Pashtun

Hello there,

I hope that this is the correct place to post this - if not then please feel free to move.

I have spoken to a few American Colleges based here in London who say that UK qualifications are weighted higher then US one's. To be honest I thought it was the other way round mainly because their Bachelors take four years and ours only three. Also, in Polaski's wiki info thing it confirms my assumption that USA quals are higher... it seems like info that I get from agencies and others are telling me one thing and info that I get in this forum is another. It seems like there are a lot of people kicking about in this forum who has a lot of experience with these issues and I was wondering whether anyone can shed light? Shall I continue to assume that US degrees are weighted higher then UK one's as a rule of thumb?

Thank you

AdobePinon

Weighted higher for whom? Your question needs context.

Pashtun

Sorry. For studying in the USA. I read somewhere (Polaski's?) that a UK student who goes to study Graduate level programs in the US need the equivelent of a US Bachelors, which is a UK Undergrad degree plus a UK Masters. However when I spoke to American Universities with campuses in London, they say that UK students who have A Level's can use them to gain credits towards a US Bachelors and if you have a UK Undergrad degree, you can count modules from that to go towards a US Masters....

Dan725

No doubt one of the more professional people will be on soon to answer fully, but doesn't sound right to me. By and large, I think Bachelors = Bachelors and Masters = Masters, with the odd exception of degrees where specific knowledge variations make a difference (for example, law degrees).

There is no "Better" (at least on a national basis - it really depends on individual university credability) despite the fact that the US bachelors degree takes an extra year.

dunroving

There have been several discussions on here over the years about UK vs US degrees, some very recent. You might need to try different search terms to find them.

Despite the fact that US takes 4 years and UK takes only 3 (actually, England and Wales - Scotland takes 4 for an Honors degree), this is offset by the fact the US degree includes over a year of "General Ed" classes.

Pretty much, US institutions treat a UK undergrad degree as if it were a US undergrad degree.

cranston

checkout WES

There is a lot of bs on this subject. Dont believe everything you get told.

I agree with dunrovin's comments

Bob

WES are only as useful as a company willing to use them.

If this is specifically regarding a uni and using qualifications to get into that uni, it's only important what they consider and will accept so it really doesn't matter what the general concensus is.

And experience is only handy if there is no degree, but that's an immigration thing with the 3 years experience per year of study rather than a uni thing, though they may have similar requirements. A degree is a degree generally for work and study purposes and A-levels could be equivalent to an associates degree, which can be used to kick start the first year at uni just like a AS degree would.

ihe

A 3 year UK degree is regarded as equivalent to a 4 year masters. When I went on study abroad I compared our 3 year program to the 4 year program in the US university. The UK programme packs as the same number of credit hours in the major into 3 years as the US programme does into 4, but obviously you get a broader based education in a US curriculum which is no bad thing.

An MEng or a 12 month masters is not equivalent to a US masters however. The former can be obtained in 4 years the latter usually 6.

Alan17

Having been through the university system in the UK (Scotland) and US

Bachelors after 3 years ~= US Bachelors
Honors after 4 years ~= US Masters

My engineering degrees were assessed as equivalent to the above for entry into a US Masters program. To be honest unless anyones really picky about what was covered in the courses I've never really heard anyone care beyond that. That said I'd still rank the UK's as tougher and more credible qualifications based on my educational and work experience.

ihe

Your notation suggests they are not equal, then you say your engineering degrees were regarded as equivalent so I'm confused.

I've just finished an MEng degree. My 3rd year was abroad. The reason it is tougher in the UK is because UK universities are

a) less well resourced
b) run a much shorter teaching term (2 terms of 10 weeks teaching vs 2 terms of 14-15 weeks teaching). The Americans start fall 4-5 weeks earlier and don't lose a month on Easter break.
c) less supportive of the student - partly because of a and b above but also because (especially in a research university like I was in) they give fewer (if any) homework assignments.

In the UK you can get an A by goofing off and last minute swotting. Can't do that in the US because assessment in the US is more continuous but this in turn makes it easier to achieve higher marks because past poor performances can be recovered on the final and vice versa.

Although the difficulty of the exams are comparable the continuous assessment (3 exams were quite common) meant that I achieved better mastery of the subjects I took in the US plus the semester was long enough that you could begin to see the threads of stuff you learn early in the course coming together in the latter part.

In the US they tend to ask more questions in the exam all of which were compulsory so you couldn't really opt out of parts of the syllabus as you can in the UK (because you only have to answer 3 from 5 questions).

The focus on layering a general education on top of the major means that US universities do not produce science students that are semi-literate and arts student that are semi-numerate.

In my discipline I would take a graduate of a good US school over a graduate of a "comparable" UK school every time. Tougher does not equal better.

Rete

I know that I graduated college a quarter of a century ago and things may have changed but back then, it was (US):

2 years (60 credits) = Associate's Degree
4 years (120 credits) = Bachelor's Degree
6 years (180 credits) = Master's Degree

After that one went on to obtain their Phd.

dunroving

How long ago did you do your undergrade degree? I think standards in UK universities are dropping like a rock.

I've never applied to or worked in a US university that accepted a UK honours degree as equivalent to a masters.

dunroving

I think all of this is pretty much spot on. I've studied and worked in both sytems on and off since 1976, and your description matches everything I've experienced during that time.

I always used to think of a UK undergrad education as being superior to the US, but I no longer think this is correct.

Alan17

"Your notation suggests they are not equal, then you say your engineering degrees were regarded as equivalent so I'm confused. "

Thats because its an assessment, which is dependent on the view of the assessor. Mine have been assessed for job entry and academic entry with similar but not identical results.

At the end of the day if you want a piece of paper stating what your qualifications are equivalent to use a professional accreditation service and not an internet message board !

Alan17

How long ago did you do your undergrade degree? I think standards in UK universities are dropping like a rock.

- Started in 86, and haven't lived there for >15 years so you could be right


I've never applied to or worked in a US university that accepted a UK honours degree as equivalent to a masters.

- Neither have I, this was an assessment as part of a job application. But as I said if you want something definitive this isn't the right place to get it.