Hello Guys,


I have some question about studying in US.(I'm in North California) My fiancee is going to come over here within this year, and we going to get married. She want to take the master degree here in US. She was from China and already completed the 4 year university dual-degree on both Finance and Law.

My questions are:
1. Is she going to be treated as a International/OutOfState student after we get married?(That usually means double-tuition and we are trying to avoid that). If she first stay here for a year then go study, she should be consider a instate student right?

2. For the Master Degree, can she take some courses in community college then transfer the credit to a university? I know credits are transferable for undergraduate courses, but I'm really not sure if it's the same case for Master Degree

3. Is there websites or forums for this kind of thing?

Thanks!

The only thing I can comment on is that despite being married to a long-time resident of Maine, I was still going to be charged out-of-state rates until I had established my own residency (for the school I was looking at, one year).

Sorry I can't be more help.

Every state, and sometimes school within a state have their own residency rules. If I wanted to go to the state university system, I would have had to wait for a year. The technical college system would allow me to become a resident right away since my wife recloacted here for work.

Best thing to do is to check with the school.

Yes, do check with the university that she is thinking of applying for. And to answer your other question, I would be very, very surprised if she could transfer community college credits for a Master's degree. What is she thinking of mastering in?

That depends on the school and the state. However, until your wife receives her greencard, she will be considered an international student, no matter what.
You might want to contact the school though to find out if your wife is eligible for a graduate student assistantship. That way she will be able to get a tuition credit. However, assuming that your wife plans to enroll in a professional (MBA or law) program rather than a graduate (research) program, this option will not be available. You might also want to see if your wife is elible for a scholarship to finance her education; contact the graduate school into which your wife plans to enroll and they can provide you with a list of scholarships as well as information on other possible funding options.


I doubt it. She might be able to transfer credits from China though, if she can convince the school that her classes were equivalent to graduate level classes.

The website of the graduate school should have the necessary information. Otherwise, do a search on Google...

The key thing as someone mentioned above is to contact the university to find out about their requirement, i am in Northern California also, As soon as your wife get here 1st thing to do is to make a California ID at your local DMV even if it's a non driver ID, that number will clock in as the date she's been in california, In conjunction with that a year later when you are filling the University application they will ask you the california driver's license number or that Non driver ID, as long as it's more than a year you wont' get ask for any more details, maybe the green card which by then she should have but for the processing part of it you'll be good to go.

Another thing prior to moving here she can have her transcript translated in English, and once she gets here she can mail the original along with the translation.

Good luck

For masters degrees you usually can't transfer credits, but it's very much a school by school, course by course thing. You should check with an admissions official at the university you are interested in.

Residency requirments are also different depending on the school. You of course would only be able to go to a State school even if you were eligible. The UC system usually requires 1 year at least of residency and may also have a specific status requirement.

I moved from Canada and was able to get in state rates. Was based on my wifes occupancy, BUT that differs from school, so bets to contact each school about their requirements. You wil find many things differ from state to state, school to school.

it depends on the university. Have you checked with the university residency guidelines? I know recently ASU changed their guidelines to say if you got married to an AZ resident that residency now applies to the spouse as well. It might be the same scenario? yeah CC credits can transfer to satisfy lower division requirements. I don't think there are any classes that would satisfy master level requirements. But you can make an appt with the college advisors.

Thanks everyone, I think the best bet is to check with Universities about it!

Thanks!

My daughter is taking her Masters now. She has always paid "in-state" fees for college and we were only living "in-state" for three months. As the other posters have said it is up to the individual college. Also, it is worth noting that some colleges and universities are cheaper "out of state" than "in-state", just depends on where you want to go. For instance the WV University my daughter attends is cheaper as an "out of state" student than a VA college would be "in-state".

Oh, and Community College credits most certainly do transfer over to a Masters Degree Course. My daughter attended Community College for a year and her 17 credits transferred over. Also, there are many courses that are "Introduction" courses, say in Education, where the Community College can only teach up to a certain level, they have to be finished at a University - the credits for the first part (the introduction) have to transfer over or you can't complete the degree.

You will have no problem - just shop around. Many of the colleges here are very good at accomodating new spouses of USC's - after all they want your money!

I think she has to see at the University, their admissions dept, and ask what it takes, if she is of master degree level, she can not convince them, it does not work like that, i think they'll tell her she has to do the equivalencies of her edu from her scholarship in China for the US level of education...There are places that maybe the Univ can refere (or the board of the profession she wants to be in) the organization who does the equivalencies...and for ethical reason, the organization of equivalencies has to be an independent of the school one...the school can only do the interview of admission...and might require those external equivalencies...This is all I know for that, i am also searching more info, but if you follow my profile, i have opened a thread where i have mentionned this type of question and meauxna gave me valuable advice too...good luck with the higher edu!!!!





ops! i think i answer too late lol....geez !