I’m currently a junior pursuing an environmental science degree at the University of North Texas. I have always dreamt of living in the UK, mainly England and Ireland, and I figure going to school there would be the perfect opportunity. I’ve looked into study abroad and foreign exchange, the problem is I still have to take classes pertaining to my course of study here at UNT. Unfortunately, UNT does not have an outstanding environmental science program. I’ve looked into the University of Leeds and their program for Environmental science/studies is amazing and contains a lot of classes pertaining to the actual field of environmental studies, not just a bunch of biologys and chems like UNT. My question is, how would I go about applying and transferring to schools in the UK? I know their testing system is a lot different then the US. Also, is there a website anyone knows of that I can get on and find schools with good environmental studies/science programs?
There is minimal financial aid for Americans at UK universities. Can you afford full pay? The universities’ websites would have the information on applying.
Mostly you can’t transfer as such to the UK. Your US classes would probably work as pre-university preparation in the place of APs, which they would expect from US applicants from high school. In exceptional cases, if you’ve covered a lot of relevant coursework, you may be able to get advanced standing with admission to the second year of a course, but it will depend on specifics. I think in your circumstances you need to email the UK schools/departments you’re interested in directly to see if your qualifications will transfer at all. You may have already seen it, but there is a link to the email for the Leeds department you’re interested in here: https://courses.leeds.ac.uk/25691/BSc__Environmental_Science#section3
Generally UK applications are made via UCAS: https://www.ucas.com/. The Personal Statement is all about your interest in and suitability for the course. You also need an academic referee.
As @TomSrOfBoston states, you will need to be able to pay international fees and lving costs, as there are virtually no options for FA, and your visa will allow a max 20 hours a week working in term time.