I am a British student intending to apply for my Master’s in the US after I complete my undergrad in the UK. I am currently finalising my university choices before I submit them to UCAS.
Other than Oxford, are there any other British universities which Americans know about?
If you mean the “average” American in the know then include Cambridge obviously. Also London School of Economics, ICL, UCL and St. Andrews (due to the royal connection). If you mean American university admissions officers then there are many, many more to be included.
Oxford and Cambridge… then St Andrews and LSE.
Maybe King’s College and Imperial College because they sound fancy. Surprisingly, many have never heard of UCL before. When I was telling people about applying there, everyone thought I meant UCLA haha.
Am American would likely think that the University of London is a top British school while in fact it is a loose federation of many colleges of varying reputation.
You would be much better off checking out the The Global University Employability Ranking. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/features/global-university-employability-ranking-2016
As an interviewing technical manager for a well-known consulting company in the US, I would say - Oxbridge, Imperial, LSE, King’s, UCL, Edinburgh
The most important thing when applying to grad school in the US is the appropriate test score- GRE, LSAT, MCAT and GPA. Assuming you go to any ordinary accredited college, you’ll be fine.
The question rests on a false premise. It is not “Americans” who will be on the Admissions Committee for a graduate program, it is academics who are specialists in the field of study. The relative prestige / familiarity of the undergraduate program will be less important than what you have done within that program, and how you evidence your suitability for further study. Your Statement of Purpose is where you make that case.
OP, reread collegemom’s post #6 and TomSrOfBoston’s post #1. At issue is what British universities are known and respected by ACADEMICS in the U.S. Rest assured that American academics and school officials have a much more nuanced, in-depth knowledge of the British system than most people in Britain! And yes, your GREs, undergraduate record, letters of recommendation, Statement of Purpose, etc. are all crucial in getting admitted to an American graduate program.
Amongst the elite US students, they are:
Amongst the general US public, they are:
Amongst the US students choosing to study in the UK, they are:
Amongst US employers, they are (arguably):
Amongst US academics, they are (arguably, using REF’s ‘World Leading’ rankings):
So, overall, you should have Oxford, Cambridge, LSE, Imperial, UCL, KCL and Edinburgh as the consistently well known universities in the US across all audience sectors.
Having worked in College Admissions and read countless School Profiles from some of America’s most elite Prep Schools (Andover, Exeter, Hotchkiss, St Paul’s, Choate, Taft, Deerfield etc.) St Andrews (along with McGill) is one of the only non-US schools which appears on their Matriculation lists.
So St Andrews seems to be quite popular among the really selective prep schools in the US. Oxford+Cambridge, Edinburgh and King’s also appear in some Matriculation Lists but nowhere near the frequency at which St Andrews appears.
^ Yeah, but if he’s applying to American masters programs, what matters is the reputation of UK schools among American academics, not popularity among American HS students, and those mostly follow the research rankings (and the typical UK rankings).
And that can vary by subject. Chemistry for example, York is generally up there and is not mentioned by anyone above.
Essentially top ten in the league’s tables for one’s subject/course will e good for US graduate schools.
@MYOS1634, I think one needs to put a qualifier a bit on your statement. I guess it would depend on the table.
One should not be looking at league tables like the UK local tables where student satisfaction plays a prominent part and pushes universities into Top 10.
One should be looking at tables that focuses on and assesses academic competence and reputation.
Post #7 hit the nail on the head.
Student satisfaction is an important criterion, and it’s always possible to cross reference the tables.
British people and Americans have all heard of Oxbridge. But in the second tier, there is big disagreement. Most British people would put places like Imperial, Durham, Manchester, the UCL, KCL, Warwick as just behind Oxbridge. Maybe Edinburgh. Most Americans haven’t heard of any of those universities, but would instead mention LSE and St Andrews (partly because there are so many Americans at those places).
It’s the same in the other direction. Most Brits will look at you blankly if you mention any top LAC, or most top publics like Michigan.
Stanford is only targeting 7 universities in the UK for their Knight-Hessey Scholarship program: UCL, Oxford, Cambridge, LSE, Imperial, St Andrews and Edinburgh. https://apply.knight-hennessy.stanford.edu/portal/events
This should give you a pretty good idea of what British universities are well regarded in the US.
You need to forgive us Americans. We are very unfortunate to be isolated by two large oceans from the rest of the world.
I would say the only British University I can name is Oxford. Which you specifically excluded.
Thank you for the responses so far everyone, I’ve got one more day until I submit my choices so would be great to hear anyone’s last minute input.
@montefiore thanks, I am not looking at employability in the US though, looking to do a grad programme after my undergraduate.
@collegemom3717 ok so does it essentially not matter what university I go to in the UK as long as I do well whilst I am there and show why I am interested in pursuing further studies?
@CollegeRep18 are those schools like the Eton/Harrow equivalent in the US?
@LutherVan thanks, good breakdown.
@chzbrgr I’m a British student and would disagree with you. At least amongst my school, Manchester (and to an extent, KCL) is definitely not regarded to be in the second tier after Oxbridge - quite far from it in fact.
@Capricancer1 thanks, this is exactly what I was looking for.
@MassDaD68 yeh the last time I was in the US, I heard that for most people Oxford was the only well known British university but I’ve missed their deadline so wanted to exclude it from the answers I get.