Post: #1

I know a small group of people who chose to get their education at places like Tsinghua University (Beijing), CUHK (City Univ Hong Kong) and NUS (National University of Singapore) instead of going to solid schools in the US like William and Mary and some fairly reputable state schools.

Has anyone here done their undergraduate education outside of their home country? I'm not addressing people who may have grown up in Turkey/Brazil/Africa and then gone to college in the US. I mean Americans, Britons, Euros, Canadians etc who decided to do their undergraduate education in an emerging market or at least an unorthodox foreign location.

Post: #2

would only make sense if one was planning on living and working abroad imo

Post: #3

I went to one of the schools you mentioned.

My advice: skip college and do something real with the money/time. "Edjumakayshun" is for suckers.

Especially skip grad school.

Books:
4 Hour Work Week
Nick Corcodilos' website and "Ask the Headhunter"
Ramit Sethi, Earn1k program

Post: #4

I think it would be a great experience to study abroad. However, there is a reason why so many students from China, India, and many other countries choose to come to the United States to receive an education. A degree from a reputable school in the U.S pulls more weight than a degree from an emerging nation. In my opinion, the best option would be to take advantage of programs to study abroad for a semester or two at a good university in the U.S. That way, you can still earn credits travelling the world with a degree that is recognized internationally.

Post: #5

I actually went to City University of Hong Kong for a semester on exchange. Met a lot of foreigners there that attended full-time. What exactly do you want to know?

My impression was that it was basically the same as my university in the states, as far as the actual education aspect goes. Social and campus-life wise, it was a little different.

Great way to be able to live in a new place, especially as far as Hong Kong goes, cause housing is dirt cheap for students.

Another thing to consider, if you’re from the states, is that you can earn a law or medical degree as an undergraduate in places like HK and the UK, instead of having to do 4 years of undergrad + grad school. Wish I had known that when applying to college.

Post: #6

(06-17-2011 07:59 PM)wi30 Wrote:  A degree from a reputable school in the U.S pulls more weight than a degree from an emerging nation. In my opinion, the best option would be to take advantage of programs to study abroad for a semester or two at a good university in the U.S. That way, you can still earn credits travelling the world with a degree that is recognized internationally.

I dunno man. I know plenty of people who have "a degree from a reputable school in the U.S." who are unemployed. I think that era is long gone... and trust me it can't totally be attributed to laziness and people not looking for jobs. There are tons of people floating around with useless Bachelor's degrees.

Unless you go to Harvard or Stanford, you're not really gonna stand out. Just another resume for an employer to wipe their ass with.

Post: #7

(06-17-2011 08:40 PM)Vitriol Wrote:  I dunno man. I know plenty of people who have "a degree from a reputable school in the U.S." who are unemployed. I think that era is long gone... and trust me it can't totally be attributed to laziness and people not looking for jobs. There are tons of people floating around with useless Bachelor's degrees.

There are fields where prestige of undergrad / grad school is very important: law, finance, medicine. Sure, you can pull in $300k a year without an undergrad degree by selling drugs, or by opening your own chain of Verizon kiosks, or by building a number of successful affiliate marketing websites. But the numbers there are even lower than the numbers of people who study finance or law or medicine at a good school and make the same money. If you're studying history at the University of the Boonies satellite campus, you'll never see a return on that money, but people like to point to their cousin's best friend's nephew who doesnt have a degree and is a millionaire because he owns 6 pawn shops and say, "see! university is for suckers!". The statistics are still behind the people who go to good universities and graduate with marketable degrees.

Post: #8

Yes, what Vitriol and Peoloom said.

Undergrad education in the US, unless it is at an elite school, generally is not a good investment financially. You get sucked into the debt slave cycle.

I was able to get dual environmental engineering and management masters degrees from Paris and Beijing from reputable schools for a combined tuition of 10,000 euros. It helps that I had a scholarship but even the combined total without the scholarship would have been less than one semester at my home school in the US.

I figure someone who has their sights set on becoming an expat at an earlier age, or perhaps later on after traveling or going to the military, can go attend university at a reputable school somewhere abroad. It's just my theory, I could be wrong.

It is true that the elites from India, HK, China, Brazil all send their kids to Swiss/US boarding schools and then to ivy league schools. But we are not comparing ourselves to that group - I"m talking about your average middle class American college student who wants to take a cheaper undergrad education abroad. The guy who wouldnt have gotten into the ivy league anyway.

I think it could be good. If I went to Tsinghua for my undergraduate education I would have nasty mandarin skills and a juggernaut network in China.

Post: #9

(06-18-2011 05:59 AM)youngmobileglobal Wrote:  Yes, what Vitriol and Peoloom said.

Undergrad education in the US, unless it is at an elite school, generally is not a good investment financially. You get sucked into the debt slave cycle.

I was able to get dual environmental engineering and management masters degrees from Paris and Beijing from reputable schools for a combined tuition of 10,000 euros. It helps that I had a scholarship but even the combined total without the scholarship would have been less than one semester at my home school in the US.

I figure someone who has their sights set on becoming an expat at an earlier age, or perhaps later on after traveling or going to the military, can go attend university at a reputable school somewhere abroad. It's just my theory, I could be wrong.

It is true that the elites from India, HK, China, Brazil all send their kids to Swiss/US boarding schools and then to ivy league schools. But we are not comparing ourselves to that group - I"m talking about your average middle class American college student who wants to take a cheaper undergrad education abroad. The guy who wouldnt have gotten into the ivy league anyway.

I think it could be good. If I went to Tsinghua for my undergraduate education I would have nasty mandarin skills and a juggernaut network in China.

agreed. I know people who do graduate school in China but not any expats that did undergrad there. Obviously depends on the quality of the school in either country. Engineering schools in China generally have a lower quality than the US. Some are elite so it depends. If you want to print money be an engineer and learn mandarin, spanish, or arabic.