admits than the standard eight colleges (which btw with one exception - are also LACs) of the Ivy League. They also form somewhat tighter communities; their alumni are even more fiercely loyal and their social activities have evolved over time to include athletics, political activism, lots of theatrical performing. Lin-Manuel Miranda the “Hamilton” composer and actor, attended Wesleyan University (not to be confused with Wellesley.)
Just as an example, it takes over 12 hours just to drive from the southern border of California to the northern one. It takes less than 8 hours to drive from London to Edinburgh.
On comparative living LSE vs Cam. I personally think there is very little globally that compares to the undergrad experience at Oxbridge. That said, London is also an amazing city to live in. There is always something different to do. I can definitely see the attractions of both.
Compare to the total cost of around £60000 / $75000 to get a degree at Cambridge for a UK resident; LSE looks like it’s around the same, maybe slightly more, depending on which residence hall the student stays in. So, the cost for 3 years is not far off that for one year in the US. That’s a $175000+ premium over what are arguably two of the best universities in the world to study economics. Hard to see how that’s justifiable unless OP could get significant financial aid in the US.
I think OP said it’d cost abouttwice the UK fees, so $24k p.a for COA based on the NPC - if that’s correct then OP would get significant FA making US and UK costs comparable. However she’d need to want a very different experience.
My guess is that OP will apply to Cambridge and a US university ED/SCEA/REA, and the choice will seem clearer then.
Definitely not wasted–the regular posters here are very dedicated to helping kids understand their options better. Whatever decisions you then end up making, if they are better informed as a result of asking questions here, we are going to be happy with our part in your process.
By the way, in my experience this can often work both ways–there are things about the US college approach that appeal to some UK kids, and then things about the UK uni approach that appeal to some US kids. But then the more they learn, the more they start thinking perhaps sticking with the system they know is the better idea.
But that does not need to be the last word. There is always the possibility of grad school, and that can make a lot more sense both ways.
So, just something to keep in mind as an alternative.
(hilarious, I know).
I think there’s advantages to both sides- with the narrower curriculum it allows you to take a more focussed approach and finish the course a year sooner, whereas the broader curriculum in the US helps students become more well rounded, as well as providing more flexibility to the student (though I’m fairly confident with what I want to major in). I also don’t intend to drink even after the legal age so I’m not entirely sure how enjoyable “pubs and clubs” will be, especially in a pretty much deserted area like Cambridge. So the US social scene is definitely appealing. The choral scholars I know at Cambridge that also mentioned they often rehearse late into the night because otherwise the chapels aren’t free, which isn’t exactly ideal either.
And an hour train isn’t too far from London but it’s definitely much further than where I am now so I guess it feels further. I also forget how big the US is sometimes