
UK students switch to US universities - dmmalam
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15963688
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AmirS2
With the latest hike in British tuition fees (to around £9000/year from around
£3000), studying in the US probably costs around the same as studying in the
UK, so I'm not surprised that many more kids are suddenly considering going
abroad.

Previously, studying in the UK was far cheaper, so it was ridiculous for a
British citizen to voluntarily pay much more to study abroad for a similar
quality of education.

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sentenza
But why go to the US? A British citizen can study everywhere in the EU.
Personally, I would recommend going to Germany (disclaimer: yes, I'm German),
especially for an education in engineering. In many Univerities here, you pay
less than 500€ a year (and might even get free public transportation with
that). Granted, there is the language barrier, but on the other hand, it's
rather cheap to spend a weekend "back home" when you feel like it.

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dan1234
Language barrier probably has a lot to do with it, but top US universities are
forever in the media via US TV Shows, Films and news coverage.

I could probably name quite a few Ivy League institutions but nothing for
Germany. Of course, anyone seriously considering this would do a lot of
research but the US gets a fair head start.

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sentenza
Ok, this makes a lot of sense. So, if anybody is interested, here is a small
overview for prospective future student-migrants to Germany:

1\. The good universities in Germany are public universities (TU München, TU
Erlangen). Private universities exist for a few years now, but so far they
haven't proven that they can reliably deliver the same quality. (There
certainly are exceptions).

2\. For technology fields, southern Germany is better than northern Germany.

3\. Computer science ("Informatik"): Bigger universities are better, check out
what research is being done at the university before applying. If you do your
standard degrees (in Germany this is a bachelor and a master), you will, from
your bachelor thesis on, be involved in actual research activities.

4\. For electrical/mechanical engineering, good criteria for university
selection are: Is there a major technology center nearby (München, Stuttgart,
Rhein-Main)? Is it a TU (Technische Universität)? Does it have more than 10000
Students?

5\. Forget about Berlin (at least for a moment). Berlin is _the_ place for the
"young and hip" startup scene in Germany, but for historical reasons, it is
not traditionally a technology center. The biggest German IT technology center
is in the Rhein-Main-Neckar area. There are a bunch of universities (TU
Darmstadt, TU Heidelberg...) and many "traditional" companies (SAP, Banking
services...). You are also close to Frankfurt, which is a very central travel
hub (Frankfurt airport obviously, but also the train station.) There might
even appear a direct train connection to London in the near future. At the
moment, you have to change trains once, in Brusseles.

I hope this helps someone. There are certainly also great technology/IT
universities in the Netherlands and some northern and eastern european
countries, so further research is advised.

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arethuza
Interesting, my 14 year old son (who is at a private school) is keen on going
to a foreign University (probably in the US) and it's not because of the
tuition fees - we don't have them here in Scotland.

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bromang
This sort of hype article pops up every few years in the British press.
Perhaps there is an increasing trend in students attending US universities,
but it is always going to be a small number, and almost all of them will be
private school pupils with rich parents.

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cafard
And vice versa.

