Applying for graduate program abroad

[DJW1025]

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Hey everyone,

I am a US citizen hoping to apply to a graduate program abroad (I was hoping to go to England), and I wanted to know if it is feasible as a non-UK citizen. This website says that funding would probably be an issue, which was heartbreakingly disappointing. Does anyone have any advice?

Thanks so much

 

[deliciousgoose]

I have heard that it is not very difficult to get into programs in the UK as a non-UK/EU citizen because they see foreign students as cash-cows basically. The education you great will likely be great (depending where you go) but it will be hellah expensive.

Also, you might have difficulties getting licensed back in the USA, but I am not sure of the technicalities surrounding that.

 

[Pragma]

I have heard that it is not very difficult to get into programs in the UK as a non-UK/EU citizen because they see foreign students as cash-cows basically. The education you great will likely be great (depending where you go) but it will be hellah expensive.

Also, you might have difficulties getting licensed back in the USA, but I am not sure of the technicalities surrounding that.

Yeah ditto. I looked into this before graduate school because I loved London so much. It will be a pain if you want to get licensed in the US, but it is not impossible depending on your state. I would contact your state licensing board if you have an idea where you might want to move back to. That's what I did and I ultimately decided against applying abroad.

 

[DJW1025]

Thanks for the responses!

So it's my understanding that I would basically receive no funding as a US citizen?

 

[hockey99]

I looked into this option as well, and as a US citizen it would be very unlikely for you to get funding. It's my understanding that they don't like their taxes that support their schools to go to foreign students

 

[DJW1025]

Alright. Other than funding, what obstacles would I encounter? Or is that the only problem?

 

[Pragma]

Alright. Other than funding, what obstacles would I encounter? Or is that the only problem?

See above....if you don't want to stay there permanently, you may have problems having the degree transfer to the US. I have friends who were educated in other countries that had to redo grad school here in order to be licensable.

If you think moving back is even a remote possibility, contact the state licensing board to get their policy. It may be a moot point if you aren't thinking clinical or counseling, but accredidation also matters.

 

[TM11]

Alright. Other than funding, what obstacles would I encounter? Or is that the only problem?

I am a U.S. citizen and U.K. permanent resident (through marriage to a Brit) so I've done a lot of research into this option since I will be applying to UK programmes next year.

99.9% of programmes do not accept international (non-UK/EU) students at all. You need to have permanent residence status in the UK, and on top of that you need to have lived in the UK or EU for 3 years previously (during which time you could not have been on a student visa). So unless you have UK or EU citizenship or permanent residency, you will not be eligible to apply.

I emailed around to ask (since I only now meet the 3 year requirement) and was told that without it, the application is automatically kicked out of the national clearinghouse system. This is because all of the funding comes from the government-run healthcare (National Health Service) so programmes are only interested in funding those who will be in the UK long term. UK clinical psych programmes are a partnership between the NHS and the universities, so many programmes explicitly want experience working with the NHS and have NHS psychologists on the admissions committees.

A few programmes are starting to accept international students, but only those who are self-funding. This is very controversial, as many Brits don't want international students taking their places just because (usually American) students are willing to pay for it. Delicious goose is right in that many UK programs use international students as cash cows and have very high acceptance rates, but right now, clinical psych is not one of them (top UK programmes are just as competitive as top US programmes with <1% acceptance rates, etc.).

Hope that was helpful- I'm happy to answer any other questions 🙂.

 

[sabaijae]

Hey everyone,

I am a US citizen hoping to apply to a graduate program abroad (I was hoping to go to England), and I wanted to know if it is feasible as a non-UK citizen. This website says that funding would probably be an issue, which was heartbreakingly disappointing. Does anyone have any advice?

Thanks so much

I did my Masters in the UK (anthropology, not psych). Just from what I learned when applying to anthro programs, overseas/non-EU students can not receive ESRC funding/studentships, which is the most common funding for social science subjects in the UK.

Other than that, several universities do have their own studentship schemes although they're usually extremely competitive (such as Kent and Durham).

As others have stated, overseas students are big $$$. Lots of Chinese students' parents don't mind forking out the cash for an unfunded PhD, etc. I suppose the PhD carries more weight when they go back home, where 'guanxi'/connections/face basically rules everything.

 

[DJW1025]

Thanks so much for the replies everyone! I think that I will probably end up going to a school here in the states and seeing if I can maybe do a residency overseas or work in someone's lab for awhile instead of attending a graduate program there.