Hi, everyone! I applied to 5 UK unis last year during my senior year and got into them all. I had planned on going to one of them, hopefully the University of Edinburgh, but then COVID hit so I’m currently doing my freshman year at FSU, which is my public state school.
My plan was to graduate with my bachelor’s degree in 3 years and go to the UK for grad school. I have 43 credits currently from an I.B. high school degree and by the end of this freshman year I should have 76, making me a junior in college technically. I’m super impatient and miss the UK a lot and constantly feel upset that my plans were interrupted, though.
Would it be worth it for me to transfer after finishing my freshman year at FSU to a U.K. university for the Fall of 2021? I would only do it if I got in and managed to find enough scholarships to fund myself. Is this feasible, or should I just wait until grad school?
Thank you!!
It is extremely unlikely that you can “transfer”- they will take your 1st year of college towards admissions, but you won’t get a year knocked off the degree. So, you will still have 3/4 years to go (depending on the course). I don’t know where you would find $50K/ year in scholarships.
There is no financial aid for international students in the UK. Well, occasionally you might £500 towards books. But no big amounts.
Do study abroad - you could do the whole of junior year at a British university. Then you can also do graduate school later on.
How had you been planning on funding it prior to Covid?
Each university’s website has more info on financial aid and US federal aid can follow you. My daughter (current high school junior) has set her sights on going to university in the UK or Ireland. She is leaning toward Strathclyde at the moment and they do have the potential for scholarships and aid.
https://www.strath.ac.uk/studywithus/internationalstudents/yourcountry/usa/
"Scholarships
…
Funding
The University of Strathclyde will accept students under the new Direct Loan programme and GI Bill. For assistance, please contact our finance team by emailing federal-loans-admin@strath.ac.uk
Federal Aid
Strathclyde is registered as a foreign school with the US Department of Education. This means that we can certify eligibility for Direct Loans and Direct PLUS Loans (graduate / professional students only)
You must be attending a course that leads to one of the qualifications below:
bachelor degrees
master’s or doctorate degrees
first professional degrees
The University of Strathclyde’s Federal Aid registration code is (FAFSA): 00980800.
Find out more about the US Direct Federal Aid.
Check out our scholarships database to find out more about all scholarships and funding opportunities for undergraduate and postgraduate students."
You need to dig through each university’s website, but we have found that quite a few do work with FAFSA and many offer scholarships to International Students.
Here’s a scholarship from Strathclyde specifically for international students:
https://www.strath.ac.uk/studywithus/scholarships/?nationality=United%20States&level=Undergraduate
"Dean’s International Excellence Award - Undergraduate: Humanities and Social Sciences
This scholarship is for new international students who will begin a full-time undergraduate course in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in September 2020. The award is a £3,500 scholarship per year for the duration of their degree. All offer holders are eligible for this scholarship."
So there is indeed money out there for US students, you just have to look for it.