Is US Education REALLY that junk compared to the UK?

Original post by danny111

Have you ever seen footage? Not movies actual footage such as college basketball or football? US institutions have much better facilities.

http://www.replayphotos.com/stanfordphotostore/

i cud probably link stuff like this for every US college that I know.

http://pictures.replayphotos.com/images/STAN/xlg/stanford-university-stadiums-press-box-view-of-stanford-stadium-stan-s-x-00015xlg.jpg

show me one UK uni that has something anywhere close to this.

And this is just sports. I am sure other facilities are much better too.

ps how did we come to that conclusion even without pictures? - money. and some more money.

So, you take pictures from arguably the best university in the world, and conclude that all facilities in the US are better than those in the UK. Do you not see the stupidity in that?

I honestly couldn't care less about which country has better facilities. I'm just pointing out the terribly flawed logic.

Reply 42

fuzzybear

12

Original post by Space Needle

Good job normal individuals are nor charged that then!

Harvard charges about $40,000 tuition per year, but the average financial aid package is around $42,853 (the additional aid to the $40,000 tuition costs are to help with living costs and so on). And remember that is the average - if you are very poor it would be more like $55,000.

are they just loans?

Reply 43

Original post by Space Needle

I went to school in the United States and I am currently living on the Surrey/Hampshire border in the UK with family friends. I have not seen any state (or private tbh) British school that have the same level of facilities that a regular high school in the USA has.

So, because you haven't seen them with your own eyes, they don't exist? I haven't seen any arcades in Russia with my own eyes, does that mean they don't exist?

Reply 44

Original post by fuzzybear

are they just loans?

nope. you can apply for loans from the university (in addition to the grants) if you want.

Reply 45

tite23

13

Original post by Mr. Approachable

Only the rich can afford Ivy League Universities and those who are exceptionally talented are left behind. And scholarships are hard to come by.

Actually it's in your favor to apply to Ivy League if you're poor (and smart). Their financial aid is far better than that of smaller schools; they often pay 90% - 95% of a lower-income student's tuition. It's getting accepted that's the hard part. But low-income students actually have an advantage over their rich counterparts when it comes to admissions, unfortunately.

Reply 46

Original post by Mendeleev's Table

So, because you haven't seen them with your own eyes, they don't exist? I haven't seen any arcades in Russia with my own eyes, does that mean they don't exist?

I'm fairly confident that British schools (in general) don't have the same level of sports facilities.

Reply 47

Original post by Space Needle

I'm fairly confident that British schools (in general) don't have the same level of sports facilities.

And this has come from the fact that, from the few schools you have seen in the UK, none of them meet the standard of the (limited) number of US schools you've seen.

That logic is 100% clear, concise and infallible :thumbsup:

Reply 48

Spungo

10

Original post by Space Needle

American universities are the best in the world, so I'm not sure how it can be described as junk.

http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2011

Um... What?

Reply 49

danny111

3

Original post by Mendeleev's Table

So, you take pictures from arguably the best university in the world, and conclude that all facilities in the US are better than those in the UK. Do you not see the stupidity in that?

I honestly couldn't care less about which country has better facilities. I'm just pointing out the terribly flawed logic.

More like you are so naive to think that only stanford has such facilities.

http://recsports.utk.edu/Programs/Facilities/index.php

i randomly picked a state and went to the state uni's homepage.

nice, no?

i dont really care either, but this argument was abou facilities, not if they are important. but since you are already going on the defensive about them it is obvious you know you are wrong.

so the flaw is that I base my view on one single US uni? Well I have seen a lot more than one, I obviously can't be bothered to post all of them. And when I randomly pick one that hardly is one of the best, it still has amazing facilities. if we were to order unis by facilities and compare US against UK, number 1 US would beat number 1 UK, number 2 US number 2 UK and so on. How can you doubt that? Are you a troll or something?

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 50

Original post by Spungo

http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2011

Um... What?

Well the QS Rankings are a bit of a joke (and I say that as somebody who's first choice is Cambridge and second choice UCL). But surely that link only proves what I said - the overwhelming majority of those universities are American. All rankings (including QS) are dominated by American institutions - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_Ranking_of_World_Universities , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_Ranking_of_World_Universities , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HEEACT_%E2%80%93_Performance_Ranking_of_Scientific_Papers_for_World_Universities ,

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 51

NewCrack

6

Original post by Saif95

If so, why? It's not fair that one nation is better knowledged, smarter than the other.

Are AP/Honour classes and exams really that p*ss compared to our AS and A2?
How Is this 100% known?

If it is that 'piss' then why does the U.S have the majority of the best universities in the world?

Reply 52

Original post by danny111

More like you are so naive to think that only stanford has such facilities.

http://recsports.utk.edu/Programs/Facilities/index.php

i randomly picked a state and went to the state uni's homepage.
nice, no?
i dont really care either, but this argument was abou facilities, not if they are important. but since you are already going on the defensive about them it is obvious you know you are wrong.
so the flaw is that I base my view on one single US uni? Well I have seen a lot more than one, I obviously can't be bothered to post all of them. And when I randomly pick one that hardly is one of the best, it still has amazing facilities. if we were to order unis by facilities and compare US against UK, number 1 US would beat number 1 UK, number 2 US number 2 UK and so on. How can you doubt that? Are you a troll or something?

Try and use the reasoning "I didn't account for the others, or mention them, but they're still there" in a place where it matters, and see where that gets you.
Sorry, but are you not supposed to defend your point? Your logic is now telling me that anybody who defends their point is always wrong. Nice one.

And I'm just supposed to take your anecdotal evidence as fact, am I? Guess what: Obama is my father. You believe me, right?

YOU would rank it first, but you've already proved your logic and reasoning for saying so is flawed, so you can keep believing what you want.

It's funny how the second somebody gets backed into a corner, they call troll.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 53

Sharri5

Original post by Spungo

http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2011

Um... What?

Don't do that because then someone's just going to do this

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2011-2012/top-400.html

On a side note, why is every other thread a boxing match between the UK and the US? It gets kind of old after a while. If we all just sat down and had a few beers we'd probably get along.

Reply 54

member789646

Original post by Spungo

http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2011

Um... What?

I don't agree with the guy, but you're trusting a ranking table that puts Manchester about 30 places higher than Warwick, and even above places like Brown University and UCLA/NYU/etc?

U srs?

Reply 55

Sharri5

The US's education struggle at the pre university level---most visible at ages 14-18. Each state wants to do their own thing and a lack of funding in some areas leaves some students disadvantaged. We're such a large country and we just don't have the structure in place and support that those famous Scandinavians do. At the university level, it's not even a contest. But if we don't overhaul our pre-university education we'll be in a world of hurt. We have a lot of strong schools at the pre-uni level, but it's just not across the board.

Reply 56

JGR

9

The consensus that I have heard from people both in and out of the US, is that American universities are generally excellent (if pricey), but mandatory state education (ie. school) is a bit dire.
As for why the school system is like that, I think it's not unreasonable to postulate that there is more than just the system itself at play. There are significant social problems at work (just like the UK, much of the time).

On a purely anecdotal note, from what I've seen and read of them (and I went to an American school for a year, albeit not in the US itself), the physical similarity to prisons is slightly disturbing, though not surprising as they're typically contracted out to the same companies. ^^

Reply 57

danny111

3

Original post by Mendeleev's Table

Try and use the reasoning "I didn't account for the others, or mention them, but they're still there" in a place where it matters, and see where that gets you.
Sorry, but are you not supposed to defend your point? Your logic is now telling me that anybody who defends their point is always wrong. Nice one.

And I'm just supposed to take your anecdotal evidence as fact, am I? Guess what: Obama is my father. You believe me, right?

YOU would rank it first, but you've already proved your logic and reasoning for saying so is flawed, so you can keep believing what you want.

It's funny how the second somebody gets backed into a corner, they call troll.

I didn't account for the others, or mention them, but they're still there.

ps the only one in a corner are you. and I maintain my view that you are a troll. how else can one describe your behaviour. no one I have had an argument with on here is so obsessed with logic. you aren't arguing point, you are arguing logic. that is messed up dude. your conclusion from some examples is that the sample size is too small when most other people would conclude that it most likely will hold up.

Reply 58

TurboCretin

20

Original post by Lewis :D

US schools tend to be way too orientated towards sports in my opinion.

It is the only way to get into pro sports in America. There are no football academies like there are here. You simply do a joke subject at college, and train there. Or a good subject if you also happen to be very bright.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 59