GAH!! I've seriously looked everywhere! (UK vs. US -- Q's)

Applying to College
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<p>... And I cannot find the answer. I've been seriously thinking about going to school in The UK -- NOT because of the language thing... but because of the wonderful institutions, of course. :D</p>

<p>I'm trying to decide the best route for me to go through, since I am so confused at the British Education System. I'm a sophomore here in The US. Should I just finish off my BA at an American-British University (here's the one I'm looking at, it doesn't look too bad and they have the courses I probably need) ...Regent's American College London (RACL) - Webster American University Degrees in London. AND THEN after I have my BA, apply for my Masters/PhD? The school I'm interested in applying to for the Graduate Degrees (even though I shouldn't be thinking about Grad School right now, but found this school pretty darn fascinating) is SOAS. Or should I just dive right into a British University/SOAS and forget my poor hard-earned Freshman American credits, LOL.</p>

<p>Haven't been able to find this info, either. Perhaps someone could post me a link or something? How are credts/hours accrued in The UK for the degrees? Do they even have that system at all? Or do they just charge you annually for however many classes you decide to take? I'm trying to do a little math here, hehehe.</p>

<p>Per The Post 9/11 Bill, and me being a resident of the state of Texas... the most the VA will pay per credit hour for a foreign school with no US Campus available is $1,471 and $12,000 for fees. So I'm confused on how everything should be calculated. Will I be okay financially for UK Universities??? HALP!!!</p>

<p>I apologize if this was already explained in here somewhere, but I couldn't find the info... so please don't bite my head off. :p</p>

<p>Any and all info, opinons, views, etc; would be grately appreciated. Thanks in advance, guys! :)</p>

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<p>Yooo-hoooo. Anyone???</p>

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<p>Regents American College London? I have never heard of it. That can only hint as to its standing here in Britain. I see very little point in coming to the UK and paying American fees for something that is probably not very good and nobody knows anything about. SOAS on the other hand is world renowned.</p>

<p>You wont be OK financially. As you can see [url= <a href=“http://www.soas.ac.uk/registry/fees/fees-past/]here[/url”>http://www.soas.ac.uk/registry/fees/fees-past/]here[/url</a>], SOAS’ international fees are more than what you have. And that isn’t even considering living costs.</p>

<p>As for your other question regarding credits and hours, i have no idea what you’re talking about. :stuck_out_tongue: It doesn’t work that way here. You have a set number of modules, some compulsory some optional. That’s it. No additional charges as far as i know.</p>

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<p>Well, since you don’t understand the American credit/hours system… then you wouldn’t understand if I would be financially OK to attend SOAS. As with Regent’s College… it is fully accredited by Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri–a VERY good, Tier 1 Masters University in the Midwest. So my degree from there would be coming from an outstanding American University–not a UK University. :wink: Also, I will be receiving financial aid for my living costs, so I’m not worried about that, either.</p>

<p>Anyone else? :p</p>

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<p>Why shouldn’t i understand that you cant afford SOAS? You said you have 12k, that isn’t enough. Whats not to understand? :s</p>

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<p>The 12K is NOT for Tuition fees–it’s for other fees that need to be paid to the University. ;)</p>

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<p>Then why on earth are you asking if you’ll be okay in the UK if you don’t say how much you have for tuition fees.</p>

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<p>The question of tuition is in the American credit system we use that I posted. If you don’t know anything about it… you won’t understand the post and what I’m talking about, sorry. So I’d advise you to move on. And please tone down with the snarkiness. Kthanx. :)</p>

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<p>GEEEZZ. Now I’m starting to reconsider even studying in England. No offense, but I hope not all the English are this rude to Americans… or any other foreigners, for that matter… who were just raised differently in his/her own country and their structure systems.</p>

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<p>SeptemberGirl, I am loathe to reply to your thread when you ahve been very rude to people who are trying to help you.</p>

<p>You aggressively attack a helpful poster (who has already answered all of your questions correctly) saying they don’t understand the American system - but you are asking about the UK system which you clearly **do not **understand in any way.</p>

<p>Stop right now thinking somehow that the UK system is trying to model itself on the US. It is completely different and you cannot some how mould it to your model by shouting “YOU DON’T UNDRSTAND ME” until people change things specially for you.</p>

<p>

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<p>As Dionysus58 already tried to kindly explain to you, the answers is no, there is no such system and such comparisons are meaningless. You apply to study a certain subject or “course”. You stick with it for 3 years. It costs a fixed amount each year. In most cases there is some flexibility on modules you can choose to study within the course structure, but this won’t vary the amount you pay. You will have to study a certain number of modules and have to pay for them. You will be able to find the overseas costs on most univeristy web-sites, or email them and ask. The tuition prices does not include accommodation or food. Students are recommended to have about £10,000 a year for these living expenses.</p>

<p>Very, very few UK schools will consider any sort of transfer (the term is really meaningless) here. You would have to apply to start again in the first year. Also, you will get no financial aid from the UK. Most overseas students here get grants or loans from their home countries.</p>

<p>Before you study abroad you need to consider that you will be living in a different culture which you will need to accept, with doubtless some degree of culture shock. You could perhaps go to a US school in the UK and socialise only with Americans, but that to me defeats the object of going.</p>

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<p>Oh please! I’m a military brat and a Veteran of The US Air Force. I’ve lived and traveled all over the world and Europe – including England. I am in NO way, shape or form trying to hint that The UK Education System is trying to mimic The US System. Ridiculous! So I would appreciate it if you would stop shoving words into my mouth. </p>

<p>Maybe I should have titled this thread “GAH!!! Americans or US Vets/Servicemen who were once confused about studying in The UK… please help!!” – Since the other side has clearly been extremely sensitive about this subject.</p>

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<p>I shall try to help, as I am an American studying in the UK.
The thing is, the UK doesn’t do credit hours. It is also something that varies from university to university, how many credits you take per year. For instance, at Edinburgh, the general number is 120 credits per year. This doesn’t have any real correlation with credit hours, though. So you’d probably have to call someone, and figure out how the money for the credit hours would transfer. </p>

<p>You just have the overall tuition fee here in the UK, which doesn’t change with how many courses you take (i.e. I’m taking an extra course this semester and next semester, but I am still paying £13500 in tuition), so it is possible you’d only get the $12,000, which as has already been stated, won’t be enough. However, if you were to get money per module, you might be closer to being okay. I think your best best would be to phone up someone who works with the VA, and would be trained to answer this question specifically.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the help, Spriteling. :smiley: I really should have titled this thread differently, LOL. But yes… this is all somewhat complicated since the money is coming from my GI BILL and there are all kinds of regulations and all – I probably should’ve just waited and contacted them and the schools. I’ll certainly have to contact BOTH the schools and The VA to see how they would translate the funding. The 12K is really only for additional college fees per year, though… and the money max per credit hour (or whatever) is decided on and validated by each Serviceman’s state of residence. So it will be interesting to see how the VA decides to do this. It was just the weekend, and I was curious for anything. :stuck_out_tongue: Once again… I appreciate the help. :)</p>

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<p>I will have to say, that I have changed my mind about studying in The UK. I’d rather be happy and cheerful around welcoming people and students, having fun, learning about eachother’s cultures, open-mindedness, and feeling accepted no matter what… than have to deal with Snooty-Holier-Than-Thou “Scholar” attitudes who like to twist my words and throw them back at me. So disappointing. Definitely NOT my cup of tea. I want to enjoy my learning experience… not feel like I’m walking on eggshells constantly. No thanks. I’ll pass. Maybe I’ll change my mind when it’s time for me to go to Grad School. LMAO.</p>

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<p>No one has been snooty, and no one has been holier-than-thou. You seemed to assume that the UK system worked on credit hours, as in the US. It doesn’t. This was explained to you.</p>

<p>So what’s the problem?</p>

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<p>I lived in the UK for 3 yrs, due to being an AF wife. I will say that to this day I am still friends with my British neighbors. Brits are not snooty…okay maybe the Queen is, but then again she listens to an IPOD!</p>

<p>I have to agree with the 2 brits that answered. I did not find them offensive or rude, they were stating the facts and unfortunately not what you wanted hear.</p>

<p>As far as Websters University it is not a Tier 1 school. Tier 1 would be UVA, Stanford, Sterns. Tier 1 schools do not offer Masters degrees on military bases around the world or on line. Tier 1 will make you take the GMAT and attend school at their campus unless doing an exchange. </p>

<p>If you want to stay in the mid-west the closest tier 1 you will get to is UK (not as the country, but Kansas). You are willing to travel across the world for your education, there are much better colleges than Webster state side. I would suggest looking into them first.</p>

<p>Good luck with your search.</p>

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<p>Obviously somebody needs to reread the thread and see how people overreacted to my question. ASSUMPTION makes an ass out of you and me. And with that, I’ll be bowing out of this thread permanently… and would kindly ask if the mods would just close it. Thanks. :)</p>

<p>ETA: That was not for the poster above. Thanks, bulletandpima. Damn computer is running too slow right now. :p</p>

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<p>September, we all read it, only you out of everyone on the thread felt they were rude to you. They were stating the facts, facts that you did not agree with or want to hear.</p>

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<p>SeptGirl- I am an American in the US with a DD in the UK and I need to tell you, you are over-reacting to very good advice. It may not be advice you like hearing and it may not be advice that answers what you MEANT, but they UK people are answering the literal questions you asked.</p>

<p>Probably none of us are familiar with the terms of your GI bill funding, so these people are trying to warn you it could be waaaay more expensive than you think, and don’t forget to factor in changes in exchange rate along the way.</p>

<p>Studying in the UK could be a wonderful experience, assume, though that it will be expensive, though YOUR GIBill may take care of you, generically it is expensive for Americans and not much aid is offered.</p>

<p>So, ask your questions with more specificity if these are not the answers you want. People are genuinely trying to help, making the ‘usual’ assumptions, and you are apparently NOT the usual case. </p>

<p>Normally there are home fees, overseas fees and living expenses. A VISA requires you to have at least a set amount (I think it was like 600-900 pounds per month depending on location) but that does not mean your costs will be that. My DD’s uni does COA based on a certain amount of housing cost, well the room they assigned her without food included was more in cost than the amount they show for room & board, with no recourse and no ability to change or get out of the contract (yet) So, people are just trying to warn you based on the limited info you provided it did not sound like you would be okay. They were trying to help.</p>

<p>You reacted rather brattily and sound like the American’s my DD in the UK is embarrassed by on a regular basis. I am not sure where you are coming from, you don’t have a ton of posts here, but you seemed to take umbrage where no offense was intended</p>

<p>Also, I have three kids who have attended 7 universities & colleges and have been admitted at various places across the country and have been on these forums for nearly 10 years, but am not very familiar with Webster; I have heard of it, but would not consider it to be tier one. People telling you the place you are considering in the UK is not tier one are not being mean, they are warning you there are some fee factories in the UK (we have them here too) which regard foreign studies as easy cash cows.</p>

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<p>Hi September gal!</p>

<p>Keep digging up info. I read this post and wished there was a voting mechanism that would help keep the thread on an informative course…</p>

<p>My suggestion is this–look up info on all the UK schools your’re interested in. Get to know their programs and requirements, for example, regular student vs. guest student vs. student taking part in a study abroad program arranged by US universities abroad. </p>

<p>From what I have seen, there’s actually a lot of $$ passing hands these days when students study abroad. I think that this is partially why more and more US universities are opening up their own campuses abroad (though some have already had campuses abroad for ages). They do a lot to promote their programs to their own students and other American students – I think they get a lot of $$ this way.</p>

<p>One thing I found to be really informative was looking on websites like AIFS and others (sorry, don’t remember all the sites right now). There, I found info on how to transfer credits to the US – the most interesting part was that it provided very helpful info/insight on how UK universities/colleges differ in terms of “credits” (there system is different). There are apparently even different course load requirements in different departments of the same university. Researching how to transfer credits to the US system actually helped me to understand the UK system – I didn’t know anything about if before I started researching.</p>

<p>I don’t mean to give google a plug, but it’s kinda true that you can type in anything in the search box and you WILL find the info your looking for in one of the hits – you just have to keep looking through the hits until you find what you need. Can be laborious, but I find it worthwhile. </p>

<p>:)</p>