US Resident Wanting to Return To UK for University

Student Lounge International Students
1

Hi everyone,

I am in my senior year and have been thinking about returning to Scotland to get my bachelor’s degree in accounting. I was born in Scotland and, therefore, am a UK citizen (along with my dad). I have lived in the USA since 2010 as a permanent resident of the United States. I want to go to the University of Glasgow, but applying there would require sacrifices on my part.

First off, my high school does International Baccalaureate classes (not AP), and I do not qualify as an IB Diploma Candidate. I did the ACT in my junior year three times and have scored within the university’s requirements. However, I emailed the admissions counselor for my state at the University of Glasgow and he tells me that I would need to take two SAT Subject Tests in areas relevant to my major and score at least a 600 on both.

There are some problems with this.

First of all, the closest date I would be able to take the SAT would be May 2020. This means that all of the deadlines for admission decisions for US universities I have been admitted to will have passed. Secondly, there are only two subjects on the SAT that would seem relevant to an accounting major: Mathematics Level 1 and Mathematics Level 2. Also, some things I would need to include on my application to the University of Glasgow wouldn’t be available until the school year ended (things like my final senior year grades, IB exam results, and even whatever SAT scores I achieve).

I want to go back home to study accounting for a number of reasons:

  1. The bulk of my family still lives there and I would like to be nearer to them
  2. If I did stay in the USA to receive at least a Bachelor’s in Accounting, there’s no guarantee that it would be acceptable in the UK (since I want to move back there at some point in my life)
  3. The tuition, overall, would be cheaper

I’m coming to the forum just so I can see what other people’s advice would be on this. Should I take a gap year in the US? Should I risk giving up all of the admission offers I have here in the US for the chance I will be able to study in the UK? Is a US accounting degree usable in the UK?

Thank you all so much for reading this!

2

First of all, you can apply (and get conditional offers) based on predicted (not achieved) grades- that is, in fact the norm.

Second, an accounting degree won’t fully qualify you in the UK anymore than it will in the US: in both places you will have additional certification requirements (CPA in the US, Chartered Accountant in the UK). And there is reciprocity between CPAs and CAs: https://nasba.org/app/uploads/2018/03/MRAwithICAS2.2018.pdf.

Email back and ask if Math 1 & 2 will count for 2 (sometimes they don’t). Then ask whoever is doing your LoR to ‘predict’ your likely score on the SAT 2s- knowing that any offer is likely to be conditional on achieving that score! - and get your app in. As long as your predictions are in line, your international fee status should get you an offer. Then all you have to do is get those scores in June and confirm your offer. in the meantime, you put a deposit on your favorite of your US acceptances, just in case you don’t make your offer.

Not sure what ‘sacrifice’ you think is being required of you. Looks like a modest amount of effort.

3

@Nathypops As a LPR/Green Card holder you have clearly defined US residency requirements. There are several ways that you can lose your status as a lawful permanent resident. Please review in some detail USCIS information on maintaining permanent residence in your situation:

https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/after-green-card-granted/maintaining-permanent-residence

Once you become a US Citizen there will solely be federal tax filing requirements, no residency requirements. Please make sure to review extended study abroad plans with an experienced immigration attorney. Best of luck and success.