I’m an American who just started my first year of undergraduate studies at the National University of Singapore last month. I chose Singapore over the US because I wanted to live abroad, and Singapore checked pretty much every box for me: it’s in Asia, tropical, safe, developed, and English is the medium of instruction.
Now, even though NUS is a great university by global standards, the reaction I’ve gotten from many of my family members and friends is that choosing to study abroad as an American is inherently a downgrade, regardless of the university or country. That’s where my question comes from.
I support any person who leaves their hometown and expands their horizons. More people should leave their little small town comfort zones and learn about the rest of the world that exists around them.
I think you might just have a “USA #1!” family. New experiences are worth more than everything. They may not like or appreciate what you might learn over there, but you’ll have experienced a piece of the world that they never will.
I work at an American college and we encourage our students to study abroad. No matter how good the school is, that’s an unteachable experience.
They are expressing their insecurity that you will outgrow them.
Your family says it’s a downgrade only because you chose to get a good education outside of the United States.
inherently a downgrade
Crabs in a bucket vibe
NUS is a top 10 university in the world last I heard, unless you’re turning down MIT, you’re probably better off
Also getting an undergraduate engineering degree at MIT isn’t more impressive than the same for most universities. It’s an undergraduate degree, they’re fairly standardized.
And at least for engineering jobs, only having an undergraduate degree if you went to MIT might bring more questions, like “why didn’t you get into the graduate program with the advantage of already knowing faculty?”
It is outright ridiculous to say that undergraduate degrees are standard and one would get similar education out of MIT and Oklahoma State University. The professors are not the same, the facilities are not the same, and the peers are not the same. May I ask: are you making this shockingly incorrect statement after completing an undergrad degree at MIT or Stanford or similar school, and being disappointed in it?
the facilities are not the same
That has very little effect on coursework, since there’s not much lab work in undergrad, at least not enough where variability will significantly affect outcomes
The professors are not the same
Sure, but overall course offerings and structure are standardized and guided by ABET-accreditation, which is required for the vast majority of engineering jobs. Between that and there only being 2-3 worthwhile textbooks for most topics, there’s not that much variability.
Graduate programs are where most engineering schools diverge, since that’s heavily based on funding, reputation, and specialization of professors.
after completing an undergrad degree at MIT or Stanford or similar school, and being disappointed in it?
Pretty weird assumption to make.
No, this is based on years of experience working with other engineers that recieved education from various schools throughout Ohio. There’s no appreciable difference in quality of undergrads between Ohio State, University of Cincinnati, Wright State, University of Toledo, Ohio University, etc. despite having very different reputations and whether they’re private or public schools.
Now if you’re done being wildly confrontational without knowing what you’re talking about, I’m going to move on with my day
The only reason why schools like MIT have better graduates is because they cherry pick better students. Americans are completely brainwashed into thinking the institution matters on the development of an engineer or scientist. I’ve watched pharma make $200M mistakes listening to people because they had a Harvard degree.
100% this
The quality of your professors and their ability to teach is huge.
For context, I’m an American. Your family and friends share the opinion of a lot of Americans, including employers. So they’re right in the sense that an US degree would make it easier to get a job in the US after you graduate. That said, there’s no reason to think American universities actually provide a superior education or experience. If anything, very much the opposite the way our country is going. Academia is being targeted and defunded. If I were starting college now, I’d be delighted to be doing it outside the US and I’d network like hell to build a career overseas so I never had to come home.
Ivy League schools have degraded into expensive diploma mills. Students feel entitled to As, grade inflation means As are now class averages. I have colleagues at Ivy League schools complaining students don’t even show up to lectures but they have huge pressure to give ridiculous marks, because they are customers.
The only thing driving institutional success was research from foreign post docs and now they are all gone.
I look at it like they want a good education, but they also want something that can’t be provided in the USA. It may be a new experience, learning different languages, or something else.
Also Singapore noodles are delicious, they may just call them noodles there which could be confusing.
I spent a year of college studying in Europe. It is not a “downgrade” to study in another country, and (from a quick search) it looks like you’ve picked a really fucking good school. I would definitely recommend studying abroad for everyone who can wether it’s for the entirety of your degree, or for just a semester. Just know that culture shock is very real so get ready for that. Hope you go through with this decision and have fun in Singapore!
They find green (not yellow) grass amazing
My perception is, “oh you’re American.” That’s it.
Good for you, is what I think! You’re one step closer to escaping this blooming fascist hellscape of a failed society.
Depends on that person. There are Americans who care and integrate well, and there are others.
And regarding the quality of the studying, well, US university quality has taken a big beating in the last two years…
I spent a few years abroad as a American teen. I spent time with host families all over the UK and Ireland, a brief time in Prague. This was quite awhile ago now but one of the things I found comforting while I was there was that they were often more ignorant of America than we were of Europe. The terminally online Europeans you find on Reddit and Lemmy are insufferable. But the average European you meet on the ground is just as down to earth and provincial in knowledge as any flyover state American.
I’m not an American, so not sure if that matters. However, I never really cared whether someone studied abroad or not. If the person wants to study abroad, that’s their choice. I just hope the person has taken a lot of time to research and prepare for it (language barrier, culture stuff, housing, etc.).
