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

[sarahmac]

Best thing is to complete an associate degrees in the subject she wants to do in the UK.

I do disagree with this as a blanket rule. The associates in this case is being used as a replacement for our two years of post-HS A Level study.

Rather than an associates in the subject, the associates should attempt to cover the prerequisites for her chosen degree that would normally be covered at A Level (or during a foundation year). For neuroscience, for example, the prerequisites are the same at most universities. Of the three total A Levels, at least two should be selected from Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics (the Core Sciences). Some universities will take Geography, Psychology as "backup" sciences (Manchester, among others). This was also the advice specifically given by Durham, Cardiff and Warwick to an American friend of mine. They said do not bother with an associates in his chosen subject, the level will be too low anyway. Make sure you have the equivalent to A Level Maths covered as part of the associates, along with at least one other hard science. This is their general rule.

I get the impression from the poster's posts thus far that his daughter had not told him UK degrees have prerequisites. Someone going to study Sociology would have taken very different prerequisite A Levels (three of History, Sociology, Politics, Geography, Pyschology, often English) to someone studying NeuroSci... and the same will be expected from an associate's degree holder. You cannot wait until your associates is done to choose.

If she has an associates, but not the prerequisites, I can see her being forced into a foundation year anyway.

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For the dad in the thread:

Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics are not single classes. A Level Maths, for example, is approximately Calc 1-3 and two electives: Stats 1 and 2, Discrete Math 1 and 2, or Mechanics 1 and 2. A Level Biology is, approximately, College Bio I and II, Microbiology and Genetics (the first three are lab-based). So on and so forth for the others. I say approximately because the Core 4 maths paper always has at least one diff eq problem. Psychology A Level has more flexibility with different exam boards including different classes, but it has 4 classes as a rule (see here: https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/psycholo...t-a-glance).

If I was planning an associates degree from scratch for an American who had not yet decided between neurosci and psychology I would include:

College Bio I - 4
College Bio II - 4
Microbiology - 4
Genetics - 3
Precalc - 3 (if not taken in HS)
Calc 1 - 3
Calc 2 - 3
Calc 3 - 3
Stats 1 - 3
Discrete Math 1 - 3
Intro to Psychology - 3
Human Growth and Development - 3
Research Methods in Psychology - 3 or Abnormal Pyschology - 3
Social Psychology - 3

That totals 45. Some of which would cover Gen Eds. The remaining 15 credits I presume would be, depending on the university, e.g. Comp I and II, Public Speaking, a History Class, a Civics class etc. Most of the classes above can be obtained via alt-credit like Study.com.

You could of course take Chem 1 and 2 instead of Biology, the problem would be finding the other Chem classes. A Level Chemistry is comprised of Inorganic Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, and Analytical Chemistry (see https://www.cambridgeinternational.org/I...llabus.pdf, pg. 35-49). Similar problem with Physics.

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We were unaware of American colleges in the UK or other countries in Europe.  Something to definitely investigate as that sounds like an excellent option. 

I have posted a reply to Debrag previous to this post I highly suggest looking over.

If you truly want to go the UK route, the associates plan covers the prereqs for most UK uni courses in pysch and neurosci. I am not convinced of the merits of someone with dyscalculia attempting neurosci, which is heavily mathematical, but nevertheless the plan I created would likely gain her entry. For sociology the plan would change entirely, since sociology has different prereqs.

I still maintain her best option is a UK masters. At this point the study method typically moves away from timed handwritten exams toward coursework, research papers etc.

Her years as a student do not count toward UK residency anyway. It is the two year graduate visa she gets after completing her degree that counts toward residency time. She would get one of those as a masters graduate too.

If it is the experience of studying overseas that she is after though, here is a full list of all American programs overseas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Am...ted_States

You may find something there that interests her. Richmond is in London and has a psych major and sociology minor https://www.richmond.ac.uk/undergraduate-programmes/.