Going to college away from home is already a life change, so it takes a special kind of student to push it a step further and attend an international college or university.
For many students, going to a school outside the United States is not even an option.The United States is considered the college capital of the world with 4,706 two-year and four-year colleges and universities according to the U.S. Department of Education.
College counselor Daniel Rogan said, “The international education is for someone who’s really looking to push their boundaries and get outside of their comfort zone right away, right after high school. I think it’s more for the adventurous soul, the adventurous person.”
Senior Laura Watkin decided to go international this fall and attend McGill University in Montreal, Canada. However, going to school outside of the United States was not always on her radar. “For me it wasn’t really that I wanted to go international. It was the fact that it was a really good school that had a lot of things I like. It just happened to be international.”
Still, Watkin said that many of the aspects of McGill that she enjoyed were because the institution is outside the US. “I didn’t want Greek life or parties or football, which I guess is all the result of it being an international school,” Watkin said.
The language barrier can also provide a challenge for many students, as many international schools are not English speaking. For Watkin, McGill provided a balance of comfort and international culture.
“It’s an English school and people in general speak English, but it still feels very international because the first language is French in Montreal.”
Senior Owen LaCava, who will attending the University of St. Andrews in Scotland next fall, agreed with Watkin. “It wasn’t really about wanting to study abroad; I loved the schools themselves. If St Andrews was in America, it would still be my top choice.”
For LaCava, it was less about the novelty of studying internationally, and more about liking the Scottish school system itself. The Scottish system allows students to study up to three academic courses during their first two years and then requires students to focus on one or two courses for their Honours programme during the third and fourth years.
He also looked at University of Edinburgh, University of Aberdeen, and University of Glasgow, all in Scotland, and Trinity College in Dublin.
“That’s why I chose it over study abroad programs: I just wanted to be at that school over others, not simply be outside the United States,” LaCava said.
Going international is a larger commitment compared to study abroad programs through American universities, which many students consider.
College counselor Michael O’Connor said, “You’re looking to establish your own identity there and to develop your own personality amongst a different college. Whereas, in studying abroad, you have this safety net of American education under your belt.”
According to Rogan, a student will often consider going international if they have experiences growing up in foreign countries and wish to return to an educational system to which they are already acclimated.
This was the case for senior Tae Kim. “I’ve lived in various countries and I always thought that I’d study abroad so I can continue experiencing new cultures.”
Kim is set to attend the University of Hong Kong in the fall.
In terms of life at an international university, it seems that students are treated more as adults rather than as being in a transition period.
“The manner in which education is given to the students is different. Where continuous assessment or quizzes are typically in colleges within the States, in, for example, the United Kingdom, they basically only have a midterm and a final exam,” O’Connor said.
College Counselor Gretchen Stauder-Gow echoed this sentiment, saying “There’s an overall greater expectation on students that they’re going to adjust.
In the American system, there’s all this about transition and support. In the United Kingdom, it’s much more, you’re here, you’re on your own, you do it. It’s not that there isn’t support, but more is expected of the students. There aren’t as many safety nets.”
Without the safety nets of American universities or of the home country, the upcoming year should be an entirely unique experience for all of these seniors.