Dear all,
A few months ago I was offered a place to study Biomedical Sciences (BMS) at the University of Sheffield. I am 18 years old and come from the Philippines, as suggested by my username.
There are three things that make me very intimidated by the idea of studying in the UK. Any information or past experiences on the matter would be very helpful.
Sidenote: I also received an offer to study at a large state school in the US on full scholarship.
1. Academic rigor:
To me, and I may very well be mistaken, the US is more lax academically than the UK. This may be due to how general subjects are usually taken in the US, while the UK is more oriented to specific careers. For example, the subjects in BMS are veeery specific to the course (some of which I thought I would only see in medical school) while the subjects in the US state school seem to be more general ("Biochemistry", "English", etc.) I am used to a heavy workload (IB graduate here whoop whoop!) and I can study hours in a library, but I am still very intimidated by how much I actually have to invest in my education in order to get top marks.
2. Lifestyle:
I don't drink, and I do not intend to in the next three years at Sheffield. I know Americans drink, but my perception right now is that the British social scene revolves around drinking in bars, etc. I am afraid that I might not be able to make friends, and that I am better off socially in the US.
3. Future prospects:
My parents and I feel that the UK is not very welcoming of international students, and that there is a much more significant amount of activities and student jobs available for English/European students. Is this true, or would you argue that there is still a significant amount of things to do available for internationals? This is particularly focused on the visa restrictions of the UK. I would really like to have a nice, complete CV by the end of the three years in my (albeit limited) free time.
Again, any help on any of these are very welcome and will be very appreciated! I also apologise for the generalisations... Thank you very much!