Which is more suitable for studying abroad, Britain or America?

Britain's ethos and social atmosphere will be conservative, including academic inheritance of tradition. The United States will be more flexible, including a more active and innovative social atmosphere. If you are more interested in humanities, Britain, including Europe, is a good choice. If you are interested in business or science and engineering, America should be the first choice.

As far as the quality of education is concerned, although there is no absolute quantitative index to measure the difference between Britain and the United States, the United States is still better than Britain in terms of the ranking of world universities ranked by countries every year, not a little bit. From the overall quality of education, the United States is still relatively dominant. The gold content of the diploma is also the highest.

In terms of price, it is not low either. Depending on the specific city, the prices in London, California, new york and other places are relatively high. It is easier to make friends in the United States, because the United States is an immigrant country and the relationship is more harmonious and free. Britain is a nation-state, and xenophobia is more serious. The environment is not good If the natural environment, then the United States is better, after all, big. The quality and teaching system of American universities are better, and the best universities and teachers in the world are in the United States.

1. Academic system

The educational system in Britain is three years for undergraduate students and one year for master students. The United States usually has four years of undergraduate studies and two years of master's studies. Therefore, it takes much less time for Britain to get a master's degree completely, which is the choice of people who want to do it quickly. However, it is not difficult to guess that under such an educational system arrangement, the experience and degree gold content of students from the two countries cannot be the same.

2. expenses

The cost in Britain is significantly lower than that in the United States. Regardless of any scholarship, the cost of studying in the UK for international students is1.5-20,000 pounds (equivalent to 24,000-30,000 US dollars)/year; Three years is 45-60 thousand pounds (equivalent to 70-90 thousand dollars) American private schools cost 50,000-60,000 dollars a year and 200,000-240,000 dollars for four years; Public schools are a little cheaper, now 30,000-40,000 dollars a year, and four years12-16,000 dollars. In the United States, except for a few schools such as Berkeley, California, the good schools with high domestic recognition are mainly private.

3. Application difficulty

Generally speaking, the threshold of recommendation letters and academic background in Britain is lower than that in the United States, or more flexible. Moreover, many schools in Britain offer various forms of preparatory courses, and they can be promoted to undergraduate courses after one year. The threshold for preparatory courses is lower. The general reason is that British schools are all public schools, and they are not well-off (even embarrassed) in terms of funds, so they are keen to attract international students (according to the law, the fees charged for international students are higher than those for British students). As a result, the quality of China students in Britain is even more uneven.

4. School choice and degree recognition in Chinese mainland.

What school should I choose? Of course, the more famous the school, the better. Don't be superstitious about a year's ranking, because it changes. Not to mention paying attention to the ranking of your major-for undergraduates, this has nothing to do with you. Mainly depends on historical popularity. Here, Britain is far less recognized by the world and well-known good schools in China than the United States. The two most elite universities, Oxford and Cambridge, others including London School of Economics, Warwick, Imperial College and UCL, are in the second echelon, followed by Manchester, Sheffield, Lancaster, Newcastle, Durham and Bath, all of which are good schools. In fact, except Oxford and Cambridge, the differences between other schools in Britain are relatively small and very homogeneous. As a student in China, the standard of choice is nothing more than being well-known in China.

5. Quality of learning and teaching

Undergraduate education in foreign schools is different from that in China. For example, the general concept of what class is that students choose courses and the organization is relatively scattered. The relationship between teachers and students is not close, and there is a lot of spare time, so it depends largely on students' own study habits. Those who have good study habits, are positive and make good use of school resources can also learn well in an ordinary school in Britain; People with poor study habits may not be able to study in American Ivy League.

Go back to class. Generally speaking, the quality of teaching in British schools is good, mainly balanced and reliable. Teaching in British and American universities is generally divided into two parts: one is lectures, the other is lectures; One is seminar, which is discussed after class. The seminar part is very critical. All classes in Britain are hosted by professors or lecturers themselves. In American universities, especially Ivy League universities, professors pay too much attention to scientific research and even social activities and not to teaching, so that lectures are often taught by teaching assistants (Harvard has always had this problem); Seminars are almost certainly hosted by teaching assistants (often doctoral students). In this way, the quality of teaching has been greatly affected. In this respect, college in the United States is better, the teacher-student ratio is obviously better than that of famous universities, and the teachers are mainly teaching.

To sum up, for those who really want the best education, American universities are the best choice; Generally speaking, British universities are relatively reliable, while American universities (including Harvard and Yale) are quite different in majors, courses and professors.

6. Non-academic postgraduate education (i.e. general master's degree)

The so-called academic postgraduate education is a doctor, and the specific major depends on the teaching and scientific research ability of the school, which is not involved here. Mainly focus on non-academic postgraduate education oriented to the job market. In this field, the quality and recognition of the United States is obviously better than that of the United Kingdom-whether it is MBA, LLM, public management, or master's degree in other fields. At present, the view of the British master's degree is that the academic system is too short, and the master's degree actually comes out in 12 months (many talents have just adapted to it, and their English is not neat), and the entrance threshold is not high, which means that they can get it at a little money, and the water is relatively large. If the undergraduate course is in China, going to Britain to study for a master's degree is only a limited supplement; If the undergraduate course is in the UK, adding a master's degree (unless you go to Oxford and Cambridge) will have limited effect. Therefore, unless the master's education is accelerated, or because of economic considerations, or because of the limitations of my previous background, I recommend going to the United States.

7. Socialization of students

On this issue, Britain and the United States have great differences. Students studying in Britain generally have a problem that it is difficult to integrate into the local society-the British are not so enthusiastic and open, and they are not interested in telling the truth to China students. Many people complain that they went to middle school in England and stayed there for 89 years without making any English friends. This is especially true for those who study undergraduate or even master's degree in the UK. The result is a group of China students. Live together, eat together and play together. Don't associate with English students. The end result is that after staying for several years, I still feel alienated from British society, feel like a passerby, and my language training is not satisfactory.

America is different. The United States is an immigrant country, with many people of different races and many international students. Americans are usually more open and enthusiastic. Therefore, it is relatively easy for China students to integrate into the campus in the United States, and many people will feel different from international students. Therefore, foreign students in the United States are relatively more influenced by their places, more "westernized", and even have better English in all aspects. Of course, this is just a big picture, not for specific people.

8. Career awareness and employment opportunities

In this respect, the United States is obviously superior to Britain, and the gap is not small. Undergraduate students in the United States, because of the campus atmosphere-for example, American universities have strong and conscientious institutions to help students find jobs; A little better schools, various enterprises to investigate and recruit a lot, western students also have this awareness. Under this influence, students will have a stronger sense of internship/employment and become more "precocious". For example, most people know to actively arrange holiday internships. But in Britain, you don't necessarily have this kind of consciousness, first of all, because of the lack of this kind of atmosphere, and secondly, it depends on your China student group. In addition, it is also related to the opportunities that can be accessed. After all, the United States is the most developed economy in the world, with many top enterprises in the world; If you study in a big city, you will have a lot of workplace experience.