For people who studied Psychology/Education...

Long story short: I am American, have a BA in psychology from American university.

I'm interested in pursuing a Master's degree in the UK for several reasons:

1. Finish in shorter time
2. Boyfriend is in UK, chance to be together day to day
3. Experience of living in another country
4. Maybe this is in my head but I imagine having a degree from a great UK university would look..I dunno, prestigious? ha.

The only issue is, I'm more likely to end up living in the US for the rest of my life, so with that in mind, I have to make sure that my UK Master's degree would work in the US. I have no idea how this works with psychology or education. I would hate to put in the work for a year, return to the US and find out that my psychology MA is useless because of a difference in teaching/accrediting/etc...


Can anybody from the US who has studied post-grad psychology or education in the UK give me some advice?

I'm finishing up my BSc in psych (English uni) and have looked into what my degree means in the US. Sorry but unfortunately it doesn't smoothly transfer over with no additional work. The requirements to be official are completely different in both countries and psychology is more Europe focussed here. I read that I'd need to pass certain exams to be APA registered in the US or take a conversion course that's a year long. So really if you're looking into getting a psychology specific career in the US, it's really not a good idea to finish up your masters here. However, I'm not looking to get a job where I have to be registered with the APA or BPS so it doesn't make much of a difference for me.

To understand jobs in health and social care or education, here's a good link:
http://www.prospects.ac.uk/types_of_jobs.htm

I agree with GG that inter-country transferability is going to be a challenge, especially if you are going to be in the US long term.
 
What about taking a different tack of BF studying in US or the both of you considering a working holiday in another country? Do you speak any other languages? Do you have EU ties which may allow you EU citizenship?

It's true. The systems are so different here. I'm a licensed counsellor back in the States and that doesn't transfer over here (because my undergrad and 1st master's are in psychology, not counselling) even though I sat for the national counselling exam.

There is a girl in my course who has a master's in psychology who is considered a psychologist of sorts here (student level), which is not the same as the US- you'd need a doctorate and tests and such like GibbyGab mentioned.

But anyway, I came here for those reasons you mentioned: cost, time, possible "prestige" etc. And I will say that it's the most difficult thing I've done in my life, and I've done some very challenging things. My friend said that it will look good on my CV but I've heard that others have had difficulty getting into doctoral programmes back in the US or Canada due to the grading system being so different here (C's are good here compared to As and Bs that would be looked at for doctoral programmes back home). So, Uni's back home see Cs or Bs and don't think you did well here because you didn't get As.

I don't think the degree will hurt but it depends on if you want to continue on with a doctorate back home (wouldn't recommend coming here if that is your aim), if you want to be licensed in the States (also wouldn't recommend coming here), but if you just want a master's, I don't think it would be problematic. I guess it depends on your long-term goals!

'C's' (2.2, I'm assuming) don't actually look good in the UK. Almost no graduate employment schemes take on people with 2.2's. It's the same as the US in that regard. 2.1 or 1st is what they want to see. Maybe you mean, it's hard to get high percentages in psychology like over 70%? But that's a first here so that should transfer over as 'A'. 

I had a 3.4 undergrad GPA, is that terrible? Will I not be accepted at any decent UK schools?

I had a 3.4 undergrad GPA, is that terrible? Will I not be accepted at any decent UK schools?

I'm pretty sure that's in the 2.1 range. You qualify for a lot of good ones .

I had a 3.4 undergrad GPA, is that terrible? Will I not be accepted at any decent UK schools?

It's actually pretty good. The minimum requirement for most postgraduate courses in the UK is a 2:1 degree which is approximately equivalent to somewhere between a 3.0 and a 3.3 GPA (depending on how the school calculates it)...  you could probably apply to any UK university you wanted (even Oxford and Cambridge, although it's tough to get into either of them, no matter what your GPA is).

Thanks for the help everyone! I'm definitely not Oxford or Cambridge material (I wish!!) but does anybody know how difficult it is to get into the Uni of Edinburgh?

The minimum requirement for most postgraduate courses in the UK is a 2:1 degree

I've done a lot of research on this and what seems to be the common trend is "at least a good second class honours degree" which I'm assuming that means a 2:2? I wonder why they don't just say 2:1 or 2:2. I'm on a 2:1 right now but worried that something goes wrong with my dissertation and I slip from 65 to the high 50's.

Is it stupid to apply to a social work program in the UK if you're pretty sure you'll end up living in the US? I e-mailed someone at my state's board of licensing for social workers and was told that a 2 year MSW from the UK would be acceptable for licensing in my state so that's not a worry.

I want to go to the UK because:

A) It's a cheaper program
B) global experience - hoping it'll appeal more to employers or eventually to PhD programs and give me a broader perspective
C) get to spend real living time with boyfriend/fiance

but I mean is it pointless to go if I know we'll most likely end up living in the US at some point, even if the degree is accepted?

Well if it transfers over then I don't see why it would be pointless?

Social work here is very competitive and I was told that I needed work experience in social work if I wanted to apply for a masters relating to social work.

I've had a couple of clinical internships so I think I might be OK on that front.

I was just wondering if its' pointless because I know the social work systems in the UK an US are different, so it'd be like studying to become a UK social worker knowing I won't actually be practicing in the UK. Which sounds dumb when I type it out!

If my boyfriend wasn't stuck in the UK for another few years I wouldn't be so determined to do it.

Two things I would identify for serious consideration are:

1. the legal basis on which to practice may be quite challenging once you return to the US
I am a Canadian trained (BSW) social worker and until I took a social work law course in the UK, my knowledge was really not as adequate as I would like to practice effectively to support clients

2. because registration in the US, AFAIK, is the same as in Canada, which is that it is state / province / territory based, would you need to provide inter-country transferability every time you moved from US state to US state in the future - if so, for me, this would provide an extra barrier to wanting to do a British MA / MSc in Social Work, because of the extra hassle

On the plus side, if you want to do child protection, at the moment as it is on the job shortage list, you could get a work visa, (though this is always a changing beast that you cannot rely on), if you did decide to stay in the UK, it may be possible.

That being said, it is not usual for foreigners to take a postgraduate social work course, but it does happen (this is because there is a bursary system from the registration body, which most non-EU citizens are ineligible for):

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/table/2012/feb/28/social-work-postgraduate-masters-courses

In the meantime, I'd consider strategic volunteering for whatever you decide to strengthen whatever path you decide on. Good luck!