UK vs USA for Biology MSc

[compassion83]

Hi all!

I'm new to the grad cafe and can hope you all can shed some light on a big grad school decision I have to make. I've applied to several programs in the UK through the Across the Pond program for several reasons: the programs were only 12 months full time and I'd get to experience life in another country providing new experiences etc. From this I've gained acceptance to : University of Bristol , University of Aberdeen, University of Swansea, and University of York. In the US I applied to SUNY ESF, Michigan State and Trent University ( in Ontario). Both Trent and MSU fell through because of lack of funding. So at this point i'm trying to decide between SUNY ESF and the British programs. The program at the University of Bristol is a MSc by research so from what i can tell its 100 percent research w/o classes. This sounds cool but i've had very little contact with the professor i'd be working under and have had a hard time getting him to answer my questions. The University of Aberdeen and Swansea are taught programs so their primarily classroom based with a research program at the end.

SUNY ESF wouldn't provide me with any funding ( so it would be out of pocket funding) and it would be the normal 2.5 years. Also, the prof was pretty full with students so I'm worried about the amount of field work i'll be able to do.

To make things more complicated I found the perfect program with funding posted on a job board for VT. I quickly submitted an application and am hoping for the best. The program is for conservation of salamanders, which was my undergraduate research subject. I have the competitive GPA the program was looking for, great references, but my GRE scores are average at 1020. So i'm afraid I wont get my perfect program and will have to decide between SUNY and the UK.

My question is , Is it better for me to stay in the US at SUNY ESF ( or ideally VT) since I plan on moving back after school or is it better for me to go one of the universities in the UK for an ecology program. I want to live and work in North America after I graduate so would going for a degree in ecology at a foreign school hurt my chances of getting a job afterwords?

I'm 50/50 with my decision right now and dont think my perfect Virginia Tech program will work out ( i'm sure they've recieved 100's of applicants with higher GPA scores). Please any advice is needed.

[togradschoolorbust]

I have the same question. Is it better to stay in the US or go to the UK for a Masters if you want to be hired in the US? Do foreign masters degrees count for anything in the US? I won't go if that limits my job prospects later.