Brooks Newmark, the American-born MP and Vice-President of the Harvard Alumni Association, tells British students to head to the Ivy League
I was lucky enough to have had the opportunity to attend both Harvard and Oxford, so I feel well placed to compare and understand the best of America and Britain’s respective education systems.
Whilst many tertiary level academic institutions in both countries offer exceptionally high standards of education, American universities offer that little bit more at undergraduate level by encouraging students to study a wide range of subjects, and offering the flexibility to change the core subject of your degree throughout your time there.
Most American undergraduate courses take place over a four year period with each year being split into two semesters. During each semester you will take four courses, half of which will reflect your Major, or core subject, while the other half are in other subjects. At Harvard, I majored in History for 50% of my time, but in addition to History I studied everything from Italian, which fulfilled a foreign language requirement, to Astrophysics and Socio Biology, to fulfill science requirements. There was even a required course in Expository Writing, and the chance to study an introductory course in Economics with JK Galbraith, to fulfill my social science requirements.
The British education system, on the other hand, tends to be focused on one subject with almost no flexibility to change your degree once you are accepted. An undergraduate degree course in Britain is generally broken down into three terms over a three year period – although Scottish courses tend to involve a four year degree. It was the breadth of education that lead me to go to the US to study and that is why I encouraged my two eldest children to do likewise.
The admissions process between the two countries is also very different. Most US universities look at much more than your academic achievements – in part, because the system depends on rounded individuals, who can adapt to a broad range of thought. As a Harvard Admissions officer once told me, “we can fill Harvard eight times over with kids who are straight As and Valedictorian – we look for more than that.” At Harvard you are assessed on a combination of your academic performance over four years at High School, your performance on the standardised Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), your extracurricular activities (sport, music, volunteer work etc), two teachers and a headteacher’s recommendations – as well as your interview. The data points you are assessed on are far broader than in the UK, where ultimately you are assessed on purely academic performance over a relatively small exam period, with sometimes an interview.
This ultimately leads to a very different undergraduate experience. I found the student bodies at both Harvard and Oxford to be very bright and talented but at Harvard I found there to be a much broader and more diverse range of individuals from a variety of backgrounds who had done much more with their lives than just succeed in the classroom. Harvard did not need to compromise standards to get students from disadvantaged backgrounds, but nor did they compare like for like between students from the finest private schools and those who went to poor state schools.
Until recently, the disparity in price between a British education and an American one, meant that many British students were put off the idea of studying overseas. However, the rise in UK tuition fees, in addition to the lure of generous scholarships in America has made studying there more viable than in previous years. According to the US-UK Fulbright Commission, Harvard saw a 45% increase in applications from British students between 2009/10 to 2011/12. Harvard Admissions is need blind so your financial aid is 100% if your parents earn under $60,000 and there is a sliding scale of financial support for parents earning up to $180,000 (taking into account how many children your parents have, their income and their assets).
I loved my time at both the institutions I studied at and made many friends at both but if I had a choice again I would still choose Harvard over Oxford for both its flexible and broad educational experience and the rich variety of students I met there.
Brooks Newmark has served as a Government Whip, Lord Commissioner HM Treasury, and was a Member of the Treasury Select Committee
