Oscar1605

I am 16 years old and i have recently learnt that my family and myself have high chances of being expatriated to the U.S - Miami. However, we have been seeking for information regarding the transer from a British curriculum to an American curriculum with our cases in my family but dead ends are frequent and we are running round in circles with no clear answers.

1. First of, myself, am studying my first year of A levels - Maths, Economics, French and Spanish. From research, i have learnt that i will be able to join 12th Grade next year (september 2017) and that my british qualifications (GCSEs, A levels) will be put onto what is called a 'transcript' where the result of my future 12th grade will be added, allowing to potentially continue towards University. Nevertheless i am conscious that i will only have completed one year of A level instead of the traditional 2 year course. I would like to know how this will affect the equivalence of what they will be worth in terms of the American standards. Is it a handicap ? (considering i WILL have grades after my first year of A levels here, in the UK)

2. Secondly, but most importantly, i have desperately been trying to find information for my brother, who is now 19 and is currently completing his first year of Travel and Tourism BTEC and will not be able to complete his 2 year BTEC course if we move to Miami in August 2017. His qualifications are 5 A*-C GCSEs without A levels (with a year of Btec) and my question is to know if there is a way for him to carry on his studies or find the equivalent of what he is doing now in the UK, in order for him to go to University later on. My own research can be resumed in a so called '2+2 format' course which involves 2 year course called 'associates degrees' at a 'community college' which would allow him to 'transfer' to a more traditional 4 year banchelor's degree which might be the path i will normally take myself. I would like to know if this is a possible path for him and weither it is worth it or not and if anyone has been through this stage or know someone who has to give me some information about how it works, what it offers but also if there are alternatives.

Your help will be very appreciated

Thank you.

ian-mstm

Just to avoid the inevitable questions about it... how, exactly, are you being expatriated? Is one of your parents a US citizen? If not, what visa will you be getting. I appreciate that you may not know the answer, but it is vitally important to whether or not things will work out for you!


School ability and smarts aside, be aware that in the US, most 16 year olds will be in 11th grade. If you know, for a fact, that you'll be in 12th grade, you'll be at least a year younger than everyone else in your class - which might be very socially awkward for you.


Since there is no US equivalent of A levels, I doubt it'll have a huge impact... but, since you ask, there will be a fair bit of information that you simply won't have - history and civics, to top the list.


This is why it's vitally important to know what visa you will have or if your parents are US citizens. Regardless of his schooling... if your brother is currently 19 and you arrive here on a visa, he will be obligated to leave the US the day he turns 21. He will not be allowed to stay unless he qualifies independently for a visa - separate from any visa you and your parents might have.

Let's tackle this issue first, before worrying about whether or not he'll be able to stay in school or continue his schooling.

Ian

Rete

Just so you know, you don't do 2 years in a community college for an associate's degree and then go on to a university for a 4 year bachelor's degree.

You go to a college, community, state or private or as is better known to Brits as university and just complete the 4 years for the bachelor. If you decide to quit studying and have the appropriate amount of college credits (60 credits) you will be given an associate's degree. A bachelor's degree is 120 credits. If you want to receive a higher degree, i.e. master's degree, you continue college for another 2 years for a total of 6 years. And then you can further than by going for a PhD which means more years in college.

The US does not have A levels.

petitefrancaise

Why do you want to finish your education in the US? Both of you have only one year to go and honestly, transferring over at this stage may not be worth it.
Do you want to study at university in the USA? Why? Have you seen the costs? Depending on which visa your parents (and therefore you two) get you may no longer be eligible for UK domestic tuition rates.

Let us know your visa and we can all offer much better advice.

Oscar1605

Thank you for your reply, i'll explain in more details; my dad has been offered a promotion in the US - Miami for his job and if he accepts, we will move to Miami next summer. This means he will get a what a bieleve a working visa which is valid for 4-5 years, which includes the whole family as well. hopfully this information that will help you clarify things for me.
Thank you

Oscar1605

None of my parents are US citizens, we live in the UK and my dad will be provided a Working Visa.

Rete

Your father appears from your post to be transferring with the company he is currently working for. It is more likely than not, an L visa category that he will be getting and your mother and you and your brother will be L2 visas.

You brother will age out at 21 and have to leave the US or transfer to another visa on his own in order to stay in the US, i.e. a student visa (F1) or if your father is super lucky his employer will apply for a green card for your father which would include your mother and you two boys almost immediately once they are inside of the US.

You are 16 but will be 17 by next summer when the family immigrates and as you are asking about A levels and high school, I'm assuming you are only now in your junior year of high school (which is what the 11th grade is called in the US) and will be starting your high school senior year (12th grade) next August. Florida schools start the first week in August unlike some states that start in September. College will be very expensive for your family as tuition is not cheap nor are books, dorm fees, etc.

Pulaski

That isn't exactly true, or at least there are alternative routes - you can do two years at a community college or junior college and then transfer the credits to a "four year college" or university and transfer the course credits so you can complete the remaining requirements for a bachelors degree in two further years.

Also with sufficient credits from high school AP (advanced placement) classes you can get college level credits before even starting your bachelor's degree program and therefore it is possible to complete a degree in as little as three years.

Pulaski

If Rete is correct, and she likely is, then you need to be aware that the L-2 visa you and your brother would be on prohibits work, any work at all. So no part time jobs, no Saturday jobs, no summer work, no work at all.

Also do not confuse the L-2 visa you will get from the one you mother will get - an L-2 visa for a spouse does allow working.

Rete

Very true. I read it to be that he thought you needed the associate's degree first from a community college (which actually offers a four year degree as well) and then another 4 years at another college/university. Too much turkey and pie.

petitefrancaise

OK Oscar1605, based on what you've told us.. your parents are moving over on L visas. As the others have said, this means you and your brother can't work on your visas.

Scenario 1.
You finish your "A" levels/BTec in the UK in one year and apply to UK universities or your brother applies for jobs after he has finished.
Pros- you finish this stage of your studies in one year and UK universities are more easily funded (you pay when you start earning). Much easier for you to get into a good UK university than an US one and then job-hunting with a UK degree in a UK job market should be easier too.
Cons. Your parents are here in the USA, you two are in the UK during termtime.

Scenario 2.
You move to the USA to finish your studies, remain on L visas.
Pros. You are with your family, different life experience (not to be dismissed). Possibility of US university or UK university - choice remains open.
Cons. Converting to US High school, transfer of credit is tricky, you may need to do 2 years of high school to get all the mandatory courses completed to gain your high school diploma and get some AP exams under your belt. At age 21 you have to get your own student visa to remain in the USA, if you go to the UK, you can't do this so you will lose the right to live in the USA with your parents. You will be a visitor. US university can be eye-wateringly expensive and as L visa holder you almost definitely won't get any financial assistance. When you finish studying you will have to leave the US and get your own visa to return.

Scenario 3
Your parents negotiate that the company will sponsor the family to get greencards as soon as possible.
Pros. You can stay in the USA for as long as you want. When you apply to university, you are a permanent resident and are eligible to apply for financial aid. With a US degree, it is much easier to get a job in the US, you will be able to work to help pay for the course ( and with the subjects you have mentioned and good grades, you should not find it too hard to get decent paid summer internships). You are with your parents.
Cons. As a permanent US resident, you can't apply to UK university as a UK student, you will be charged international rates that have to be paid upfront. You will still have to get your academic work credited in the high school (possible to do) and you will have to work hard to ensure that you do all the mandatory courses. This may mean you take 2 years to finish up rather than the 1 year which is what you are looking at in the UK. Cost of US universities is still expensive and you need to work out how to fund it.

There may be other variations on this scenario but I think these are the main ones. I concentrated on you because I think for your brother, he should finish his Btec in the UK and only think about coming over if your parents get greencards for you all.

Getting coursework from other countries credited can be done. Either your US high school will sort it out for you or ask you to go through an organisation like WES (google it). For you, I would think the High school will do it but if your brother wants to continue in the US then the college he attends will have a preferred company to use.

I moved my family when my daughter had only 1 year of high school left in France but she had no intention of studying at university there and wanted to study her subject in the USA. We had problems gaining any GPA credit for her previous french school work and it definitely made college applications more difficult. She took 2 years to finish high school doing an IB diploma, did very, very well and has had a succesful transition to university, even getting financial aid for her first year based on her academic results. When we moved, we negotiated that we would get green card applications done immediately, we would not have moved without that being done. My son does not wish to study in the USA and is applying to Dutch/Swedish universities that offer his course in English. EU fees are negligible and for us, th e UK would be too expensive since we would be charged international rates. Not a big deal for my son not to go to the UK since he hasn't lived there since a small baby.

Any more questions? keep asking and we will all help as much as we can.

ian-mstm

... not just a good post, a great post!

Ian

petitefrancaise

I answered regarding the visa/long term/financial issues. Here is an answer regarding getting to school.

Generally, high school transfers are discouraged (as I found out!) because of lack of overlap in course curriculum and the way the different countries assess the student.
As a US high school student there will be mandatory courses to be completed to get your high school diploma - you can't go to university in the USA without this. You're looking at Health/American History at the very least and you must have a certain number of "credits"
Basically, a semester of a subject will give you 1 credit or 0.5 credit. A US student will have been accumulating "credits" for at least 4 years, with many starting in middle school. It's fairly easy to get the number of credits needed to gain the high school diploma over 4 years. In order to get a "credit" a student will have to meet the course requirement concerning minimum grades in a series of tests, each testing an element of the curriculum. For you, you will need complete course curriculum for everything you studied for GCSE and A level showing the marks you got for each set of exams. Be prepared to bring all of your coursework and exam papers over with you so that the teachers can look at it and award you credits or at least exempt you from testing you to see what your level is.
Your aim is to get as many credits as possible from your UK coursework. I would definitely look for a US high school that has more international students so that they will be used to dealing with the situation.

Here is a link with more information:
Graduation Requirements

So, your "A" levels should get you some credits in the US system, but that won't give you either "A" levels because you left the UK before finishing or AP passes. You will need to think about which AP exams you want to take and how long you will need to study in order to get them. If you know what you want to study at university (college in the USA), then contact a few, speak to either "international " or "abnormal" admissions office and ask them what subjects they would like to see from you and at what grades. Think about doing the IB Diploma. It's 2 years but follows the UK curriculum much closer than the AP exam does, so it will be easier for you. An easy first year of doing the IB Diploma (in your current subjects for example) will leave you time to do all the mandatory subjects that you haven't done yet. Then in the 2nd year of IB , you can concentrate on your 4 subjects and perhaps do some AP exams too since the IB generally covers all the AP curriculum. If you are planning on going back to the UK for university, the IB is well regarded. If, like my son, you might want to go to Europe then the IB is perfect.

For your brother, he will have to find a college he wants to go to and ask them how they go about giving credits for what he has already studied. Be warned, that colleges are reluctant to give out too many credits though because it means less money for them.

I know that there are some great posters on this forum that know a lot more than I do about getting credits for the high schools and how to line up everything for college (I'm looking at you Kodokan!) but this is an overview.

Oscar1605

Thank you all so much for these ansewrs i m so pleased and satisfied to receive quality answers rapidly, for what concerns the funds, us moving to the US most expenses (or first expenses) will be paid by the company he is in (hence being expatriates) which means the house, education and accomodation will be paid + we will get fianancial support.

Considering what you all have told me, getting a green card visa would be the most important thing but i believe the company knows my dad has a family therefore it would be normal if my whole family withh have this green card visa.

Thanks again for all this precious information.

Noorah101

If he's coming over on an L-1 with the family on L-2 visas, are you saying the company will pay for housing completely? That's highly unusual. Perhaps the company will cover some time in temporary accommodation, but not the whole time he's in the USA. House and accommodation mean the same thing to me, but you mentioned them both...what's the difference? As for education being paid, unless you go to a private school, there is no cost to go to a public school so the company isn't paying for that. As for "getting financial support", well, your father will be getting a pay check from the company as his financial support.

There's no such thing as a "green card visa". It sounds like your father and family will be coming over on L-1 and L-2 visas. If so, your father should get it in writing from the company that the company will apply for everyone's green card by a specific date (shortly after arrival in the USA). Otherwise, the company doesn't have to apply for green cards, they aren't obligated to do so.

Rene