Financial aid and grad school

[databit 328]

Also check residency requirements for your school. Many require 1 year in the state to get resident tuition rates.

[geowrian 22,335]

3 minutes ago, databit said:

Also check residency requirements for your school. Many require 1 year in the state to get resident tuition rates.

Yes, this too. Although this is something to discuss with the specific institution...some are more willing to offer resident rates than others. State schools are often bound by law or policy, private institutions have more flexibility here.

Edited August 7, 2019 by geowrian

[Temi & Obim 24]

8 minutes ago, databit said:

Also check residency requirements for your school. Many require 1 year in the state to get resident tuition rates.

Thank you, does this include even if I'm going to do it online?

6 minutes ago, geowrian said:

Yes, this too. Although this is something to discuss with the specific institution...some are more willing to offer resident rates than others. State schools are often bound by law or policy, private institutions have more flexibility here.

Thank you, does this include even if I'm going to do it online?

[carmel34 3,507]

3 hours ago, Temi & Obim said:

Thanks so much for this, I was working with a newspaper before I left (2015-2019)  and I'm also a photographer 

The newspaper industry in the US has been decimated by the rise in online advertising and easy access to thousands of news sources via the internet, so you may have to get creative and re-position yourself for online jobs, website development, and related businesses.  Photography has also changed because of technology and customers have more options these days.  Focus on highlighting your skills on your resume and see what jobs in your area might be a good fit for you and your work experience.  Make some decisions about your career goals first and then the question of whether or not additional education would help you get there will be easier for you to answer.  Good luck!

[Omoge Afo 52]

Few helpful tips, you can use WES to convert your degree to american standard and you can request it to be create as for employment verification.  then use your result to create resume and explore job opportunities. Your particular degree is transferable, you might consider starting from entry level to get some american work experience but that's only for few years.  But am not saying you shouldn't go for master degree ooo, but at least some work experience and master degree goes long way to progress your career here in USA.  sometime the school will look at your work experience in USA to waive for GMAT or GRE.  As for financial aid, there are NO grant for master program, but you can get student loan once you have your green card, that why am recommending working with your degree from abroad converted by WES to get funds to pay for master. So for now ill say get your degree convert with WES, create your professional resume (pay professional if you can), create your linked in and if you get a job offfer now, you can also request to expedite your EAD.  

[usmsbow 795]

4 hours ago, Temi & Obim said:

Okay, thank you. My current undergrad and grad degrees doesn't require certification (mass communication and business administration) do you think I can be able to get job in that field after converting them and I have EAD?? because honestly I don't want to go back to school yet but this idleness is much and now we have to pay out of pocket. Thanks  

I don't know anything about mass communications, but business administration is pretty broad. While I don't know what the job market is like in Louisville, I think you should be able to get some type of office job there. 

 

My wife considered going to grad school when she moved here since she had a "useless" degree (her words, not mine!) from her home country, but quickly got an office temp job after getting her EAD 4 years ago, and has been employed pretty much ever since. Initially, she was really focused on getting a job (of any kind really), and until about 18 months ago, spent most of her free time applying to jobs (even though she was employed, she was always looking for something "better").  

 

I guess my point is grad school might not be worth the cost & expense. Just my unsolicited two cents. 

[Temi & Obim 24]

46 minutes ago, carmel34 said:

The newspaper industry in the US has been decimated by the rise in online advertising and easy access to thousands of news sources via the internet, so you may have to get creative and re-position yourself for online jobs, website development, and related businesses.  Photography has also changed because of technology and customers have more options these days.  Focus on highlighting your skills on your resume and see what jobs in your area might be a good fit for you and your work experience.  Make some decisions about your career goals first and then the question of whether or not additional education would help you get there will be easier for you to answer.  Good luck!

Thank you, that is what I have been doing including watching Youtube (half Youtube and half Netflix lol)

[cosmonauts 125]

The degree conversion might really depend on where you want to work. In my experience, private companies do not require it, and they rely more on experience. For public jobs, they WILL ask for it. I used http://www.iescaree.com/services.php for mine, as I work in the public education area.

 

I also am in grad school, in a state university. Don't go back to school just because you're bored! lol like others have said, it will be a huge investment of time and money, and you may be able to get a job just fine with your foreign degree and experience. My suggestion is that you find a place to volunteer (that's what I did, while my EAD was pending) or even find some classes at your local community college. In my case, I did not qualify for any grants because of my husband's income, which is way less that 100k. They only offered me loans, which suuuucked.

 

 

[Temi & Obim 24]

27 minutes ago, Omoge Afo said:

Few helpful tips, you can use WES to convert your degree to american standard and you can request it to be create as for employment verification.  then use your result to create resume and explore job opportunities. Your particular degree is transferable, you might consider starting from entry level to get some american work experience but that's only for few years.  But am not saying you shouldn't go for master degree ooo, but at least some work experience and master degree goes long way to progress your career here in USA.  sometime the school will look at your work experience in USA to waive for GMAT or GRE.  As for financial aid, there are NO grant for master program, but you can get student loan once you have your green card, that why am recommending working with your degree from abroad converted by WES to get funds to pay for master. So for now ill say get your degree convert with WES, create your professional resume (pay professional if you can), create your linked in and if you get a job offfer now, you can also request to expedite your EAD.  

Thank you, I'm currently doing WES for employment purpose, that is what I chose in the selection and once that process is done then I can start looking for job. There are many entry job around my area like Amazon fulfillment with decent pay and no major interview required but I don't have my EAD yet. And based on past posts from others I don't think I qualify to expedite my EAD due to how much my wife is making and no financial hardship. And we started think of going grad school again because boredom and getting a professional job here. 

[Temi & Obim 24]

25 minutes ago, usmsbow said:

I don't know anything about mass communications, but business administration is pretty broad. While I don't know what the job market is like in Louisville, I think you should be able to get some type of office job there. 

 

My wife considered going to grad school when she moved here since she had a "useless" degree (her words, not mine!) from her home country, but quickly got an office temp job after getting her EAD 4 years ago, and has been employed pretty much ever since. Initially, she was really focused on getting a job (of any kind really), and until about 18 months ago, spent most of her free time applying to jobs (even though she was employed, she was always looking for something "better").  

 

I guess my point is grad school might not be worth the cost & expense. Just my unsolicited two cents. 

Thank you, based on advice I'm getting you might be right about not going back to school at least for few years. After I finish converting my degrees I'll start applying. Thank you for this, I'm beginning to feel better about my chances with my degrees. 

[Omoge Afo 52]

Another way to kill the boredom can be going into the community colleges around you and take certification classes, that will also help your career. Certification are inexpensive and get you to start getting use to American education and lecture structure.  Based on your degree you might consider doing data analytics certification or project manager. 

[Temi & Obim 24]

17 minutes ago, tamaara said:

The degree conversion might really depend on where you want to work. In my experience, private companies do not require it, and they rely more on experience. For public jobs, they WILL ask for it. I used http://www.iescaree.com/services.php for mine, as I work in the public education area.

 

I also am in grad school, in a state university. Don't go back to school just because you're bored! lol like others have said, it will be a huge investment of time and money, and you may be able to get a job just fine with your foreign degree and experience. My suggestion is that you find a place to volunteer (that's what I did, while my EAD was pending) or even find some classes at your local community college. In my case, I did not qualify for any grants because of my husband's income, which is way less that 100k. They only offered me loans, which suuuucked.

 

 

I'm looking into going places for me to volunteer but the problem is, there no public transport where we are because we stay in small city and she needs car to get to work even to get uber around sometime is hard. I guess I'll continue my Netflix till I have EAD lol

[Temi & Obim 24]

6 minutes ago, Omoge Afo said:

Another way to kill the boredom can be going into the community colleges around you and take certification classes, that will also help your career. Certification are inexpensive and get you to start getting use to American education and lecture structure.  Based on your degree you might consider doing data analytics certification or project manager. 

I'm going to try this out. Thank you so much. 

[SalishSea 16,718]

With your current household income, you will not qualify for any need-based federal financial aid.  You may qualify for subsidized loans, but not grants.

[SB5130 88]

15 hours ago, Temi & Obim said:

I have some questions about grad school, tried to Google for answers but got more confusing. We have sent my AOS, AP EAD in and biometric appointment is next week.

We understand it will take months before we get anything. So we are considering me going back to school for another masters degree 🤯😬I have been made to understand that my international degree doesn't count in the US because my wife did her undergrad in Nigeria too and she had to do it all over again when she got here and also I'm getting really bored staying idle 

 

1. Do I need to have my green card before I can go back to school or my SS is enough?

2. Currently using WES to convert my degrees from Nigeria, do I still need to take Tofel and Gmat?

3. Do I qualify to get financial aid or I don't because of the I-864 and my wife current income which is over 100k and I'm the only dependent.

 

Thank you 

 

 

Based from my experience

1. No. You dont need your green card to apply admissions. I would recommend to talk to an advisor though so you can ask for waivers to get the "in-state" tuition. This varies per school. As for the university where I enrolled, I was able to apply for in-state tuition after complying certain requirements( 2 proofs that my husband is living/has properties within the state for at least one year). 

2. Depends. It varies per school but you can try to ask for a waiver. If you meet the requirements, then it can be waived. As for me, I got this waived. After course-by-course evaluation, my GPA is 3.84. The university where I enrolled only required 3.0 GPA to satisfy GRE/GMAT waiver requirement. Additionally, my TOEFL requirement got waived. The remarks on my admission list stated that it was waived based on GPA and Admission Application Letter.

3. If you are talking about FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) then NO. It is for Citizens and Residents only. I enrolled for my Masters while pending AOS and I once checked this one out. NOPE.

HOWEVER, Scholarships will be available. Contact your Financial Aid department or check the website. See all available Scholarships and apply for whichever is applicable. Actually, one semester, I was granted $1500 scholarship. It was from 3 different scholarships that I had applied each granting $500 each. 

 

P.S. I did Masters in Business Administration 

Edited August 8, 2019 by SB5130