Question about high school
 

Hi,
We are thinking about emigrating to the USA when our daughter finishes UK High School. She will be 3 months short of age 17 when she leaves, will she had to enrol in an American High School and have to pass exams to graduate and proceed to college? Or will her UK qualifications be enough for a college place?

Looking forward to receiving some replies, you all seem like a nice bunch of people :)

Re: Question about high school
 

Hi and welcome to the forum.

Will she have her A levels when she leaves, or just GCSE's? And how long is it until you are planning to emigrate?

Do you have a time constraint with your visa or are you already US citizens?

:)

Re: Question about high school
 

Thanks for your reply.
She will (hopefully) have some GCSEs.
Hopefully we will be ready to quit the UK in about 18 months, although this will depend upon the visa situation which has not even begun as yet.

Re: Question about high school
 

I don't think GCSE's are enough to get into university. You need A levels. So she might need to do her GED anyway. She doesn't HAVE to enroll in a US school and I'm not sure if she should or not but she could if she wanted too and it would probably be a good experiance and she'd get the chance to get her HSD there.

Re: Question about high school
 

It's hard to say because each school treats things differently. Many colleges say a US high school degree or GED 'end of story'--if you don't have those then forget it. You should also not that most universities will require to sit for some standardized test before considering her application, either the SAT or ACT test.

Another consideration is money. If you 'live' 9-12-18-24 months in a state (it varies) you can become eligible for 'in state tuition' at the publicly-funded university in that state (for example, the University of Michigan for Michigan residents, the University of Illinois for Illinois residents, etc). This is a HUGE financial savings--so much so that many people might actually recommend you have her 'gap year' as a high school senior in the US. Getting a bit acclimated to the US culture, making some friends, and getting in the groove before she starts her Uni.

Re: Question about high school
 

But also check that the resident thing doesn't also require LPR status first or not as some colleges will require that to be considered in-state even if you've lived there years.

Might not be an issue with the OP as I don't have a clue how they plan to move to the US in the first place visa wise etc.

Re: Question about high school
 

What visa are you going for?

Re: Question about high school
 

Not sure yet as that's my husband's job on the ticklist of "project USA";)

Re: Question about high school
 

In which case, don't even worry about schooling just yet!

The visa is a massive hurdle to overcome, the US is notoriously difficult to get in to so there's no point in worrying about the finer details until you've figured out if you're even eligible to get any visa.

I hope that one or both of you has very specialist skills and the visa won't be a problem, but it's the first thing you need to consider.

Have a read of this for details of the visas available and then you can come back and tell us which you would be going for, as that may make a difference.

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Pulask...ork_in_the_USA

:)

Re: Question about high school
 

Please don't underestimate the enormity of this task. There is probably a 98% chance you will NOT get past this visa requirement, unless you happen to be closely related to an American, wealthy, or possessing an advanced college degree in medicine or technology.

I don't mean to be negative--but please take a look at the WIKI link for how to work here first as it will save you quite a bit of worrying about other things. The visa thing stops so many dead in their tracks.

Re: Question about high school
 

I'd put her in the local community college to get a GED and then start working towards the first half of a degree. Transfer to a full university should be relatively easy after she's proved herself at community college, besides saving a fortune in fees.

Re: Question about high school
 

No worries, the three things you mention are already in place along with more besides.

I am just taking care of / investigating stuff that I an "in charge of" and curious about (for want of a better expression). If it all looks a bit "back to front" it's because my husband is sorting / investigating stuff of a more "important" nature in his own way. :thumbsup:

Re: Question about high school
 

Thank-you, you sneaked your reply in while I was typing :thumbup:

Re: Question about high school
 

Oh boy...

1. Forget about your daughter's schooling for now.

2. Start reading the WIKI, and other links on BE about how to move to the USA.

3. Be prepared to not like what you find. If there are no visas that you are eligible for, you will be out of luck, I'm sorry to say.

Re: Question about high school
 

Did you have a state/city in mind, by the way?