Why I will be studying at a US university

Alexandra Morton UK student

One student starting at Princeton this autumn says it was the incredible facilities at the Ivy League university that clinched her decision.

Alexandra Morton, 18, has turned down offers from four top UK universities – including Cambridge – to study at Princeton, in the US, this autumn.

Morton says it was the breadth of subjects and "incredible facilities" at the Ivy League university that clinched her decision.

The Cheltenham Ladies' College pupil will study for a four-year liberal arts degree, but hopes to major in English literature.

She is one of a growing number of UK students choosing US universities over their UK rivals. Morton says at least 10 of her school friends are also going to be undergraduates in the US this autumn.

"I'll be able to pick a subject that I have not studied before, such as Italian or Russian," Morton says.

She visited some US campuses with her parents three years ago on a family holiday. "Princeton was really impressive. It had a massive library and a beautiful campus. Some of the UK universities have buildings that are spread across cities, Princeton is more concentrated in one place."

The full cost, including tuition and living costs, comes to $60,000 a year (£37,000), but Morton will be in receipt of financial aid, which works out at a 15% to 20% discount.

Morton has lived in the UK since she was 11, but lived in the Middle East and Canada before that. "It is daunting to move, but it is really exciting," she says. "I'll discover a new way of life."

Ivy League colleges report influx of British students

America's Ivy League colleges are reportedly experiencing an influx of British students, with increased tuition fees and dropping standards cited as the main reasons.

Harvard University has seen a jump in the number of applications from Britain of more than a third in 12 months, the Telegraph reports.

The college, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has received 500 applications from U.K. students for undergraduate courses this autumn, the Guardian reports.

Figures from seven big U.S. colleges show that enrollments of Brits at Yale and Princeton have doubled in five years.

According to the Telegraph:

Yale enrolled 36 British students onto undergraduate courses last year, up from 25 in 2009 – a 44 per cent rise. Five years ago, in 2006, just 15 students enrolled.

Some 197 students from England and Wales alone have applied to start courses at Cornell this autumn, up from 176 last year.

Information from Columbia University shows that 178 British students enrolled in 2009, up from 164 in 2008 and 151 in 2003.

And it's not only the Ivy League being sought-after.

Berkeley University, which is not an Ivy League college, has had 166 British applications for this autumn, compared with 130 last year.

Indiana, another leading, non-Ivy League institution, had nine British applications for this autumn, compared with seven last year.

Meanwhile, one of Europe’s leading universities — Maastricht in the Netherlands — has reported a 10-fold rise in the number of applications from Britain.

A limit on places for British students at English universities — coupled with the prospect of fees being raised to 9,000 pounds ($14,600) in 2012 — is fueling the rise.

While the cost of studying at an Ivy League university for a U.K. student can reach $60,000 a year, students are reportedly concerned about overcrowding and other considerations.

Andrew Halls, the head teacher at a leading British private school, King's College, told the Guardian:

"There is a bit of a sense that UK universities are creaking at the limits. Our 13- to 16-year-olds are talking about applying to US universities much more than they used to. There's a feeling that [if you go to a UK university that is not Oxbridge], you may not get as much teaching as you would like.

"US universities emphasize the 'whole man.' They love to hear about students playing the piano and other extra-curricular activities. They want a fulsomeness that Oxbridge and others seem distrustful of. Quite a lot of parents say this is the reason they are prepared to make a big financial sacrifice and pay for a U.S. university."

Original Article - United Kingdom