College general education equivalence

[Kiwifruit 0]

Hey VJ

Funny foreign fruit here again ... I ma wondering if anybody has any experience with transferring credits from a Bachelors Degree to the US and these "general education" requirements the US seems to have.

I ask because I am looking at a second degree nursing program ... now, now I know, I know, where do I hang my stethoscope you say its not foreign fruit has a neck or shoulders (good thing I am not a banana then ) ... anyway, they list a whole bunch of "general education" pre-reqs which include options as art, history, astronomy, social competency cluster etc

Two problems is that 1) New Zealand completes five years of high school so whatever history or english I did in Year 13 is probably equiv to freshman year at college in the US as they only do four years HS and 2) because of #1 our degrees do not have any "general education" requirements and each paper (class) we complete is specifically focused to our Degree.

I can understand the second degree programs being set up for US Bachelors Degree holders where they will do a bunch of general education classes which is more-or-less what we do in Year 13 at high school ... I hate the idea of having to spend even longer at Uni (gosh its so horribly expensive in the US even for "in state" fees!) and having to pee around doing basket weaving and english 101.

I'm going to hit school up and explain the differences between our two systems and try to get my high school and Uni transcripts evaluated and sort of try to show equivalence. While I understand this will depend on the particular policy of a specific institution in question, Kiwi is wondering if anybody has had a similar experience?

Big fruity thanks!

Ben

[canadian_wife 1,823]

I came to the US to study from Canada where there is also 5 years of high school. Nope, sorry they don't take high school credits towards college credits. You need to contact the school you are looking to apply to and figure out what evaluation service they use. The evaluation service will only do college credits for college credits. I had to use World Educational Services - see what ones they use.

However, the school will work with you. If you took, say...anthropology course for your 1st degree, they may use that towards an English class towards your second. Or maybe a math based econ class for freshman algebra. I was surprised at how creative the school was at transfering my college credits in Canada for college credits in the US. It is up to the school though and it requires a lot of running around to department chairs to sign off on stuff

Good luck

[Kiwifruit 0]

Our Bachelors Degrees are three years, totally specialised (what the US call "major" or "upper division") no Degree here has any general/liberal or "lower division" course work, we are allowed to do one class (out of 24 we need for our Degree) that is not in our field of study.

The reasoning behind this that we get the equivalent of "general education" in our last year of high school and that qualifies us to go to University.

I an really surprised how much of even professional degrees like Nursing are made up of non-nursing coursework which can be in such subjects as astrology, arts, humanities, history, basic computing, drama or anything inbetween, but then again we have none so that would explain it.

Its really frustrating to be given a plan of study that includes two or three semesters of "pre-req" classes in "humanities appreciation" and "social competence" especially considering the cost of study and that it seems a Bachelors Degree is not created equal the world over.

Now, my work as an Ambulance Officer (vis-a-vis Paramedic) has included dealing with drunks, I've been vomited on, copped gobs full of abuse, dealt with heart attacks, broken bones, little old Nanas who fell over, diabetics, suicides .... had to use those verbal reasoning and critical thinking skills a lot ... do you think this qualifies as "social competence" and "humanities appreciation?" (jk)

Thanks for listening.

[canadian_wife 1,823]

I understand your 5 year thing, we have the same educational system where your 5th year of school is the year that qualifies you for university. No 5th year of HS, no university

Now, you may get a snarky advisor who might say that NZ, like Canada, couldn't handle the rigorous 4 year American program so that is why we need 5 years to complete the same amount of work...at least that is what they told me

but no, your high school courses won't go towards any university courese. the educational transcript evaluation board you use, based on the schools requirements, will make you aware of this when you have your transcripts evaluated.

In Canada, we have 3 year bachelor degrees with the option of a 4th for an honours program. that didn't matter either. And typically they won't take work experience in consideration, unless it is military

Good luck

[brownskinned 5]

What I did was let the World Evaluation Services evaluate my transcripts and give ma a US equivalent grade...then you carry that to the school and let them credit your subjects or evaluate you of the subjects that you still need to get..

[OSOS 0]

Hola to everyone!

My husband and I are starting the process of attaining his green card from where we live in Mexico. He has a bachelor's degree in Food Engineering, and I am wondering what we will need to do so that his degree can be used in the United States.

Thank you for your time, if anyone out there knows anything or has been through the process!