christmasoompa

IB = International Baccalaureate. Recognised and accepted by uni’s around the world including the US & UK.

After 10 years in the US, I’d be surprised if your kids wanted to move to the UK for uni tbh. So I wouldn’t make plans based on that, in case they’re not agreeable. And as above, if they do want to go to uni in the UK rather than the US, you’ll probably be looking an international fees.

Good luck with the potential move.

tht

And another steady steam of people moving in to the houses they sell/vacate… I don’t see empty houses all over CT, I actually see more evidence of shortages and record sale prices….

spouse of scouse

Just checking to make sure the OP is talking about US$500,000, not GBP500,000. I only mention it because it's a mistake I've seen made a few times, people quoting the currency of their home country.

tht

$500k or $615k… won’t make much of difference buying a house 1h from NYC…

tht

Are you all USC? Not sure what visa you are getting for 10 years, all the ones I am familiar with are dont renew for that long. So if you are not USC I assume it’s a visa and then Green cards… you may want to look at the longe therm tax implications of your proposed move.

retzie

Everyone is talking about a commute to Manhattan, but the OP included a plane emoji:

Sofia, could you clarify if your husband needs to commute, or if he just needs to be able to reach the office semi-regularly?

In either case, you should definitely not just be thinking about New York state. As others have mentioned, Connecticut and New Jersey should be in the mix, and even Pennsylvania as well. A budget of $500K is going to be a challenge though, so you should be prepared to move (a lot) on the "one hour" part.

Hey! It also smells of rotting fish and hot garbage at the right time of year. Don't be selling us short

Nutmegger

And don't forget to mix in the aroma of dirty franks simmering in their baths of cloudy water on the street corners . . .

retzie

PetrifiedExPat

I love NYC, don't get me wrong! I just don't want the foul smell to actually set in on my clothes... ergo 2-3 days max!

PetrifiedExPat

IB is meh, too broad and again requires a lot of catch up.

Pulaski

How is this helpful?

Even I don't understand what your driving at when the OP has basically three choices - [1] US domestic school, [2] IB school, or [3] the tough to find British curriculum school. So if she has a choice between [1] and [2], you're saying [2] isn't a good choice .... so now what? I doubt you're saying [1] is better than [2]?

PetrifiedExPat

I did toy with posting that, since it was a negative without posing a solution. Guilty as charged..

In this case then, I would recommend private school, US curriculum. I have started to notice that teachers in this setting go above and beyond what is required, to a standard we are accustomed to at home.

christmasoompa

Depends on the child and the age, for my son it will be far less catch up than him moving to the US curriculum at age 16 would be. From what we've seen of the IB work so far, my son will be way ahead thanks to an excellent school in the UK. As for being too broad, that again will depend on the child IMO. Both of mine are science focused and so only wanted to do science A Levels, my son isn't keen on having to carry on with a language or English for the IB. But most of their peers have no clue what they want to do and would much prefer a broader curriculum of 6 subjects rather than having to choose 3 that may have no relevance to what they choose to do at uni or for a career in 2 years time.

Different strokes for different folks and all that. I only suggested it to the OP as something to look at if she's sure they will be returning to the UK in 10 years. If so, it would be much easier to move from IB to IB, than from a US curriculum to UK curriculum, and could also be easier for UK uni entry if she's sure that's where they'll go. They're young enough to adjust easily to the US system now, but it would be returning that could be the issue.

mommapudding

I’d drop the British education aspect and worry. Our kid is about to graduate in UK, we’re still in NC.
She went to regular American schools, ended up doing a foundation year in an International Program to allow for the American education, which could have been avoided if she’d done subject specific SATs. So that’s the bit you need to be aware of.
Subject Specific SATs.
Get tuning the scores in those if you want to attend a Russell Group Uni without a Foundation Year, but it didn’t hurt her a bit to do it. Was cheaper than some US Colleges too.

I won’t pile on with the tax implications of your relocation package other than to say find an accountant with international experience to steer you through it from the get go and never forget your FBAR.
Wishing you the best of luck with the move, been here since ‘07.

Babylonbabe

I know I’m late to this question but thought I should contribute so the info is here. We are British expats by way of Asia & have been in the USA since 2006. We have successfully got our eldest two kids to British uni’s - St Andrew’s & Edinburgh (they were about 6 & 7 when we came). Originally we too thought we needed to be in the British system in NYC, but did just the first two years there. All British universities accept USA qualifications - specifically the AP exams and an SAT/ACT score. The issue that you face is that a score of 3/5 on an AP gets you credits at a US college, but to get into a UK university you need to get 4’s or 5’s depending on the course/ uni. I think the Biology AP had about 6% of students getting a 5, so you have to be strategic in the AP’s you choose and put the work in. You can check the national %’s on the internet. We haven’t opted for the IB as I am suspicious of the quality of the offerings. Our nephew did IB at a top private school in London and I’m not sure that what’s on offer here is set up to compete with those students internationally. The main issue you have is the completely different criteria that the further education systems are looking for - US colleges want real standout of extra curriculars and commitment/achievement in them, Uk uni’s want the academics. In my experience most teachers here look completely taken aback when you say that your kid needs 3-5 AP’s all with a 5. If you don’t mind the pressure cooker environment, you are
most likely to be successful in in the Westchester/ high achieving public school systems around NYC suburbs. This wasn’t our vibe so we moved states. Obviously this is a huge topic but I hope these few thoughts might help someone else. Also, a quick flag for anyone aiming for a course that needs Maths A level equivalent. You have to get an AP Calculus BC (probably a 5). The maths curriculum here is algebra 1, Algebra 2, geometry, pre Calculus, then either AP Calculus AB or AP Calculus BC (BC covers 2 AP’s -AB & BC). You will note that there are more courses than there are years at high school. So you have to be already getting you kid into Algebra 1 by 8th grade (age 13) or you may have missed the boat. This was a tough learning curve for us so am just putting it out there!