I didn't quote "one source", I quoted the QS World Ranking of 2018 and Times Higher Education of 2018. Are you trying to say that both of these are inaccurate because they don't go with your own, biased opinion of which university is "better"? UCL is, according to a multitude of sources, higher
ranked than Princeton. There is "no most accurate" world ranking because they all contain some element of researcher bias. That's why we study a multitude of sources and tentatively generalize based on them as to which is higher
ranked. Even if one
does consider the "oh so accurate Shangai Ranking", Cambridge outranks every Ivy in the world except Harvard and Oxford outranks every Ivy except Harvard and Princeton. What's your point? The Oxbridge is equal to or
better than some or even
most Ivies. I've argued this since the beginning and you've failed to dispute this. Also... um... UCL is ranked top 16 in the world according to that ranking and above Penn, Brown and Dartmouth which are all Ivies, implying that UCL is at/near Ivy level?
ALSO hahaha that ranking considers Arizona State University to be a better college than Brown and Queen Mary/University of Delaware to be better than Dartmouth. Seriously, you should study it, it's hilarious! (
http://www.shanghairanking.com/ARWU2017.html)
Secondly, you also stated earlier that one would be ridiculous to choose Oxford if also admitted to MIT. This contradicts your statement that "OP should choose what university is best for OP". How about, rather than attending one Ivy, attending
two universities that are both considered world-class and simultaneously saving money in the process?
Thirdly, it just is not
true that "financial aid process for low to middle-income internationals at private unis in the US is bliss and an absolute goldmine". It just isn't true for anyone regardless of citizenship status, especially not middle-class students. Unless OP is from a low-income family (below 20/25k a year), US colleges will expect OP's parents to contribute a significant portion of their wages to pay for OP's college (this is especially true for the competitive universities outside the Ivies). This is not the case in the UK where each student is given a maintenance+tuition loan so financial aid (which
does consist of loans at all US universities to some extent, look it up), but only 9% of OP's future wages are deducted and it's written off after 30 years. This is simply not the case in the US where some alumnus of private, top 30 universities pay off the equivalent of £750
monthly in student loans regardless of income (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7JcHz6ucyI&t=212s). And there are many more cases like this. Google "can't afford Ivies" and you'll find countless of examples where US students turn down Ivies because they cannot pay for it. This is even more accurate for UCLA/UC Berkeley/Michigan/other good colleges. And there is no reason to do this when OP can go to Oxbridge and get an Ivy-equal or better education and then subsequently continue OP's studies at an actual Ivy.
"That's why it has a different name" Hahahaha then why does "scholarship" have a different name than financial aid? They're not different, financial aid is a way to help you pay for college and it can consist of loans.