Just decided try to study abroad

Ok....so I'm 26, never been to a university. Right now in my life i regret that and I'm thinking of studying abroad. I have a boyfriend in the UK so I could stay at his place to save money.

But I'm have problems finding any info about how to start. I have been looking at sites, but most of them are for students transferring. Is there any site to help some one start out?

The first step is to find a university/program, apply and get accepted. Then work out the money situation. Then apply for a visa. Then you move, and that's it!

Where does your boyfriend live? What university are you interested in?

Another thing to check would be how your US qualifications are viewed in the UK (i.e. do you have a high school diploma? Did you take any AP or college level classes in high school?) - probably by checking with the universities you are interested in to make sure that they will accept your qualifications.

In general I believe that a US high school diploma is considered equivalent to UK GCSE-level qualifications which are taken at age 16. Between 16 and 18, UK students spend 2 years studying between 3 and 5 subjects in depth (called A-levels) in order to prepare them for university . A-levels are generally considered equivalent to AP classes/first year of US college and are a requirement for UK students to get into university.

Since you've never been to university, you'll be doing undergrad which means you'll most likely have to apply using UCAS.  It's more or less a universal application that you can submit to multiple schools and programs.  If you're not sure where to start this might be able to help you find uni's in the area that you want to be.  Since you're 26, that makes you a mature student.  This gives you the benefit of using alternative qualifications in your application, like work experience.  It also means your reference letter doesn't have to be from a teacher.  They have a whole section about mature students on the website.

http://www.ucas.com/

Undergrad courses are generally 3 years as opposed to the 4 years that we do in the states.  It seems that it's mostly because the programs are more focused on the subject you are studying and less about taking random things to fill requirements.  I personally really like that.  Who wants to be forced to take biology when you're an art history major?

And just for the sake of saying it, undergrad means 3 years of international fees which seem to hover around the £10,000 per year mark.  Even if the exchange rate were to hypothetically get up to $2 for £1, that's not really any worse than anything you might do in the states aside from community college or a state school (although my state school was up to $18,000 the last I checked).  You would essentially have to double the fees amount with housing and cost of living though, but since you could stay with your boyfriend, that doesn't necessarily affect you as much.

Hope that helps.

I think the more focused thing works well if you know exactly what you want to study.  I started in teaching and then switched to History.  In the UK I would have to start over, in the US I lost two classes.

I think the more focused thing works well if you know exactly what you want to study.  I started in teaching and then switched to History.  In the UK I would have to start over, in the US I lost two classes.

Once you start a UK degree, it is usually possible to switch to a different subject if you've changed your mind. However, it does need to be done early on in the course. One of my friends switched from History to Theology within the first couple of weeks of her degree and when my Physics lab partner didn't turn up for our maths lecture in the second week of lectures, we found out he'd switched to Theology too! My old roommate did a year of a Drama degree, then decided to switch to a Law degree in the second year. Last I heard she was hating law, but I'm not sure what degree she ended up with (haven't spoken to her in years) - she may have even gone back to Drama after all that .

I think the more focused thing works well if you know exactly what you want to study.  I started in teaching and then switched to History.  In the UK I would have to start over, in the US I lost two classes.

Good point.  I changed my mind 3 times during undergrad.  I guess once I finally settled on something, I really hated having to take other subjects that didn't relate to the one I wanted to study.  I'm having flashbacks to pre-calculus in particular   

If the OP is indecisive like I was, maybe take a couple of classes at community college first?  It's cheap and it might also get you into the "school" mindset again.

Wow thanks for the advice everyone.

I don't know much about being an international student. Are there loans or grants that I could get to go to school there?

Wow thanks for the advice everyone.

I don't know much about being an international student. Are there loans or grants that I could get to go to school there?

The loans are generally the same if you go in the US or overseas. I'm not sure about grants, but a lot of scholarships require you to be enrolled at a US university. I think the Pell Grant is available only to students attending US schools.

For loans and/or grants you will need to get those from the US as UK student loans are only available to UK students. I believe that you can apply for Stafford and/or Sallie Mae loans? (hopefully someone else can confirm that) - that is what previous international students from the US have applied for in the past.

I don't know much about being an international student.

Ok, so a basic rundown is:

1) Decide what subject/course area you want to study (you will need to apply for a specific course at each university you apply to - as an example, in 2000, I applied to study Physics with North American Study at Exeter, Physics at Oxford, Physics with Space Physics at Birmingham and Physics with Astrophysics at Southampton.

2) Look around at some UK university websites to see what courses they offer (the UCAS site has a good database of subjects/universities) and contact the universities you are interested in to find out what you need to do to apply and whether or not you meet the criteria for the course.

3) For an undergraduate degree, you may have to apply through the UCAS system (although because you are not a UK student you might be okay to apply directly to the university). UCAS admission deadlines for starting a course in Fall 2010 are October 15th 2009 for Oxford/Cambridge university, Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary Science and January 15th 2010 for all other subjects (deadlines for a Fall 2009 start were October 15th 2008 and January 15th 2009). If you are able to apply directly through each university, they may have different deadlines.

4) Once you have been accepted onto a programme and have decided where to study (and have received the relevant documentation), you can start preparing for a student visa application. You can enter the UK up to 1 month before the start date of the course and you can apply for a student visa up to 3 months before the date you wish to enter the UK (so a maximum of 4 months before the course begins).

5) In order to apply for a student visa, you need to show that you have 1 year's worth of tuition (about £10,000 for international students) plus living costs for 9 months (£5,400 if you will be outside of London, £7,200 if you will be studying in London) available to you before the visa will be granted. Although you are allowed to work up to 20 hours per week during term-time and full-time during the vacations, you have to show that you have enough money to cover tuition and living costs without having to get a job while you are in the UK.

For loans and/or grants you will need to get those from the US as UK student loans are only available to UK students. I believe that you can apply for Stafford and/or Sallie Mae loans? (hopefully someone else can confirm that) - that is what previous international students from the US have applied for in the past.

Yup. I got my Stafford loans and a graduate PLUS loan from Sallie Mae.

Are you looking to go to university in the area where your boyfriend lives? If so, which town/city is that?

You could also look at Arcadia University - they're an American university that run first-year semesters overseas, including in the UK (London and Stirling, definitely; not sure about elsewhere).  Admittedly, that's only for one semester, though it's a way to get experience of the UK system - some students do end up transferring to the UK university for their degree.