In a bit of a pickle

So, I'm starting to think about post-HS Education and I've decided I want to go to the U.K. for college. I pretty sure I want to major in Education, but I have no Idea what university to choose...So if anybody can help me out, please do. I'm also looking for a reasonably priced college.

hmm I dont live in the U.K but may I ask why your choosing the UK?

I feel like going somewhere different. I've always wanted to go to the U.K. (not just for a visit) and I feel that this could be my best opportunity. I feel as if I am just being led there. Don't know by who, it's just a hunch.

Hmm Thats interesting bro! Well, My Advice to you is Go Where it feels most like home.

You'd be better off going somewhere else that's worth while. Unless you're going to Scottland or something... England is a pile of sh!t along with it's poorly educated youth. But then again, I do live in a pretty rough area.

If you wanna live here, you have to have A LOT of money... it's expensive... with every step you take you're losing money.

Education wise - it's good, obviously different from school - where the teachers don't help you with your work - they just point you in the right direction. (this is where independance hits you hard)

It's worth going if you're going to a good uni - depends on which one though, so type up your list that you're thinking about and we can give you good advice on that uni or not. :)

I don't want to seem like a negative nancy or anything, but unless you are getting a massive scholarship, it is absolutely not worth it to go overseas to study education. You won't be able to make enough money to pay your student loans off and will struggle through life. I don't know your long term plans for your career, maybe you plan to get an advanced degree afterwards and this is a step in your process, but if you are going for education to teach, you'd be significantly better off for the next 25 years of your life if you went somewhere in the States.

Don't overpay for an "experience". Education is an investment. Don't go into it looking for an "experience". I cannot stress that enough. If you want an "experience" save some money and take a trip to England for the summer. College is not about finding oneself or any of that mumbo jumbo. It's about applying yourself to the school in order to come out with a good job.

Anyone can study some liberal arts nonsense from their public library or with some good books. Find a career obtainable from college and stick with it.

or else don't waste your time and money. College here is so expensive is rather ridic. to see these kids wasting time and money on classes that have no use in a career.

As far as education goes, I would go to the cheapest school possible. Especially since education jobs don't start off paying so good. You don't want to grduate and be stuck with tons of debt....and then maybe be stuck doing something yo don't want to do.

My advice:

Make a plan before you goto college and stick with it. Make sure your plan is something reasonable that a college degree with help you obtain.

good luck

eh i hate to disagree with some sound advice, but... my college education was an investment. it was not an experience. and i look back on it wishing i had had the "experience". what do i have now? a good job? a car? an apartment and a 401k? play money to piddle away on frivolous hobbies (i don't spend half as much on guitar as i do photography)...

but... whatever. maybe i'm just having a quarter life crisis (i'm going to live to be 120) but... i really don't see what's so great about all of this, when i could have been LIVING when i was 18-24 years old, instead of going to school in a small town in the middle of nowhere...

HOWEVER i will give you this advice --- go to school in the states and find a foreign exchange type program. my brother is currently going to SLU law school and he studied abroad in madrid, spain last summer, and this year he is presently studying in cork, ireland for the semester. it won't cost you nearly as much as it would to straight up move to another country and you will get assistance. PLUS, if the UK sucks, well, you're only there for a semester tops.

some schools have great study-abroad programs, some don't. i would look for a school in the states that has a good program.

finally, i went to school in-state because out of state tuition and acceptance criteria was atrocious. i couldn't begin to imagine out-of-country tuition!

Things to look for to make your college years an "experience"

1) Large school
2) Decently sized greek life
3) Lots of research professors
4) Good sports teams (baseball, football, soccer, basketball... pick 1)
5) Far away from home


Things you need to know to make your college years an "experience"

1) Extrovert
2) Willing to experiment
3) Not afraid of rejection
4) Personable/easily able to make connections with people
5) Willing to excessively drink, smoke, or do other drugs in the lifestyle of that school


As these guidelines are not a necessity, at least have 3-4 of the 5 things listed to make your college years great. Most larger schools have great study abroad programs that put you overseas for a semester to a full year. Definitely look into that your first year.

I would advise AGAINST going to school overseas. If you are looking to do a degree in education, I would actually suggest that you get your BS here in the states, then move to a graduate program in the UK.

I agree with gx about the semester abroad idea.

I was definitely considering getting my BS in the States. and I wasn't just looking for an "experience". I was looking to start my life overseas. I figured college would be a good place to start. But I definitely don't want to be another person that goes to CCRI...which is where everybody I know winds up going. Either that or a Christian college. Which is a definite no for me. I am thinking further into it and have heard many people say that it is quite expensive to go to a university overseas. Maybe it's just a phase I'm going through. I dunno. either way, I'm tired of the US. My stupid ideas always have some fault.

@ gx1327

That sounds like an excellent idea with the foreign exchange program. I'll look into that.

if you are tired of the US maybe you should try living in another city to gain a different perspective. i am not a heavy traveller by any means, but i have been to enough different places in the country to realize how different other cities are. for instance:

i grew up in the suburbs of st louis county. total white bread, applebees and wal marts everywhere (shopping malls rise like mountains beyond mountains). i really didn't care much for it, but it was the only place i ever knew.

i went to college in rolla, missouri. rolla is a small town in the middle of nowhere. total hoosier fest. pick up trucks and country music and confederate flags everywhere. NOT MY SCENE. i did find a good group of friends of like minded guys, and i made friends with some straight up hoos-es who i'd probably never talk to if we weren't in the same fraternity.

after graduating i lived in the suburbs for a few years and have recently moved to downtown st louis. WOW. why did i wait so long for this? very open minded area, lots of laid back people and bars. unique shops and resturants, i can walk everywhere. people drink all the time (it's awesome to see wasted people staggering down the streets at 4pm on a tuesday. i mean like, professionally dressed people, not bums). the cops don't care what you do.

other cities i've visited: fort worth is a nice area, really clean downtown. if you can put up with the "texas" vibe it's a really neat downtown with an interesting culture (check out the stockyards)

shreveport, LA is a neat looking city but i'm skeptical. all the bars and restaurants close from 2pm to 9pm. what do people do from 2 to 9? that's ridiculous. also supposedly as soon as you get out of the city limits it can get rough.

sacramento, CA is a very liberal city. legalized marijuana and wellness centers everywhere. micro breweries and yuppies downtown. lots of excitement in the form of pro-* marriage and anti-* marriage protests (as it's the capitol of one of the most liberal states in the country). BUT, i noticed that at 10pm on a wednesday night the bar was dead. which is odd to me, coming from st louis the bars always have people at them 7 days a week.

anyway i'm just rambling about how different cities are... well, different. depending on where you grew up/went to HS, if you are tired of that, just move states. if you are from a small town, move to a big city you will be surprised at how different everything is. if you are from a closed minded town in the bible belt, move to a liberal open minded city. if you are from a big liberal city, move to a small town in oklahoma or texas.

I can only really say two things about the UK education system:

1. Tuition fees in next couple years for universities are supposedly going to rise to upto £7500, which is just ludicrous! So unless you're very careful about what you want out of it, you could be losing alot of money. But this isn't definate so I'd keep an eye on that.

2. The reason we have poorly educated youth is because of them, and them alone! We have perfectly good teachers, it's just the general attitude our youth. I do feel sorry for the future of this country, but the people with the poor attitude to eduaction tend to get filtered out the higher up you get.

7500? I was paying 25k usd for my undergrad education, and I am paying 32k a year for my graduate degree.


Of course... I've found funding for the graduate degree... but I'm already in the hole over 100k for my undergrad.

Come to germany, for one year at a public university you pay between nothing and max 1000 Dollars. Pretty much all Universities offer exchange programmes for one year or half a year and you also get some universities which offer courses like international management in english if thats what youre interested in, or you simply learn german :D

Yeah man, from what I gather from most of the Europeans I know, they have no idea how good they have it as far as paying for education (if they even have to do that). Of course, other aspects for Americans' lives is better, so I suppose it all evens out in the end. hahaha