will UK unis accept a degree mostly from non-traditional sources?

[rvm]

Hi,

Wow!  I can't believe I've been a member here since 2008.  Some of you as well as some members who no longer seem to be active, helped me change my life!  Thank you!

My daughter wants to attend a university in the UK.  She was homeschooled and didn't take the SAT or ACT.  She doesn't do well on timed tests because she experiences dyslexia and dyscalculia.  I mentioned this because almost every university we've researched in the UK is asking for the SAT or ACT scores unless the student has one year of RA credit from a US uni, an associate degree or, as you probably guessed, a bachelor degree.

She's finished 4 or 5 classes at Sophia and is working on Eng Comp I through ASU Earned Admission. We hope to continue using ASU EA for a minimum of 12 RA credits as well as Sophia so she can get a minimum of a AA or AS before she applies to a UK uni.

I think she's been out of school long enough to qualify for a Pierpont BOG associate degree though we are searching for other options as well.

Has anyone attended a UK or European university after getting a 2 year or a 4 year degree from one of the colleges or unis typically discussed in this forum?

Thanks!

[rachel83az]

For this purpose, I'm not sure that a Pierpont AAS will work. The UK universities may be looking specifically for an AA or an AS and an AAS wouldn't count. I would try to contact different universities about this. If she does want the Pierpont AAS anyway, she only needs the 1-credit class from ASU, not 12 credits. Pierpont requires 1 or more graded credits and counts Sophia credits as "RA" right now. This could change in the future.

You might want to look into Snow College: https://snow.edu/online/aol.html This is a competency-based AS that costs $1898 per semester. If your daughter is able to work quickly, total cost may only be $1898. If you haven't already found it, I can highly recommend the Speechify extension to read aloud web pages and ebooks to help her progress through the content more quickly.

You might want to see if she can do some CLEP exams. They're supposed to give accommodations to students who have difficulties with standard exams: https://parents.collegeboard.org/faq/can...mmodations Snow takes at least some CLEP exams, but I'm not sure if they take Sophia. If she could get at least a few free CLEPs through ModernStates, that could also lower the cost of a Snow degree.

[freeloader]

rvm, what does your daughter want to study?

[sarahmac]

Hi,

Wow!  I can't believe I've been a member here since 2008.  Some of you as well as some members who no longer seem to be active, helped me change my life!  Thank you!

My daughter wants to attend a university in the UK.  She was homeschooled and didn't take the SAT or ACT.  She doesn't do well on timed tests because she experiences dyslexia and dyscalculia.  I mentioned this because almost every university we've researched in the UK is asking for the SAT or ACT scores unless the student has one year of RA credit from a US uni, an associate degree or, as you probably guessed, a bachelor degree.

She's finished 4 or 5 classes at Sophia and is working on Eng Comp I through ASU Earned Admission. We hope to continue using ASU EA for a minimum of 12 RA credits as well as Sophia so she can get a minimum of a AA or AS before she applies to a UK uni.

I think she's been out of school long enough to qualify for a Pierpont BOG associate degree though we are searching for other options as well.

Has anyone attended a UK or European university after getting a 2 year or a 4 year degree from one of the colleges or unis typically discussed in this forum?

Thanks!

Without wanting to sound unkind, I am genuinely not sure a UK university is her best option. The entirety of the UK education system is based on timed exams.

When we finish high school at 16 we take 8-10 classes worth of written exams (with generally 2-3 final exam papers per class, each of which is 2-ish hours long). Pre-university from 16-18 is more of the same: 3-4 courses, each consisting of 4-6 classes, each of which requires multiple timed hand-written exam papers. Though the exams get longer (3 hours). These are the exams that are worth college credit in the US.

This is how most university modules are examined too, and because British kids have been through this system they are expected to be very practiced at writing essays and long-format answers and proofs in timed conditions. No multiple-choice tests, not much graded homework, just one handwritten final exam in a proctored exam hall setting that is usually essay or long answer-based (or proof-based if studying a mathematics-related subject). Occasionally some classes will have a midterm, but it isn't that common.

If timed exams are something she struggles with, it would sort of be like setting her up to do badly knowing that this education system doesn't suit her. Allowances are of course made for dyslexic students, they often get extra time and may be allowed to type the exam, but dyslexic Brits have still been through this education system up until the point of starting uni - and so have intensively practiced coping with their dyslexia in this system if that makes sense?

If you have the money to support her, and her goal is to study in the UK or Europe, but not necessarily at a UK or European uni, maybe look into American colleges in the UK/Europe? There are quite a few and they follow the US educational style while still giving her that experience overseas.

[debrag]

UK uni's don't do 'alt-credit' as such. IB, A-level, BTEC, ACCESS, T-levels (new), Advanced Highers, are the general entry requirements. AP, ACT, SAT for US students.

A top-up degree needs: foundation degree, HND, BTEC, Associate Degree, DipHE etc. There are not many top-up degrees and are usually subject specific.

If she can do an Access course as an international student online she could get in for 1st year.

The Open University doesn't ask for qualifications and is online. Start in 1st year unless have RA credits.

[bjcheung77]

@rvm, Which state are you in? Is your daughter looking into UK for a Bachelors/Undergrad or a Masters/Grad? I suggest continuing on your current path for now, the Pierpont BOG AAS and an emphasis in something she's interested in. You can ladder that into the UMPI BLS or a TAMUC BAAS OL, depending on what she's looking to do. These programs are all self-paced and graded, but will take 90 credits from ACE sources such as Sophia.org and she can continue taking ACE credits towards Pierpont BOG AAS for now...

[rvm]

Thank you to everyone answered my post.  My apologies for not responding sooner as an injury to my hand as left me typing very slowly - using only one hand.  I will reply to each of you as soon as I can type my replies.

[rvm]

For this purpose, I'm not sure that a Pierpont AAS will work. The UK universities may be looking specifically for an AA or an AS and an AAS wouldn't count. I would try to contact different universities about this. If she does want the Pierpont AAS anyway, she only needs the 1-credit class from ASU, not 12 credits. Pierpont requires 1 or more graded credits and counts Sophia credits as "RA" right now. This could change in the future.

We've checked some websites for the unis my daughter is interested in.  We will definitely follow up with the individual uni as some of the university websites say they will accept an associate degree but some of the websites do not indicate they will accept an associate degree.  If they don't accept an associate degree, the ones we've investigated to date have stated they will accept one year at an American uni/college in lieu of an SAT or ACT scores.    

You might want to look into Snow College: https://snow.edu/online/aol.html This is a competency-based AS that costs $1898 per semester. If your daughter is able to work quickly, total cost may only be $1898. If you haven't already found it, I can highly recommend the Speechify extension to read aloud web pages and ebooks to help her progress through the content more quickly.

Thank you.  This one is new to us and something to investigate.

You might want to see if she can do some CLEP exams. They're supposed to give accommodations to students who have difficulties with standard exams: https://parents.collegeboard.org/faq/can...mmodations Snow takes at least some CLEP exams, but I'm not sure if they take Sophia. If she could get at least a few free CLEPs through ModernStates, that could also lower the cost of a Snow degree.

I'll definitely share this info with my daughter.

[rvm]

rvm, what does your daughter want to study?

Sociology, psychology or neuroscience. 

We know UK universities don't do Gen Eds and that she needs to select a "major" and basically stick with it throughout her 3 years at a university in the UK.   Because of this, I'm trying to convince her to get her undergraduate degree in the states then apply to graduate schools in the UK.  She wants to get her undergrad degree in the UK so that the 3 years at the uni can be applied  to the total number of years she needs to live in the UK in order to apply for residency.

[sarahmac]

rvm, what does your daughter want to study?

Sociology, psychology or neuroscience. 

We know UK universities don't do Gen Eds and that she needs to select a "major" and basically stick with it throughout her 3 years at a university in the UK.   Because of this, I'm trying to convince her to get her undergraduate degree in the states then apply to graduate schools in the UK.  She wants to get her undergrad degree in the UK so that the 3 years at the uni can be applied  to the total number of years she needs to live in the UK in order to apply for residency.

Time spent on a student visa does not count toward residency.