Leaving children behind
 

We are moving Stateside in the summer, bringing two children aged 12 and 14 and leaving one aged 21 in the UK. We also have an 18 year old who is doing A levels this summer and considering coming with us. I think he'll benefit enormously from coming with us, experiencing a new country (never mind the fact that his dear old mum, ie me, is going to be missing her eldest terribly as it is), but does anyone know their way around the university system? Has he already missed applying for this year? Are the US universities as good as UK ones? And should he take his driving test before we go or wait and learn over there?
So many questions...

Re: Leaving children behind
 

Taking his UK driving test won't help him in the US (he'd have to take a new one for the state he moves to), but it will help him if he might ever want to move back to the UK.

Re: Leaving children behind
 

Regarding the university question - you may want to contact a couple and see if they require anything in the way of having his qualifications translated to US equivalents (a transcript that you give to the university showing what his qualifications equal in US terms). Be prepared for the fees here - they are horrific especially as he won't qualify for 'in-state' funding anywhere, in fact I would guess he would be an international student.

An example of fees is here:

http://admissions.msu.edu/finances/tuition.asp

Driving - depending on what state you are moving to he will probably need to take that state's written and driving test (I'm pretty sure that all states require you to take their own tests). So probably better for him just to learn here I would have thought.

Re: Leaving children behind
 

You (and your 18 year old) need to think very carefully about this.

As has already been mentioned a University education in the US will be expensive. For budgetary purposes, assume that it is going to cost $50,000 per year for 3 years. Depending on what status the 18 year old has he may not be allowed to work in order to help support himself during this period (or, if he has an F1 visa he may only be able to work on campus) and there is no assurance that he will be able to stay in the US once he completes his studies.

Also, this is a big move to make at 18. Did he already have plans to go to university in the UK - this is about the point at which he would have been leaving home anyway - I understand that having the family several thousand miles away on another continent is a lot different from them being only a few hundred mlles away at most, but if he has never spent any time in the US it would be a big adjustment for him.

(I just looked at your other posts, but I still am not sure whether I understand your status correctly - you are a US citizen, but left the US when you were 3 years old, right? How about the children, what citizenship(s) do they have?)

Re: Leaving children behind
 

More likely four years - US university programs are generally longer than UK ones.

Re: Leaving children behind
 

I completly agree plus he'd have to pay international fees if he hasn't lived in the US for at least a year in state area where the University is.
Many are taking even longer than that due to cutbacks, clases aren't available, it's taking a lot of students 5 years to get that 4 year degree. In Uk it would be 3 years even with the rise in tuition over there it'd be cheaper to go to UK uni.

We are doing this in reverse :banghead: Oldest did uni here and the 17 year old wants to go back to UK at 18, he wants to be a policeman, he'll have to work and go to tech college and we'll have to pay international fees.

Re: Leaving children behind
 

I don't agree that taking his UK driving test won't help him. The laws vary from state to state, so it might not help him, but it probably will. I never learned to drive in the UK and hence never took the test. If I'd arrived with a British license I'd have been allowed to drive here on condition I took and passed the local test in a set time frame (3 months I think, some states are more, some are less). However, not having a British license, the State won't even issue me a learner's permit until I have a confirmed residency or visa valid for at least 6 months. How soon this happens depends on what immigration route you're taking. In my case (K1) they won't let me learn to drive until my green card is issued.

Re: Leaving children behind
 

I also think the standard of teaching is far more strident in the UK so if he can pass a UK test I would feel a lot more confident about his road safety than if he only passed here.

Re: Leaving children behind
 

Yes - an idiot could pass the driving test here!!

Re: Leaving children behind
 

Now now, I failed the first time when I was 16. :sneaky::p

Re: Leaving children behind
 

OK I have to agree with that. It was super simple here compared to the UK.

Re: Leaving children behind
 

Wow, what a splendid forum! So many helpful replies; you've certainly given us food for thought. Thanks to all.

Re: Leaving children behind
 

Not quite true...if he has a UK DL he may or may not have to take a practical driving test...it depend what state he is moving to. If he was moving to NJ he would only take a multi question test.

$50K...maybe for a private uni but nothing like that for an in-state uni.

Re: Leaving children behind
 

I think what the poster means is that unless you have resided in the state for a certain time frame, you will have to pay out of state tuition fee's which would be more like $50K a year. I looked into it for the UK aswell and if you move to the UK, you have to be living here for 3 years or you have to pay the international rate for Uni until you have resided here for 3 years. Im not sure what the time frame would be in the US or even in different states but be prepared to wait until he is eligible for in-state fee's or be prepared to pay through the nose!!

Re: Leaving children behind
 

The out-of-state rates for a University of California tuition fee are around $33,000, so $50,000 would be about right with the living costs.

I think you may have to have LPR status to get the in-state rates, it came up on another thread.