US Academics

How do the academics at US schools compare to the US? Very favorably. Our Academic Goal Setting services offered as part of the Pro and Pro+ Packages will walk you through the details, but here are some broad comparisons to put your mind at rest.

Much the same as going to university in the UK, if you graduate from a 4-year university or college, then you will earn a bachelor’s degree: either a bachelor of science, BSc, or bachelor of arts, BA. You may graduate with honours if you do well in your studies.

Unlike UK schools, American colleges do not require students to apply to specific courses (for instance, History at Bath). Instead, students apply to college on a general basis. They declare primary fields of study, called ‘majors,’ after one or two years on campus. Schools in the US often expect students to take classes outside their majors in the first couple of years. For instance, you may be required to study briefly (one or two terms) maths, a foreign language, and a history course in addition to your major field. (Often you can take a test to demonstrate competency in maths.) Liberal arts colleges are usually smaller private schools that emphasize a broad general education. You still major in a subject, but you study a wider variety of fields. At a liberal arts college you would earn a bachelor’s degree.

Studying in the US offers UK students the chance to combine top-notch academics and athletics. Many of the world’s top universities are in the US according to recent world rankings.

University Rankings 2013/14

This table includes the top universities from North America and the United Kingdom. Use the search box to find a specific school.

World rankings
Rank	Institution	Location
1	California Institute of Technology	United States
2	University of Oxford	United Kingdom
2	Harvard University	United States
4	Stanford University	United States
5	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	United States
6	Princeton University	United States
7	University of Cambridge	United Kingdom
8	University of California, Berkeley	United States
9	University of Chicago	United States
10	Imperial College London	United Kingdom
11	Yale University	United States
12	University of California, Los Angeles	United States
13	Columbia University	United States
15	Johns Hopkins University	United States
16	University of Pennsylvania	United States
17	Duke University	United States
18	University of Michigan	United States
19	Cornell University	United States
20	University of Toronto	Canada
21	University College London	United Kingdom
22	Northwestern University	United States
24	Carnegie Mellon University	United States
25	University of Washington	United States
27	University of Texas at Austin	United States
28	Georgia Institute of Technology	United States
29	University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign	United States
30	University of Wisconsin-Madison	United States
31	University of British Columbia	Canada
32	London School of Economics and Political Science	United Kingdom
33	University of California, Santa Barbara	United States
35	McGill University	Canada
40	New York University	United States
40	University of California, San Diego	United States
42	Washington University in St Louis	United States
46	University of Minnesota	United States
47	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	United States
49	Pennsylvania State University	United States
50	Boston University	United States
52	Brown University	United States
52	University of California, Davis	United States
58	University of Manchester	United Kingdom
59	Ohio State University	United States
62	Purdue University	United States
65	Rice University	United States
70	University of Southern California	United States
78	University of Pittsburgh	United States
80	Tufts University	United States
80	Emory University	United States
80	Durham University	United Kingdom
83	Michigan State University	United States
88	Case Western Reserve University	United States
88	Vanderbilt University	United States
90	University of Notre Dame	United States
93	University of California, Irvine	United States
95	University of Rochester	United States
97	University of Colorado Boulder	United States
103	Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey	United States
103	University of Arizona	United States
108	University of Maryland, College Park	United States
112	University of Sheffield	United Kingdom
112	University of Virginia	United States
126	Dartmouth College	United States
128	University of Florida	United States
132	Indiana University	United States
132	University of Massachusetts	United States
135	Boston College	United States
136	University of California, Santa Cruz	United States
139	Colorado School of Mines	United States
139	University of Leeds	United Kingdom
141	University of Warwick	United Kingdom
143	University of Utah	United States
146	Arizona State University	United States
148	University of California, Riverside	United States
159	Texas A&M University	United States
160	Georgetown University	United States
161	University of Iowa	United States
164	Brandeis University	United States
172	Yeshiva University	United States
174	University of Delaware	United States
176	University at Buffalo	United States
178	Stony Brook University	United States
180	Wake Forest University	United States
181	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute	United States
183	Iowa State University	United States
184	Northeastern University	United States
185	University of Miami	United States
188	The University of Texas at Dallas	United States
191	University of Illinois at Chicago	United States
194	George Washington University	United States
197	Florida Institute of Technology	United States
201-225	Cardiff University	United Kingdom
201-225	William & Mary	United States
226-250	University of Cincinnati	United States
226-250	Georgia Health Sciences University	United States
226-250	Tulane University	United States
251-275	University of Nebraska-Lincoln	United States
251-275	Brunel University	United Kingdom
251-275	University of South Carolina	United States
276-300	University of Alaska-Fairbanks	United States
276-300	Colorado State University	United States
276-300	Creighton University	United States
276-300	University of Georgia	United States
276-300	University of Kansas	United States
276-300	University of Montana	United States
276-300	University of South Florida	United States
276-300	University of Bath	United Kingdom
276-300	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	United States
301-350	University of Connecticut	United States
301-350	Drexel University	United States
301-350	University of Houston	United States
301-350	Kansas State University	United States
301-350	Lehigh University	United States
301-350	University of Missouri	United States
301-350	Oregon State University	United States
301-350	State University of New York Albany - University at Albany	United States
301-350	University of Vermont	United States
301-350	Washington State University	United States
301-350	Wayne State University	United States
351-400	George Mason University	United States
351-400	University of Maryland, Baltimore County	United States
351-400	University of Oklahoma	United States
351-400	Loughborough University	United Kingdom
351-400	Old Dominion University	United States
351-400	San Diego State University	United States
351-400	Temple University	United States
351-400	University of Wyoming	United States