Doing study abroad - Transfering from UK university to the American University?

Student Lounge International Students
1

I am at a UK university studying Law, and in my second year for the second semester I can do ‘study abroad’ at a US university. I was wondering if I would be allowed to transfer to that university to finish my degree there?

Thanks

2

Law is a 3-year graduate course in the US, not undergrad. I believe it is thus essentially untransferable, except as part of some other undergraduate degree like political science, but that then would require more course work outside the law curriculum. If you have a school in mind, contact it directly as it decides what you can transfer as credits and to what purpose - nothing is standardized.

3

Yes, there are probably US universities that would accept your UK coursework and permit you to graduate after a further two years of study at the US institution. Your degree would not be in Law, as @alcibiade noted, and you would not be permitted to sit for the bar exam in the US. That would take another 3 years of graduate study.

Also, many colleges and universities have core requirements, and because you have not met those it will be tough to squeeze a major and the core classes into two years.

But at a school with an open curriculum it would be theoretically possible to achieve what you want. You might consider looking at Canada, as well, where it might be a little easier to achieve this.

4

The reason why I want to transfer is because it has been my dream to live and work in the US permanently (I have family there and have visited many times). Seems like employment is my only option of being able to live there. Would it increase my chances if I do transfer and then finish my degree there?

5

Yes I know I can’t transfer to Law, but would I be able to transfer to the undergrad degree in the US and then major in something else? Would the year or two of Law that i’ve done so far be considered as ‘credits’ there?

6

What citizenship/permanent residency do you have?

Working in the US if you are not a citizen or permanent resident and without a grad degree or work experience is, while not impossible, quite difficult.

7

You would probably need an institution or a company to sponsor you for a visa in order to be employed. With so much discussion here about immigration and the 2016 election, the laws may very well have changed a few years from now.