How many of you have pursued school in the UK to be closer to your bf/gf?

I'd like to know I'm not alone here So, has anyone gone to a UK uni to be closer to their Brit bf or gf? A little background on me; my English boyfriend and I have been LDR for about four years now with four visits each to each other's home countries. We've been talking about this move for a year now and it's finally in the works. I was accepted to the University of Sheffield a couple months ago to pursue a Postgraduate Diploma in Speech Difficulties (I received my bachelor's in speech pathology here in the states about a year ago), and I'm applying for my student visa in late July/early August. Right now I'm preparing all my documents for the visa and if all goes to plan, I'll move in early-mid September. My boyfriend is in the British Army and he's in Afghanistan until early October. Until he comes home, his friends and family will help me get settled in. My course lasts for a year and there's a possibility, if we decide we're ready, that we'll get married and I'll transition to the spousal visa. But for now my focus is on going to university and adjusting to life in the UK.

I'm not going over to the UK just as an excuse. If it was just an excuse it'd be a very, very expensive one! Not to mention I'm leaving everything I know and used to in the states behind- family being the biggest one. Even if I was planning to stay in the US I'd still go to graduate school, too.

Hi Karlee, wow, we have a lot in common! I met my (now) DH when I was studying in London as an undergraduate student, then spent another year and a half in the US finishing my BA. During this time, he was deployed to Afghanistan (he was in the British Army at the time). He returned to the UK, and I moved over for grad school a few months later to study at Oxford. Luckily, he was stationed in Aldershot then, so we were close and saw each other every weekend and whenever he had leave.

I had applied to quite a number of school in the USA, and I was not considering grad school in the UK for a number of reasons. However, one day I was browsing courses in the UK and came across one that I liked at Oxford, applied on whim and was accepted. A lot of people thought I was going to the UK to be near him, but the fact of the matter was, I felt like if I got accepted, I needed to take up the opportunity. I wasn't willing to compromise the quality of my education just to be near him.

I'm so glad that I actually did go to grad school here. I was able to see DH more often and gave us a sense of 'normalcy' in our relationship after having a LDR for so long. And it prepared us for another year and a half of separation, as I moved back to the US for more grad school!

BTW, my DH is from Sheffield! It is a great town for university students, I hope that you enjoy it! Good luck with your course and the future with your BF!  

I chose to go to grad school in the UK because of my now Ex-BF. I wanted to see how things would go with him, but I also wanted to get my masters and have a great experience, which I did. The programme I chose looked better and was better than anything I had looked into in the US. It was one of the best years of my life. My reasoning going into it was "Well, if it doesn't work out with him, at least I'm doing something meaningful, unique, and lasting for my future." Ultimately, it didn't work out, but I still have amazing memories and an impressive resume out of the deal! 

Awesome, guys! Yeah actually speech pathology is a VERY competitive program here in the states and it requires excellent grades, especially for the master's. I did mediocre in my undergrad, and I could have applied myself much more... lesson learned. Many of my former professors had the attitude of "if you didn't receive at least a 3.5 GPA in your undergrad, then don't even bother applying to graduate school." Based on that, I thought my chances of getting into UK grad school were very slim. Needless to say, I was shocked when I found out I was offered a place. Looking back, I may have had better chances of getting accepted into UK schools than US schools anyway.

My reasoning going into it was "Well, if it doesn't work out with him, at least I'm doing something meaningful, unique, and lasting for my future."

That's how we're approaching it too. I'm not going into this being overly optimistic. We're taking it relaxed and we'll see how things go.

I chose to go to grad school in the UK because of my now Ex-BF. I wanted to see how things would go with him, but I also wanted to get my masters and have a great experience, which I did. The programme I chose looked better and was better than anything I had looked into in the US. It was one of the best years of my life. My reasoning going into it was "Well, if it doesn't work out with him, at least I'm doing something meaningful, unique, and lasting for my future." Ultimately, it didn't work out, but I still have amazing memories and an impressive resume out of the deal! 

My story is very similar. A huge factor in me going to the Uk to finish my undergrad was because of my now ex gf. Like Nose I wanted to see where it could go. I knew if it didn't work out it would still be a win win situation. I was finishing my degree and I loved London. I am still over here and the last 2 years have been the best of my life thus far.

Nose are you back in the US now? If so why? (Or visa route became too hard?)

Nose are you back in the US now? If so why? (Or visa route became too hard?)

Yep, moved back to the US at the end of February. We had been living together for a year and when we broke up, I couldn't afford to get a place of my own because I had been unemployed during that whole year. I still had a year left on my PSW visa, but seeing as there was no chance I would qualify for a Tier 2 when the time came, I figured it was best to just call it a day and come back to the US.

Though I do miss Scotland a lot, I now have 2 jobs, a great apartment, and life is just really good! 

I ended up completing my whole bachelors degree in the UK to be closer to my then bf now dh. We eloped and got married (in Barbados! ) while still in uni and will both be studying for our msc's together in September! 

I didn't need to go to uni to see if things would work out because I already knew they would. There was however a ridiculous 21 year minimum rule for spouse visas at the time so I had to wait for several years to switch and then we hit a financial rough patch where we couldn't get the money together for flr(m) up until about 7 months after I turned 21.

Everything worked out great in the end. I hope it does for you too Karlee.