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Top European universities provide pretty good education pre-PhD level, in many cases the first 3-5 years in European schools is superior and more focused than t
by pa7x1 6y ago
Top European universities provide pretty good education pre-PhD level, in many cases the first 3-5 years in European schools is superior and more focused than the equivalent US curriculum. The first 1 or 2 years in US universities seem spent filling the gaps left by a mediocre High School education.
US universities are then miles ahead of most European schools in their PhD programs bare a few exceptions (Oxford, Cambridge, ETH...).
- PaulDavisThe1st 6y agoPhD programs in the US and elsewhere are often not directly comparable. Doing a PhD in the US typically involves 1-3 years still taking classes. Doing one in the UK means starting thesis-forming research immediately. Not really the same thing at all.
- google234123 6y agoMost programs I've seen have students starting research immediately. Sometimes you might have a few months of rotations through different groups.
- PaulDavisThe1st 6y agoEvery friend I have (or ex-wife :) with a US PhD (this spans physics, history, computer science, physiology, geology) did classes for the first 2 years (roughly).
- google234123 6y agoYou can do both at the same time.
- pyuser583 6y agoUS and UK degrees in general are not comparable.
- ianmiers 6y agoUk CS PhD: spend one year figuring out what you are doing, 1/1.5 years doing research. 1 year writing up. Thats the summary I've gotten from several faculty. On top of that, you have to go do a few postdocs if you want to do academia.(maybe a good thing, but not necessary in hot areas in the US for PhDs from highly ranked schools) There's a reason the UK is trying to go over to centers for doctoral training and 5 year PhDs. Yes, in those and the US system, you spend 2 years taking classes. But in that time you are also getting spun up and then doing research.
- Nimitz14 6y agoUk is the outlier here.
- tnecniv 6y agonon-US PhD programs typically require you have a masters. In the US that is not a requirement, hence the course work. If you are a more mature student coming in (e.g. have a masters) the course work is often a straightforward refresher and you can start doing research when you aren't doing classwork.
- srtjstjsj 6y agoUS college isn't longer because it's remedial, it's because it has more out of major liberal arts required courses. There are a lot of remedial classes at US colleges, but those students wouldn't be in college at all in Europe.
- 7thaccount 6y agoThis is true. There are a lot of pointless liberal arts classes for a STEM degree in the US. For example, my engineering degree required 3 English classes, psychology, fine arts, and sociology. These were all incredibly easy and I found the course material was what I was used to as a freshman in highschool (no I'm not exaggerating). So those classes weren't even remedial, but felt like a joke. Please note that I'm not saying all liberal arts classes are a waste, but I think all the 101 classes are pretty bad. The fact that people were complaining and struggling to make a C was mind boggling. The university says they're there to make you well rounded, but we all know it's an excuse to charge more money. The human brain can only take so many technical courses at the same time as well, so it's not like I could cram in another mathematics or engineering course and stay sane. Instead of giving you a break and getting to use that time to study, you have to take the useless other classes which costs more money.
- hakfoo 6y agoThe one that got under my craw was when I went to see an academic advisor with one or two semesters left. I had been fastidious about covering all the specified requirements, and my proposed course-load covered the remainder. Except apparently you needed 128 total hours, and actually covering the requirements of the programme left you six short. They designed the timetable assuming that people would bounce between majors or otherwise load up on go-nowhere electives, and the advisor basically said I could take underwater basket weaving and it would count for the gap. I ended up taking a CLEP exam a few weeks later to claim the equivalent credits of several semesters worth of Spanish classes.
- galaxyLogic 6y agoI had a colleague who told me he went to a university in Florida. I asked him what did he study there, and he said "Golf".