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Foreign exchange to USA for (half) a year as an undergraduate in UK

Hi! I have just received my AS results and will have finished A2 and be going to university in a year. My main university of choice is King's College London for Geography Bsc, 3 year course. The University offer an exchange in the 2nd year to Australia, New Zealand, USA, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Brunei, provided I achieve 60% or more in first year examinations.

I would like to get some advice on Universities abroad, and what they're like. I'm ecstatic about the idea of studying abroad near the coast, warm weather (unlike England), seeing great sights, getting drunk, and having a really interesting culture. Just having the time of my life basically! As you can see, location is important.

I also would like to study in an area with very well spoken English as I am not bilingual (obviously this is huge and may rule out some countries).

It's also important to note I am looking for a good standard of education (King's is 10th in UK for Geography for example).

University options as follows...
USA: University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of North Carolina, University of California
Australia: Monash University, University of Melbourne, Australian National University (Canberra)
New Zealand: University of Auckland
Hong Kong: Hong Kong University
Singapore: National University of Singapore
Brunei: Universiti Brunei Darussalam (for one semester only)

It's important to note I have left out University of Toronto, University of Washington (Seattle), and University of British Columbia because I was unsure of location, but if the culture and people are great. I don't care about the weather.

I know it's a lot of information to ask for, but I would really appreciate any advice given! Thank you.
(edited 9 years ago)
Hey there! That's a nice selection of universities to choose from. All of the countries (except possibly Brunei) you've listed have populations proficient in English, so language shouldn't be a problem.

As for location; it's definitely a preference thing. Singapore and Hong Kong are mostly urban, you'd have to travel some distance to see any countryside if that's your kind of thing. The Pacific Northwest (Washington/British Columbia) is the most comparable to England in terms of weather (although it's beautiful in the summer) and scenery. California is nothing like England (hot and sunny most of the time). Oz and NZ have a lot of variety.

I haven't been to many of the universities you've listed, but I'm sure other people can fill you in on them. I have, however, studied at the University of Washington in Seattle. I can't speak for the geography department but you mentioned you want a high standard school and it's one of the best public unis in the US. It has a huge campus outside of downtown Seattle with fantastic facilities.
The thing about US unis is that they have a lot of money to play around with. The university of British Columbia (in Vancouver, Canada) is very similar, albeit slightly less pretty than the UW campus. Vancouver itself is a very nice city.

You're probably aware, but the University of California has campuses all over the state. I've been fortunate enough to visit several because I have friends studying there. The San Diego campus is the best location in my opinion, due to it being very close to the coast (California coast is probably the most incredible coast I've ever seen). Los Angeles is in a very affluent area, right next to Beverly Hills. It's a very nice campus also. San Francisco, Berkley and Davis are all in the San Francisco Bay Area which is a great part of California. I don't know much about the other campuses.

I've never been to Wisconsin or North Carolina so I don't know anything about them. I also don't know anything about the Australian unis you've listed but I do know Canberra and Melbourne are beautiful cities.

Sorry for the long but very general answer. I'd be happy to answer any more specific questions you may have :smile:


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University of North Carolina is a good uni
Reply 3
Original post by Jimmy Fizzlewits
Hey there! That's a nice selection of universities to choose from. All of the countries (except possibly Brunei) you've listed have populations proficient in English, so language shouldn't be a problem.

As for location; it's definitely a preference thing. Singapore and Hong Kong are mostly urban, you'd have to travel some distance to see any countryside if that's your kind of thing. The Pacific Northwest (Washington/British Columbia) is the most comparable to England in terms of weather (although it's beautiful in the summer) and scenery. California is nothing like England (hot and sunny most of the time). Oz and NZ have a lot of variety.

I haven't been to many of the universities you've listed, but I'm sure other people can fill you in on them. I have, however, studied at the University of Washington in Seattle. I can't speak for the geography department but you mentioned you want a high standard school and it's one of the best public unis in the US. It has a huge campus outside of downtown Seattle with fantastic facilities.
The thing about US unis is that they have a lot of money to play around with. The university of British Columbia (in Vancouver, Canada) is very similar, albeit slightly less pretty than the UW campus. Vancouver itself is a very nice city.

You're probably aware, but the University of California has campuses all over the state. I've been fortunate enough to visit several because I have friends studying there. The San Diego campus is the best location in my opinion, due to it being very close to the coast (California coast is probably the most incredible coast I've ever seen). Los Angeles is in a very affluent area, right next to Beverly Hills. It's a very nice campus also. San Francisco, Berkley and Davis are all in the San Francisco Bay Area which is a great part of California. I don't know much about the other campuses.

I've never been to Wisconsin or North Carolina so I don't know anything about them. I also don't know anything about the Australian unis you've listed but I do know Canberra and Melbourne are beautiful cities.

Sorry for the long but very general answer. I'd be happy to answer any more specific questions you may have :smile:


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Thanks for the reply! I actually managed to find out a lot about each campus for the California campuses. It sounds like a wonderful place; amazing weather, right near the coast, lots of student life, parties, socials, and just general having fun whilst being a good uni!
It's good to hear some other American and Canadian uni's are at a high standard too, it'll be a very difficult decision to make considering I won't be able to visit them, but the info you've given is better than none :smile:
I did a little research, and apparently Melbourne is one of the best in Australia too, albeit an hour away from the coast, unlike Cali :wink:

One more thing - I was wondering was 60% or above in uni is equivalent to in terms of honours (first, 2:1, 2:2, 3rd, pass). I'm not sure if American uni's use the same grading scheme as British uni's, so it's not a problem if you're an American and don't know. Again, thanks for the info you've given, it's really appreciated!
Original post by Jman96
Thanks for the reply! I actually managed to find out a lot about each campus for the California campuses. It sounds like a wonderful place; amazing weather, right near the coast, lots of student life, parties, socials, and just general having fun whilst being a good uni!
It's good to hear some other American and Canadian uni's are at a high standard too, it'll be a very difficult decision to make considering I won't be able to visit them, but the info you've given is better than none :smile:
I did a little research, and apparently Melbourne is one of the best in Australia too, albeit an hour away from the coast, unlike Cali :wink:

One more thing - I was wondering was 60% or above in uni is equivalent to in terms of honours (first, 2:1, 2:2, 3rd, pass). I'm not sure if American uni's use the same grading scheme as British uni's, so it's not a problem if you're an American and don't know. Again, thanks for the info you've given, it's really appreciated!


No problem, mate.
I have a few friends studying in Melbourne. Heard good things about it.

I'm pretty sure most of the universities in the US use the grade point average system. They do at Washington and at the UCal unis anyway. I don't know if you're aware how it works already, but basically the grade you get for each exam you take has an equivalent number of points (i.e.- A=4 points, B=3, C=2 etc.) and the average for all of the exams you take is calculated. So a 4.0 GPA means you achieved all As throughout the year. I may be wrong but I think a British first class degree is equivalent to having a 4.0 GPA or something like that. You just need a GPA above a certain number to pass/graduate.
Not sure if that helps.

Also, the honours system is a little different. Whereas most universities in the UK offer degrees with honours attached automatically, US students have to apply to be put on an honours scheme and it's aimed at more able students. It's just a little extra to have on top of the course you're already doing.

Anyway, good luck with everything!


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I am a graduand of The University of Hong Kong. HKU is the first British university in oriental Asia, and has been, though rankings of course fluctuate, the No 1 university in Asia-Pacific, topping universities such as National University of Singapore, Peking University, University of Tokyo, University of Sydney, University of Melbourne, and Australian National University. It is the most selective university in Hong Kong, and is one of the most selective globally, with only around a 11% acceptance rate. In the field of geography, it ranks No 25 world-wide in 2014, down from No 20 in 2013.

Among local universities, HKU has the highest portion of international students, though like other local universities, it does usually mean mainland Chinese students. The official medium of instruction is English but since Hong Kong is a predominantly Cantonese-speaking city, despite having been a British colonial until 1997 and has English remained as one of our official languages (the other being Cantonese and traditional Chinese characters), students do tend to interact with each other in Cantonese, and hall activities do tend to be conducted in Cantonese. Other student activities are usually in both languages, and HKU does have the highest English grades for its intake and graduates. Our vice-chancellor and president is a white British man, who was a Cambridge-educated dean of medicine and dentistry at University of Bristol.

HKU is a campus university. You may see many spots on the maps, but you are likely to never really go out of the main campus. It is the oldest university in Hong Kong with more than 140 years of history tracing back to its origin (housing the founder of modern China, Dr Sun Yat-Sen even, qualifying him as a doctor), and thus is the only university with beautiful historical (colonial) buildings. Do not expect Hong Kong to be anything like Europe however - we don't have much historical buildings in general. The oldest building HKU manages is the University Hall (Douglas Castle), a student residence located a little far from campus.

Its location is convenient, but at the moment does not have a railway station (it's coming). But it is rather close to Hong Kong's clubbing districts, ie LKF and Wan Chai. It is right next to the CBD of Hong Kong (the historical Victoria City, which is now Central, Sheung Wan, Wan Chai, Admiralty, and Causeway Bay), and is on the prestigious mid-level areas, leading all the way up to the world-famous Victoria Peak.

I have never taken courses in geography so I cannot possibly comment on that.

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Academically, do not expect much. I personally was very underwhelmed by my experience intellectually at the university - I have been to three universities, and am about to go to another one, and I can rank it like this:
University of Cambridge >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> University of Hong Kong >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> University of Queensland

Regarding the students: Even though they all have got really good grades, most of them are pretty average intellectually, with some of them being also very arrogant. The worst people you will meet are people in the halls who either are just residents (people who feel they are superior to you because they have lived there longer than you do), or committee members (elected people who feel they are the rightful monarchs if not gods and goddesses of the university-maintained halls). The christians are generally borderline tolerable. But these people add up to a very small portion.

The worst thing about the university is its administration. They, even though many are not Chinese, are pretty rigid in general and most treat undergraduates like children. But your experience might be very different as you are not Chinese and not a regular student.

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Do ask me any question regarding the university and the city. To address some of your preferences: HKU is quite close to the sea. HK is very hot and humid (similar to Singapore). HK is very crowded (much more than Singapore for some reason). Local students don't generally drink so you'd either be with other international students a lot or westernised ones if you go out clubbing all the time. Whether the sights are 'great' or the culture is 'interesting' is very difficult to respond to because they are very subjective and personal.

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