Posts: 1,917
Threads: 0
Joined: Aug 2009
Reputation:
94
Undergraduate Education Abroad
06-17-2011, 04:24 AM
I know a small group of people who chose to get their education at places like Tsinghua University (Beijing), CUHK (City Univ Hong Kong) and NUS (National University of Singapore) instead of going to solid schools in the US like William and Mary and some fairly reputable state schools.
Has anyone here done their undergraduate education outside of their home country? I'm not addressing people who may have grown up in Turkey/Brazil/Africa and then gone to college in the US. I mean Americans, Britons, Euros, Canadians etc who decided to do their undergraduate education in an emerging market or at least an unorthodox foreign location.
Posts: 3,017
Threads: 0
Joined: Jul 2010
Undergraduate Education Abroad
06-17-2011, 08:49 AM
would only make sense if one was planning on living and working abroad imo
Posts: 71
Threads: 0
Joined: Jun 2011
Reputation:
0
Undergraduate Education Abroad
06-17-2011, 07:17 PM
I went to one of the schools you mentioned.
My advice: skip college and do something real with the money/time. "Edjumakayshun" is for suckers.
Especially skip grad school.
Books:
4 Hour Work Week
Nick Corcodilos' website and "Ask the Headhunter"
Ramit Sethi, Earn1k program
Posts: 1,909
Threads: 0
Joined: Jul 2010
Reputation:
59
Undergraduate Education Abroad
06-17-2011, 07:59 PM
I think it would be a great experience to study abroad. However, there is a reason why so many students from China, India, and many other countries choose to come to the United States to receive an education. A degree from a reputable school in the U.S pulls more weight than a degree from an emerging nation. In my opinion, the best option would be to take advantage of programs to study abroad for a semester or two at a good university in the U.S. That way, you can still earn credits travelling the world with a degree that is recognized internationally.
Posts: 369
Threads: 0
Joined: Apr 2011
Reputation:
5
Undergraduate Education Abroad
06-17-2011, 08:22 PM
I actually went to City University of Hong Kong for a semester on exchange. Met a lot of foreigners there that attended full-time. What exactly do you want to know?
My impression was that it was basically the same as my university in the states, as far as the actual education aspect goes. Social and campus-life wise, it was a little different.
Great way to be able to live in a new place, especially as far as Hong Kong goes, cause housing is dirt cheap for students.
Another thing to consider, if you’re from the states, is that you can earn a law or medical degree as an undergraduate in places like HK and the UK, instead of having to do 4 years of undergrad + grad school. Wish I had known that when applying to college.
Posts: 1,917
Threads: 0
Joined: Aug 2009
Reputation:
94
Undergraduate Education Abroad
06-18-2011, 05:59 AM
Yes, what Vitriol and Peoloom said.
Undergrad education in the US, unless it is at an elite school, generally is not a good investment financially. You get sucked into the debt slave cycle.
I was able to get dual environmental engineering and management masters degrees from Paris and Beijing from reputable schools for a combined tuition of 10,000 euros. It helps that I had a scholarship but even the combined total without the scholarship would have been less than one semester at my home school in the US.
I figure someone who has their sights set on becoming an expat at an earlier age, or perhaps later on after traveling or going to the military, can go attend university at a reputable school somewhere abroad. It's just my theory, I could be wrong.
It is true that the elites from India, HK, China, Brazil all send their kids to Swiss/US boarding schools and then to ivy league schools. But we are not comparing ourselves to that group - I"m talking about your average middle class American college student who wants to take a cheaper undergrad education abroad. The guy who wouldnt have gotten into the ivy league anyway.
I think it could be good. If I went to Tsinghua for my undergraduate education I would have nasty mandarin skills and a juggernaut network in China.