Mummy in the foothills

Mine was too, we added up what it would cost here and what international fees would cost there also 3 yrs verses 4yrs and we came out with about the same debt wise and our contribution each year. I don't think I was ready to let him go so far, even if he'd only been an hour from Grandma. Looking back I wish I'd sent him over to do Uni after all.

Sally Redux

Congrats to him anyway

martian1

He gets his gcse results this tuesday...he has a place in 6th form school for his A levels and its a good school but he needs the grades.
I don't know what to do for the best might just not bother its getting way to complicated already. I don't want to ruin his schooling going over to the us.
What to do !

Picnic

In reply to Sally's comment about it taking 4 years minimum to get a US degree:

just to let you know that it is possible to graduate in 3 years in the US. If your children have the opportunity to take AP/college level courses in High School where credits transfer to University they will need (and you will pay for) fewer classes to graduate. If you combine this with the flat rate tuition charged by some universities (same $$ cost for any number of hours over 12) and lower cost classes at community college summer school for certain electives it is possible to reduce the cost and number of semesters.

Both my children took advantage of transferring credits from courses taken at High school, tested out of foreign language courses etc. and saved us quite a lot of $$. Don't forget also that there are quite a few scholarships/endowments out there that apply to permanent residents as well as US citizens. It took a lot of searching to find them but even the smaller ones of $500-$1000 per academic year help out a lot.

Jerseygirl

If a student is very bright it is possible to get a degree in less time...but those are few and far between. My friend's son went to UPenn and graduated after 4 years with a master degree. He then went on to do a PhD.

Picnic

Getting a Master's in 4 years is an extreme example of an incredibly bright student! Congrats to them!

All I am saying is that it is possible to reduce the amount of time it takes to get a US undergraduate degree. Yes it does take more research, organization and planning, and more focused work on the part of the student. And in case you were going to say that part of the University experience is to have fun and not study all the time, they did plenty of that too!

IMHO the expectation that it takes 4 years to graduate results in it taking 4 years to graduate!

Mummy in the foothills

Some places are now still making the kids take the classes they did as an AP class in high school. Our little friend heading to UC Davis next month has been told she still has to re do hers and she was an AP straight A student. and was drawn for top student for the year with a nearly 5.0 GPA

martian1

Things moved on a little i have been offered original assignment for 2yrs just waiting...and waiting for details. Have met a few of the guys i would be working with and they seem a canny bunch
See what offer is but i think i will go for it

lynfleet

good for you..best wishes

SeanVA

I lived in VA for quite some time it is awsome.

Kaffy Mintcake

While four years is the average for undergrad, it is possible to graduate in 3 or 3.5. I have more than one friend who did just that. I graduated with two degrees and studied abroad (taking some classes that did not count toward my degree) and still managed to finish in four years. The key is that you need to know what you want to study early on to finish efficiently and you can't deviate from that path.

For masters I think it depends. My masters degree took two years but that was part-time. Had I gone full-time, it would have been only one year. That was for a MBA so I'm sure it varies by field.

Costs also vary dramatically by the school. I just checked my university and in-state tuition is just over $12K with out of state tuition at $27K. It was about $10K a year in-state when I attended, and I graduated 12 years ago. That's not a bad increase at all!

So that's my plug for a somewhat more reasonable undergrad option:

"Nationally recognized as one of the most outstanding undergraduate institutions, Miami University is a public university located in Oxford, Ohio. With a student body of 16,000, Miami effectively combines a wide range of strong academic programs with the personal attention ordinarily found only at much smaller institutions"

http://www.miami.muohio.edu/about-miami/index.html

Back to my wine now. Sorry for the hijack, OP.

Sally Redux

I'm hearing that the budget cuts are making it very difficult to get enough credits in 4 years now - possibly that's just CA though.

snowbunny

Yep, mine too. I'm actually pushing my HS senior to consider doing a gap year - her exchange student stint in Japan this past summer means that she missed out on going to a lot of uni open houses. She wants me to take her to visit more unis, but I can't afford the time off work. If her father would pay, I'd gladly take her (he's loaded).

She now wants to go to Georgia (Tbilisi, not Atlanta) over spring break but that means missing out on another opportunity to visit unis. I think that taking the year out to really travel to see unis and focus SOLELY on picking the right one, might be well worth it. I did a gap year long before I'd even heard of them (graduated HS at 16, wanted to grow up a bit before moving off) and it was the best thing I ever did.

Same daughter is sitting the ACT in the morning. This is all very nail-biting stuff.

snowbunny

When I did my engineering degree 25 years ago, the average time to graduate was 5 years. Architecture and pharmacy were already 5 year curricula. I graduated in exactly 4, but that included placing out of some classes and three summers doing coursework at least part-time. But God, it was cheap. We were so lucky.

ian-mstm

No, you didn't. You visited "for quite some time"... and now you're in deep, deep poop as a result.

Ian