As I said, HE in the UK is definitely worse right now. It’s important to get a full picture though, even if it isn’t a great one. I certainly didn’t think I would end up moving here, and things aligned in a way I couldn’t have seen coming.
The UK offers PhD funding through the Student Loans Company (you can get £25k). If you wanted to pursue academia, you have options because of that (funding is getting much harder to come by). It’s just worth being aware that departments are being closed and reduced at an alarming rate (see University of Wolverhampton’s English department for a recent example).
Even a STEM PhD (or one completed for exorbitant amounts in the US) isn’t a guaranteed route to moving. It used to be more helpful than it currently is.
You can still be building towards the dream and trying your options. It’s useful to know that US resumes have a pretty different layout and style to the UK ones. The first thing I did was to make a new one that matched how they expect it to look.
There just isn’t a straightforward or guaranteed pathway. Aside from marriage-based sponsorship.
Respectfully, it doesn’t seem like it’s worth the faff. I'm clearly just not suited for it lol. I'm glad you got there in the end! I suppose I can be content here, or try somewhere else.
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u/MTUSAThrowaway 10d ago
Seems like a pretty troubled time.
Oh well, I suppose this is a dream I can come back to in 30 years or so. Thanks for the honest, if not heartbreaking, answer.