D19, for a variety of reasons, is looking into transferring from Scotland to the US. She completed her first year (full course load of 6 classes). What are possible obstacles or issues associated with transferring between UK and US schools? For example will a full course load at a U.K. school qualify for transfer as a sophomore?
She is also taking a gap year and could take additional classes if necessary to boost the number of credits.
All insight and guidance is appreciated!
@vpa2019 I am not aware that there is a protocol for transferring from the UK to the USA and applying “credits”. In the UK, generally if you transfer - even within the same university - from one degree to another you generally need to restart from scratch. Although your D19 one year of studies may be beneficial in the application process I am doubtful that any resulting credits would ensue since the two systems are apples and oranges. However, I may be working off old information and hopefully someone else will be able to chime in with more concrete advice. GL!
What schools is she targeting? Many schools take Sophomore level transfers and many schools want Junior level transfers.
What is her intended major? Will she have the required GE and major prep needed to transfer to her target schools?
You would need to check with each target school to see which courses will be transferable.
She is just starting the research process. In all likelihood she won’t have all the GE requirements but she may have the major prep depending on whether she continues with her current intended major of either Econ or psychology.
Will definitely take a deeper dive on transferable credits. A quick look seemed to say that schools determine which courses they will take after the student is accepted. She isn’t worried about the time frame. She would prefer a full 3 years at a new school if possible.
Most colleges won’t tell you what will transfer/what they will accept until after you have been accepted- otherwise every transfer applicant would be asking them to do the analysis which is time consuming.
Go ahead and apply to the schools she is interested in, and look at their GEs to see if there are some she can knock out during her gap year.
My DS19 is interested in doing the exact same thing - UK to US. He’s applying mostly to LACs which don’t have as many core requirements as some other schools. Good luck!
@CollegeMom0923 and @vpa2019- are there lessons from your student’s experiences that might benefit other US students looking to study in the UK that you can share?