1. Advantages

First of all, the admission preference is clear and easy to predict and ponder. In terms of admission preference, the British master's program attaches great importance to the applicant's hard power when enrolling, and has strict requirements on IELTS, undergraduate grade point and GRE. Generally speaking, if the hard power can't meet the requirements of applying for a school, you can only pray for a miracle. At the same time, they also attach great importance to the undergraduate background, and prefer the applicants from domestic 985, 2 1 1 and double-class universities. British universities attach importance to hard power and undergraduate background, and the application threshold given is more suitable for actual admission. This clear requirement can help applicants know what they are doing. At the same time, strict indicators can also discourage some applicants with insufficient hard power and reduce competition.

Secondly, the application threshold of British universities is slightly lower than that of American universities. In the application requirements for master's degree programs in British universities, general science and engineering majors require IELTS 6.0-6.5, business majors require IELTS 6.5-7.0, and social science majors usually require IELTS 7.0-7.5. In addition to different professional requirements, different schools will have different requirements. The better the school, the higher the requirements. In terms of GPA, applicants majoring in science and engineering in top30 University in Britain are required to score 75-80 (100), social science and literature are required to score 80-85 (100), and business majors are generally required to score 80-85 (100). It is worth mentioning that because British schools attach great importance to undergraduate background, applicants who graduated from two first-class universities, 985, 2 1 1, will lower their GPA requirements appropriately. Generally speaking, applicants who graduated from two-tier universities, 985, 2 1 1, will have a GPA 5 points higher than those who graduated from ordinary universities. Whether it is necessary to provide GRE and GMAT scores depends on the school and major. Even if this is not mandatory, an excellent GRE and GMAT score will be a powerful plus.

Third, the admission rate is relatively higher. This point has been analyzed above, so I won't repeat it.

Fourth, the academic system is short and the cost of studying abroad is relatively small. Generally, the master's program in Britain lasts about one year, and the cost of studying abroad will be lower than that in the United States. Choosing a school in London costs 400,000-500,000 RMB a year, and the cost outside London is about 400,000 RMB. (The fees for studying abroad are for reference only)

2. Deficiencies

First, attaching importance to hard power rather than comprehensively weighing the strength of applicants is unfriendly to applicants whose hard power is not excellent enough but whose soft power is excellent.

Second, the gold content of British master's degree will be lower than that of American universities at the same level. At the same time, because of the short academic system, the recognition of the master's degree in the employer will be discounted after completing the master's program in the UK and returning to China to find a job.

Third, after graduating from a British university, no extra internship time will be provided. Internship may be included in class hours, and the project itself has a short academic system. If you consider the internship, time will be tight. For applicants who want to stay in the UK, it is very difficult to stay in the UK for employment after graduation if they don't study hard and practice more.

Advantages and disadvantages of American master's program

1. Advantages

First, American universities generally pay more attention to the comprehensive quality of applicants. Therefore, the requirements of American universities for TOEFL (IELTS), undergraduate GPA and GRE are not as strict as those of British universities. When applying for American universities, we can also find that even the top universities such as Princeton University, Harvard University and Stanford University are not particularly demanding, and some majors do not even give a minimum score limit. Therefore, for applicants with poor hard power, there is still a chance to recover through soft power.

Second, the American master's program has a high gold content. Studying abroad will definitely compare the gold content of the project. The master's program in Britain will be shorter than that in the United States. Most of the master's programs in Britain are one-year programs, and most of the master's programs in the United States are two-year programs (although there are also one-year master's programs in the United States). If you return to China for employment after studying abroad, the recognition of master's programs with long academic system will be higher than that with short academic system. Secondly, in the comprehensive ranking of world universities, the number of top universities in the United States far exceeds the number of universities in the United Kingdom (among the top 20 universities in the world, there are 10 in the United States and 5 in the United Kingdom), so the United States will have more choices in choosing high-quality universities, which may give people an inherent impression that the quality of American education is better in the long run. If you apply for top universities in Britain and America, you can speak directly, but if you apply for secondary schools in Britain and America, American universities will have higher recognition and higher gold content due to comprehensive factors such as the length of academic system, the comprehensive strength of the school and the inherent impression.

Third, the employment situation is optimistic. In the long run, the purpose of studying for a master's degree is nothing more than two things: one is to lay the foundation for scientific research, and the other is to get employment. Judging from the first situation, the ultimate goal is to study for a doctorate. Judging from the classification of master's programs in Britain and the United States, if you want to take the scientific research route, then in order to transition from undergraduate to doctoral, you can choose academic master's programs, and this situation will not be discussed. The second situation is for employment. Employment can be divided into two situations: one is to stay in the United States for employment after studying abroad, and the other is to return to China for employment after studying abroad. If you stay in the United States for employment, science and engineering will have an advantage, because science and engineering are mostly STEM projects. On the basis of 12 months opt time, an additional 24 months opt time will be added, which will be sufficient for international students to find jobs. Liberal arts majors only have 12 months of opt time, so they may be a little nervous when looking for a job. If you choose to go back to China for employment after graduation, then the employment competitiveness is directly linked to the gold content of your degree, and the gold content of American university degrees will be greater than that of British universities, so if you go back to China to find a job, the American master's degree at the same school level will have an advantage.

2. Deficiencies

First of all, the "enemy" is in the dark, I am in the light, and the strength of my opponent is unpredictable. The application of American universities will be more difficult than that of British universities. On the one hand, the United States attaches importance to comprehensive strength, so in addition to hard power, it also needs to take into account soft power (such as letters of recommendation, work experience, resume, scientific research experience, etc.). ), so the application materials will be more complicated to prepare. On the other hand, no matter the applicants who apply for famous American schools or British schools, their quality is excellent. But the difference is that British universities pay more attention to hard power, so the requirements for hard indicators will be stricter. The advantage of this is that applicants can know what they are doing, and they can also discourage some applicants with insufficient qualifications. American universities relax hard conditions and don't even set a minimum. You don't know how strong the candidate you are competing with is, so it's like washing clothes in the dark for the candidate. Whether they are clean or not will not be known until dawn, and the application process is unknown.

Secondly, the invisible threshold is the most terrible. Although GPA 3.0 or above can meet the threshold of most universities for applying to American universities, TOEFL 100 is a threshold for applying for a better school and major, while the requirements of GRE and GMAT depend on the school and major. However, as far as the overall application conditions are concerned, schools applying for top30 in the United States should have GPA 3.5+, TOEFL 65,438+000+(IELTS 7.0+), GRE 325+ and GMAT 720 or above.

Third, the admission rate is low. Take economics as an example. The admission rates of top 10 universities in the United States are 4.6% at Harvard University, 5.5% at Columbia University and 0/4% at Duke University ... The admission rates of four G5 universities in the United Kingdom are probably Oxford University 1 1% and Cambridge University 65438+. It can be seen that the admission rate of British universities is more friendly under the same level of schools.

Fourth, the educational system is longer and the cost is higher. If you choose the two-year system in the United States, the master's degree will cost 700,000+,and the schools in the northeast, central and south are relatively cheap, about 400,000-500,000. One-year programs in the United States, such as business and law, are expensive because of their own tuition. For example, the one-year tuition fee for the master's program of the University of Pennsylvania Business School is $49,220. Plus tuition (6364$), accommodation (10200$), meals (54 16$) and other expenses, the total annual expenditure is about 75,000 $,or about 524,250 RMB, so the annual expenditure is not much different.