Is my American education worthless in the UK?

Answer 1

No!

An American High School Diploma (providing it covers key subjects - eg English, math, some science, social studies & arts/ humanities) will be accepted as equivalent to a good set of General Certificate of Education (GCSE) passes, & Advanced Placement Tests/ Regents' Exams will be deemed comparable to good General Certificate of Education A Level passes, especially if the scores are in the 4-5 range. Most British universities will also take account of the SAT scores of American applicants.

A good High School Diploma, + 3-4 AP passes in appropriate subjects at 4+/ reasonably competitive SAT scores, will probably secure admission to most universities to study for an undergraduate degree.

Some universities will admit appropriate Associate degree holders to the second year of bachelor degree courses: much depends on the university, & the course applied for.

Generally, a good GPA (3.0+) in a BA/ BS will be enough for admission to masters' degree courses. American masters' degrees are usually accepted as good preparation for doctoral research programmes.

If your degree is from an accredited university/ college it will generally be accepted as equivalent to UK degrees, especially if from an Ivy League or major state or city university - high "brand recognition"!

American medical degrees (MD & DO) are "registerable" qualifications with the British General Medical Council (GMC Registration is required to practise medicine in the UK); US Licenced Professional Engineers are generally granted equivalency status by the UK General Engineering Council/ Institutes of Engineering.

Graduates of accredited US universities/ colleges do not generally have major problems with applying for the Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE), the standard course for degree holders who wish to teach in UK schools. I have taught with a number of colleagues whose bachelor degrees were from American colleges/ unis: none had a problem gaining admission to a PGCE course, although it should be noted that all had high GPAs - above 3.0.

American colleges & universities generally have a high reputation in the UK, and don't forget, thousands of Britons choose to study in the US - British institutions (schools, colleges, universities, hospitals, banks, law & accountancy firms, public bodies & private companies, local & national government, armed forces, police etc) contain many people who "went to school" in the States. For example, 3 of the 5 candidates in the current Labour Party leadership contest hold graduate degrees from Harvard or MIT. The finance firms in the City of London are chock a bloc with graduates of American business schools (both Britons & Americans), & big law firms in London are full of dual qualified lawyers who hop backwards & forwards across the Atlantic on a weekly basis! There probably isn't a major university in Britain that does not have at least a dozen American PhD holders on the teaching/ research faculty.