Studing in the US.

[Xanax 349]

Hi,

I hope this is a the right forum.

I was wondering if anyone has any experience in with studying once they moved to the US. I have tried researching this myself but have come up with limited information.

I have a degree here is Australia but do not plan to use it in the US as I would have to take more tests and go through a lot of hassle to use my degree and actually get to do less than I would in Aus.

It did not seem worth it once I investigated it , so I have decided I want to study teaching in the US once I move.

I was wondering if anyone knows what the process is to get admitted to a university? Community college seems simple enough; take a few entrance exams, pay fees and voila admittance (as long as I meet residency requirements). I am more than happy to go to community college or a university but I know if I do go to a community college, eventually I would transfer to a University to finish the degree anyway.

Any advice would be helpful. I will also try looking into this in April whilst on holiday in the US but any information anyone has would be wonderful!

Edited February 25, 2012 by BrittandDan

[Harpa Timsah 13,260]

What degree do you have? Why would you want to do something over again?

[canadian_wife 1,831]

I studied in the US. All of your questions are really state, and often school, specific. You'll want to start investigating schools in the area you'll be moving to and start asking questions there.

And Harpa - probably because she wants to!

[Harpa Timsah 13,260]

And Harpa - probably because she wants to!

If the OP just wants to - then sure, to each his own. My comment was that people are often under the mistaken impression that their degree holds no weight in a different country, and that isn't always the case.

Edited February 25, 2012 by Harpa Timsah

[Xanax 349]

Topic says studing- obviously it should be studying - I posted this very early!

Harpa, I have a nursing degree, to work as a nurse here, I would have to do more tests and things, registration etc and then I would get to do less things in the US than I am able to do here in the states.

My first reaction was frustration, but I was always going to do a post grad in teaching so now I can just do a teaching degree and have 1 qualification here and 1 there's. I enjoy nursing but I don't think I could step back and do less things nor do I want to go through a lengthy process just to be able to do that.

Canadian-wife, thanks I appreciate your reply. I was hoping there would be guidelines or information somewhere, but I guess not.

Could you tell me your experiences? What you did?

[Xanax 349]

EIDTED RESPONE- could not edited quick enough so, here is my editied , less delirious reply.

Topic says studing- obviously it should be studying - I posted this very early!

Harpa, I have a nursing degree. To work as a nurse here, I would have to do more tests , registration etc and then I would get to do less things in the US than I am able to do here in Australia.I enjoy nursing but I don't think I could step back and do less things nor do I want to go through a lengthy process just to be able to do that.

My first reaction was frustration, but I was always going to do a post grad in teaching so now I can just do a teaching degree and have 1 qualification here and 1 there.

Canadian-wife, thanks I appreciate your reply. I was hoping there would be guidelines or information somewhere, but I guess not.

Could you tell me your experiences? What you did?

[Xanax 349]

Edited** omg. It's so hot here I think my brain has melted. Maybe I should not go back to school!

[canadian_wife 1,831]

I went back to school to teach. I found that every school required something different and every school had different measures for course transfer.

Keep in mind that teaching is difficult here in the US now with the economy, lots of budget cuts have left a LOT of qualified, experienced teachers out of work.

Good luck

[lynJer 7]

EIDTED RESPONE- could not edited quick enough so, here is my editied , less delirious reply.

Topic says studing- obviously it should be studying - I posted this very early!

Harpa, I have a nursing degree. To work as a nurse here, I would have to do more tests , registration etc and then I would get to do less things in the US than I am able to do here in Australia.I enjoy nursing but I don't think I could step back and do less things nor do I want to go through a lengthy process just to be able to do that.

My first reaction was frustration, but I was always going to do a post grad in teaching so now I can just do a teaching degree and have 1 qualification here and 1 there.

Canadian-wife, thanks I appreciate your reply. I was hoping there would be guidelines or information somewhere, but I guess not.

Could you tell me your experiences? What you did?

I have a very good friend who has a degree in nursing from Canada....she nursed in Australia/Darwin., and thats where we met many years ago....she moved from Canada about 15 years ago to do nursing in the USA....loved it...made much more money than she did in Canada, Australia and NZ....She said the conditions were fantastic. However, in the end she decided to take on a role with a Pharmacutical company selling .... She still does this these days and makes more money than ever....She has moved back to Canada and has never looked back on switching from nurse to sales rep....she said she still works in the hospitals with doctors etc...but she just dont have to nurse the sick anymore....

I dont know about the various tests required to work here as a nurse...but I do know that the Australian Degree from our universities is harder to get than the ones they get here....my kids and I have been looking into bachelor degree's here versus back home....and its so much easier here...but maybe harder to get into??? odd.... one things for sure high school here is half the work of what ours is....

I did read a post on here about 2 years ago by someone who mentioned that only USC can be given approval to venture into certain areas of the hospital or work with certain equipment....not sure exactly what that is...but for an example, I as my husbands wife CANNOT ENTER THE BUILDING HE WORKS IN AS IM NOT A US CITIZEN YET...Even though Im a permanent resident of 2 years....SUX BIG TIME....

[Xanax 349]

Thanks so much for replying! I really did not know degrees were easier here, that's great!

Nursing standards at lest in Aus have improved a lot in 15 years, I got paid well there and amazing well compared to the average US wage.

I know I will have to go back to "the class room" and do some "training" to nurse here, my friends came over to work here and they say there is much less autonomy and they are "allowed" to do a lot less than here in Australia.

I am happy to study again, I want to study again and I am lucky that we should be able to afford it.

I guess I just have to call all the universities and find out what I have to do to get in.

[randye80 24]

What state do you plan to live in, Britt?

My wife will finish her California teachers credential program at the end of this semester.

She already had a Bachelor's Degree equivalent from Belarus, so once she got the degree certified/translated/apostilled in Sacramento she was able to apply to the credential program. It is similar to getting a Master's Degree. So keep in mind, your previous degree may be less worthless than you think.

The credential program is nominally a 2-year program, above and beyond the undergraduate degree. My wife's foreign degree was in Accounting, so she did have to take a couple of extra education courses from the undergrad program. It took a total of 3 years for her.

Like any advanced degree program, you will have to take and pass a number of basic qualification exams before admittance. A good place to look for all of the particulars would be the website of the Education/Teaching Department of the University you are likely to be attending.

Good luck,

Randy

[Xanax 349]

What state do you plan to live in, Britt?

My wife will finish her California teachers credential program at the end of this semester.

She already had a Bachelor's Degree equivalent from Belarus, so once she got the degree certified/translated/apostilled in Sacramento she was able to apply to the credential program. It is similar to getting a Master's Degree. So keep in mind, your previous degree may be less worthless than you think.

The credential program is nominally a 2-year program, above and beyond the undergraduate degree. My wife's foreign degree was in Accounting, so she did have to take a couple of extra education courses from the undergrad program. It took a total of 3 years for her.

Like any advanced degree program, you will have to take and pass a number of basic qualification exams before admittance. A good place to look for all of the particulars would be the website of the Education/Teaching Department of the University you are likely to be attending.

Good luck,

Randy

Hi Randy,

my degree is in nursing and I plan to live in Minnesota

[Gary and Alla 3,696]

Lots of reasons to go to school and none of them my business. Alla had a bachelors and two masters degrees when I met her. Masters in Russian and English from her university in Donetsk, Ukraine. She added a masters in English when she came here, starting her studies just a few days after arrival because if she is going to teach English in the US it is highly desireable to have a Masters in English from a university in a country where English is a native language. She got that and is continuing in further education

Have your foreign education credentials evaluated first, do that long before you get here. Sned copies of your diplomas and transcripts to an evaluator here and have it done. We used ECE. Google "ECE" Alla's were evaluated as equivilent to the same degrees in the US and she was given full faith and credit for them. Ukraine uses a 5.0 grade system vs our 4.0 system and they evaluated her GPA as "3.95".

You will not need to take the TOEFL exam if your education was in English (Australian counts) but you may want to take the GRE exam, not sure. Alla and Sergey took both. You can take them in most countries. Google "GRE" See what the universites you apply to require.

Research the programs available that you are interested in, download applications to schools and follow the instructions for applying. You will not be eligible for government student aid until you are an LPR and even then if you already have a bachelors degree you will not be eligible for degree grants. You CAN get loans and NON degree grants, such as for nursing school. Even citizens cannot get degree grants of they already have a degree.

Send your credentials to the board which certifies nurses in the state where you will live. They will let you know what you need in that state. Google "Nursing board (state)"

When you get accepted to a university then you can work on financing, get loans, apply for private grants,etc. Alla started her masters degree with a private grant of 50% just 5 days after she arrived.

Our older son, Sergey has finished his masters degree in Physics in Russia (will graduate in June) and has been accepted to Rice University in Houston with a full paid scholarship, stipend, moving expenses and an assistant professorship with full benefits! Apply, apply apply. Applications are nor free and not easy. Each is quite a bit more complicated than the I-129f, and AOS combined and the fees can be quite high. we paid a bit over $1000 for Sergeys applications (total) The reward was an offer easily worth more than $100,000 per year with tuition, salary, benefits and stipend. With a PhD from Rice in physics it is fairly certain he will never have to apply for a job.

It took longer to arrange Alla's education and grant than to get the K-1 (we started on the education first and did not file the K-1 until that was well underway)

It took almost a year from when we began applying for doctorate programs for Sergey until his final acceptance and offer. You are not going to google something, hit a few keys and VOILA! be in college.

All that said, while Alla was in school she began a private business of translation/interpretation (which is what she did in Ukraine) and it has done well. She is now a staff interpreter at a large hospital, plus does her own business. She became interested in medical interpretation, took a number of nursing classes and has become a certified medical interpreter. She now has an interest in nursing and has continued with the nursing classes and was recently accepted in a nursing program to begin this fall. She will now be going for her BS in Nursing Science which it appears she can complete in two years due to credits from her previous education and classes she has already taken. She also has secured a private grant to pay for it. The grant exceeds the amount of tuition, which means they are paying her to go to school. Good thing, since she will drastically cut back her working hours.

Pasha, our youngest will be starting college next fall (2013) and we are already starting on his applications. He has run the table of all available high school math classes and the HS system has enrolled him in two classes at the University of Vermont for the 2nd semester this year and he will do the same next year. He has been two years ahead since arriving. His current college math classes will be credited to him when he goes to college.

Grade point averages are very important. Both Alla and Sergey are well up in the 3.9+ range and pretty much get accepted anywhere they apply and get money thrown at them, Sergey in particular has turned down offers from Dartmouth and LSU. Now LSU is trying to sweeten the deal! If your averages are 3.5+ you can name your price, so to speak.

You should rely on your fiance for a lot of this right now, I spent many hours every week working on not only Alla's education, but arranging Pasha's (he started 8th grade the 2nd day here) and Sergey's. We were applying for college for him also but in the end stayed with the offer he had in Russia and that created a whole 'nother set of challenges...an LPR going to school in a foreign country. Alla was feeding me all the documents I needed and I was doing the applications, web searches, meeting with admissions offices, meeting with the student financial aid people, etc. PLUS working, PLUS remodeling our house. Suffice to say I was afraid to look at the "progress report" of our I-129f.

And finally, there are no immigration restrictions on your attending school. You can start school the minute you arrive. There MAY be residency requirements for the schools themselves and there most likely will be higher tuition until you have lived there for 6 months or even one year, but that applies to PUBLIC universities. Alla went to a private university and they have no such thing, everyone pays the same.

[juliava 80]

I had a Romanian BA in Psychology that was evaluated as equivalent to the American one and consequently I had no problems getting into a MA program in School Counseling. Nonetheless, the credential evaluation and the appointment with the admission specialist were critical steps in this process.

Therefore, I advice you to have all your education credentials evaluated by a company authorized in providing such services. I personally used WES aka World Education Services. It costed me around $200, as far as I remember, but it needed to be done.

Once you complete this step and you have moved here, schedule a face to face appointment with an Admission specialist at the university/college you are interested in. Explain your situation, have the person take a look at your evaluation and make sure you obtain all the necessary information in order to apply/qualify for your program. As you complete these steps, things will clear up for you.