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Topic: I would like to transfer into the UK.... HELP!  (Read 1560 times)

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I would like to transfer into the UK.... HELP!
« on: October 12, 2006, 05:20:25 AM »
Hi everyone..  this is my first post here.  I am now halfway through my second year in BA in Psychology in California.  I would love to transfer to the UK, either London, Manchester, or Edinburgh, and finish my BA...  I have absoloutely NO clue where to start!!  Is this even possible?  Would many of my credits transfer??     Where do I start?    I'm just really overwhelmed...  Can any of you help me in my first few steps and point me in the right direction??      How much money do i need to have in the bank for my student visa?    Thanks Everyone!!!!!    J
« Last Edit: October 12, 2006, 08:43:38 AM by notahetero »
Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things can not be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.
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Re: I would like to transfer into the UK.... HELP!
« Reply #1 on: October 12, 2006, 11:56:14 AM »
Re: transferring credits.  This is something you will have to speak to the universities about.  It is likely to depend on your course and how closely it resembles the UK syllabus, as well as your grades.  It is certainly theoretically possible, but you do need to call the places you are looking at.

Vicky


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Re: I would like to transfer into the UK.... HELP!
« Reply #2 on: October 12, 2006, 12:29:15 PM »
what Vicky said...theoretically possible (and I know of some people who've done it successfully), but it really depends on the individual university and how much work you've done on your major subject already.  If you've only been doing your general coursework/requirements outside your major it's probably unlikely you'll be able to transfer and they'll want you to start from the beginning.
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Re: I would like to transfer into the UK.... HELP!
« Reply #3 on: October 12, 2006, 06:59:57 PM »
I am sure you have looked into this, but the UK system is just totally different.  They don't do gen eds, no freshman english, or required maths, or as the case of Penn State, two required sports classes.  You take classes pertaining to your major and that is it, it is more like grad school in the States.

Does your school have an exchange program?  That is what I did for a year and unlike a lot of exchange programs I had no one in my classes from the states and only 2 people in my dorm from the U.S.  It was great, I did BUNAC afterwards and I am going to see my friends from uni in a few weeks.  Hooray!


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Re: I would like to transfer into the UK.... HELP!
« Reply #4 on: January 14, 2007, 10:26:40 AM »
I personally have never heard of a student transferring between universities during their degree, but I suppose it may be possible.

I think the reason for this is because each degree is specific to the department and university, so someone with a Psychology degree from say, Leeds, may have studied different courses to someone with a degree from Bristol.

As far as I am aware, the only way to go to a different university from the one you started at, is to quit the first course and start all over again somewhere else, thereby wasting a couple of years of your life!

Another option, like bookgrl says, is to try for an International exchange program. I'm from the UK, but did a one-year exchange program with the University of New Mexico during my third year. However, only certain degrees courses allowed you to study abroad, but it seems to be easier in the US - a friend of mine at UNM spent one semester studying in the UK and then another studying in Brazil!

Something else to consider is that classes in the UK are likely to be at a different level than the US. Although I had just finished my second year of undergraduate study in the UK, I was put into senior and PhD level classes at UNM, whereas exchange students from the US (at Junior level) may take first and second year courses in the UK - basically, the school systems are different and we usually end take courses equivalent to college freshman and sophomore level (at high schools or further education colleges) before we even start university in the UK.


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Re: I would like to transfer into the UK.... HELP!
« Reply #5 on: January 14, 2007, 03:03:02 PM »
As far as I am aware, the only way to go to a different university from the one you started at, is to quit the first course and start all over again somewhere else, thereby wasting a couple of years of your life!

Not necessarily.  It is possible to transfer between different universities in the UK, as long as you stay in the same subject.  It doesn't work in all cases, though, and it's much easier to do between years 1 and 2 than between years 2 and 3. 

It's also possible to transfer from a US uni to a UK uni in certain special cases...most of the time it won't be possible b/c the systems are so different, but I have known of a couple of people who have successfully done it.
Now a triple citizen!

Student visa 9/06-->Int'l Grad Scheme 1/08-->FLR(M) 7/08-->ILR 6/10-->British citizenship 12/12


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Re: I would like to transfer into the UK.... HELP!
« Reply #6 on: January 14, 2007, 05:14:11 PM »
Not necessarily.  It is possible to transfer between different universities in the UK, as long as you stay in the same subject.  It doesn't work in all cases, though, and it's much easier to do between years 1 and 2 than between years 2 and 3. 

It's also possible to transfer from a US uni to a UK uni in certain special cases...most of the time it won't be possible b/c the systems are so different, but I have known of a couple of people who have successfully done it.

Oh, okay - I don't actually know anyone who has transferred between UK institutions or from a US to a UK one. I know of a couple of people who have transferred between courses/majors within one university, but that's all (a girl I knew spent one year studying Drama, changed her mind and spent one year studying Law, before going back to Drama again the next year!).

Speaking from my own experience of both US and UK instituitions, I probably wouldn't advise trying to transfer, simply because it could be complicated and could also disrupt grades, studying habits or the continuity of the degree program - perhaps a study abroad option taken as part of the degree, if it is offered, might be easier in the end.


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Re: I would like to transfer into the UK.... HELP!
« Reply #7 on: January 16, 2007, 04:47:57 PM »
People can switch institutions within the UK if they are going to a course where the credits are transferrable.  It can be quite straight forward if the courses are similar and if both universities are semersterised..ie work in two semesters of 15 weeks rather than three terms of 10 weeks.


Vicky


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