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Hapless American unsure of where to attend uni

I am an American and I am currently deciding between Bristol and York. They are both about the same cost (roughly $65,000) for a BA in English. My ultimate goal is to go for a master's at Oxford. I know that Bristol is rated as one of the top 50 unis in the world and top 10 in UK for academics and academic reputation, but when I was going through the Oxbridge (undergraduate) personal statements I kept finding that many people had also applied to York, which made me feel like I was maybe underestimating York's academic reputation. It's difficult to know as an American how much weight each school carries--most Americans haven't even heard of any UK unis other than Oxbridge. If I am going for academic prestige and hope to be Oxford-bound, which one do you recommend? Thank you for your help!
Reply 1
I am an American and I am currently deciding between Bristol and York. They are both about the same cost (roughly $65,000) for a BA in English. My ultimate goal is to go for a master's at Oxford. I know that Bristol is rated as one of the top 50 unis in the world and top 10 in UK for academics and academic reputation, but when I was going through the Oxbridge undergraduate personal statements I kept finding that many people had also applied to York, which made me feel like I was maybe underestimating York's academic reputation. It's difficult to know as an American how much weight each school carries--most Americans haven't even heard of any UK unis other than Oxbridge. If I am going for academic prestige and hope to be Oxford-bound, which one do you recommend? Thank you for your help!
(edited 4 years ago)
Original post by makaram2
I am an American and I am currently deciding between Bristol and York. They are both about the same cost (roughly $65,000) for a BA in English. My ultimate goal is to go for a master's at Oxford. I know that Bristol is rated as one of the top 50 unis in the world and top 10 in UK for academics and academic reputation, but when I was going through the Oxbridge (undergraduate) personal statements I kept finding that many people had also applied to York, which made me feel like I was maybe underestimating York's academic reputation. It's difficult to know as an American how much weight each school carries--most Americans haven't even heard of any UK unis other than Oxbridge. If I am going for academic prestige and hope to be Oxford-bound, which one do you recommend? Thank you for your help!

definitely 100% Bristol - although Durham and St Andrews are the main Oxbridge-reject unis (they were my top 2 unis), Bristol is next on the list.

Bristol is a great uni and more prestigious than York - not that prestige counts for anything more than one's own sense of 'status'. it also has a much, much better nightlife than York.
Honestly the university you attended to do your undergrad does not really have that much of an impact on Oxbridge admissions for postgrad (unless you went to Oxbridge to do said undergrad, in which case you may receive a modicum of preferential treatment). If you are planning on coming to the UK to do an undergrad in the hopes of it being beneficial to your Oxbridge application, I think you may find it to be a bit of a pointless exercise.

If Bristol and York are in your sights, I would suggest you try and find a similar caliber university in America (not the Ivy's but certainly the NYU's, USC's and the like) to do your undergraduate considering you should be eligible for some form of financial aid (which you likely will not get here) and apply once you have graduated. Like I say, if you are confident you could get into Bristol, a very good university, you can more than likely get into a very well respected American university which I promise Oxbridge will have heard of..

I know of a friend who attended Aberystwyth university (which I can guarantee you, or most of the people on here have never heard of) for their BA and got into Oxford to do their Masters and PhD in chemistry.....so suffice to say it is possible to attend Oxford, provided you excel in your undergraduate, no matter where that happens to be.
Original post by Anonymous
Honestly the university you attended to do your undergrad does not really have that much of an impact on Oxbridge admissions for postgrad (unless you went to Oxbridge to do said undergrad, in which case you may receive a modicum of preferential treatment). If you are planning on coming to the UK to do an undergrad in the hopes of it being beneficial to your Oxbridge application, I think you may find it to be a bit of a pointless exercise.

If Bristol and York are in your sights, I would suggest you try and find a similar caliber university in America (not the Ivy's but certainly the NYU's, USC's and the like) to do your undergraduate considering you should be eligible for some form of financial aid (which you likely will not get here) and apply once you have graduated. Like I say, if you are confident you could get into Bristol, a very good university, you can more than likely get into a very well respected American university which I promise Oxbridge will have heard of..

I know of a friend who attended Aberystwyth university (which I can guarantee you, or most of the people on here have never heard of) for their BA and got into Oxford to do their Masters and PhD in chemistry.....so suffice to say it is possible to attend Oxford, provided you excel in your undergraduate, no matter where that happens to be.

Only making a slight correction... Obviously meant BSc instead of BA... silly me...
Reply 5
Original post by A Rolling Stone
definitely 100% Bristol - although Durham and St Andrews are the main Oxbridge-reject unis (they were my top 2 unis), Bristol is next on the list.

Bristol is a great uni and more prestigious than York - not that prestige counts for anything more than one's own sense of 'status'. it also has a much, much better nightlife than York.

Thank you--that is helpful!

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