2nd Bachelors Degree in the US?

[JoooonMoi 26]

Hello folks. My fiancée received her bachelors in her country but thinks if she were to pursue the same path then it might be more beneficial to receive a bachelors from an Accredited univerisity/college in the US. Mind you, she barely speaks English so she’ll need to start with ESL classes first… I figured since she already has a degree and working experience it shouldn’t matter but she thinks otherwise. Any suggestions? If it helps, she majored in performing arts - clarinet and have performed in multiple orchestras. 

[aaron2020 11,651]

She should consider talking to a few professionals in her field.  Has she tried FB groups or music organizations in your town?  Start there.  Networking will get her proper advice from people in her field.  

Experience matters in America.  It's not S.K., the school you go to in the US is not important if you have experience.   

Don't waste time and money on getting a US degree that may add little to her qualifications.  

[Verrou 1,962]

what suggestion are u looking for ? is it regarding on her english or for the education? definitely need english class/lesson. better started it now. many accredited university required TOEFL test for non english speaker. you have to reach out the school individually and asked if they required TOEFL or not. 

[randy32 165]

It would depend on the field.

Law for instance would require her to fill in the gap that would enable her to pass the bar.

 

I think she should deal with the language studies while figuring out what she would like to do professionally.

She might end up in a different field.

 

Personally, I think repeating the same degree is a waste of time and money.

She should consider going for her masters instead. Better, faster and cheaper.

[JoooonMoi 26]

1 hour ago, aaron2020 said:

She should consider talking to a few professionals in her field.  Has she tried FB groups or music organizations in your town?  Start there.  Networking will get her proper advice from people in her field.

Thank you! Didn’t think about contacting local orgs, duh haha. Might as well get her started on LinkedIn as well

 

1 hour ago, Misscloud said:

what suggestion are u looking for ? is it regarding on her english or for the education? 

Sorry for not being so clear! >.< Wanted suggestions on education, if it was worth repeating the same education in the US if fiancee already has a degree in the same field from a foreign country. 
 

1 hour ago, randy32 said:

It would depend on the field.

Law for instance would require her to fill in the gap that would enable her to pass the bar.

 

I think she should deal with the language studies while figuring out what she would like to do professionally.

She might end up in a different field.

 

Personally, I think repeating the same degree is a waste of time and money.

She should consider going for her masters instead. Better, faster and cheaper.

Very true, found the local community college offers free ESL courses so she could take those while she figures to either pursue same career or change. 
 

Thank you all for great suggestions! I think your responses will also reiterate to her what I’ve also been telling her. The US does not care about your “specs” (i.e. what school) and that there is no age limit to education. It’s a work in progress, trying to break the stereotypical Korean mould. 
 

[Verrou 1,962]

4 minutes ago, JoooonMoi said:

 

Sorry for not being so clear! >.< Wanted suggestions on education, if it was worth repeating the same education in the US if fiancee already has a degree in the same field from a foreign country. 
 

definitely not worth it to repeat her education. a waste of money.

i graduate in indonesia 21 years ago. business undergrad degree. work and breath business for 16 years ( experiences)

do i want to study business undergrad in US? NO WAY  !!!! LOL

 

im pursuing JD degree now ( law school) if my LSAT score its not that bad

 

depend of what ur fiancee wants. its very expensive to study here in US. 

[JoooonMoi 26]

6 minutes ago, Misscloud said:

definitely not worth it to repeat her education. a waste of money.

i graduate in indonesia 21 years ago. business undergrad degree. work and breath business for 16 years ( experiences)

do i want to study business undergrad in US? NO WAY  !!!! LOL

 

im pursuing JD degree now ( law school) if my LSAT score its not that bad

 

depend of what ur fiancee wants. its very expensive to study here in US. 

Hahaha thank you. And congratulations! Wish you the best with your LSAT!!!

[Redro 4,611]

8 hours ago, JoooonMoi said:

Hello folks. My fiancée received her bachelors in her country but thinks if she were to pursue the same path then it might be more beneficial to receive a bachelors from an Accredited univerisity/college in the US. Mind you, she barely speaks English so she’ll need to start with ESL classes first… I figured since she already has a degree and working experience it shouldn’t matter but she thinks otherwise. Any suggestions? If it helps, she majored in performing arts - clarinet and have performed in multiple orchestras. 

Majoring in the performing arts- I would not go forward with repeating her bachelors in the same field. 

She can take some ESL classes and then consider pursuing her masters. 

 

There are services in the US that provide credential evaluations for those who want to further their studies in the US.

Usually the university will tell you which service they prefer/accept (I used World Education Services (wes) a few years back). 

[JoooonMoi 26]

13 minutes ago, ROK2USA said:

There are services in the US that provide credential evaluations for those who want to further their studies in the US.

Usually the university will tell you which service they prefer/accept (I used World Education Services (wes) a few years back). 

This is great information, thank you!

[millefleur 5,047]

10 hours ago, JoooonMoi said:

Sorry for not being so clear! >.< Wanted suggestions on education, if it was worth repeating the same education in the US if fiancee already has a degree in the same field from a foreign country. 

Absolutely not worth repeating. Especially not for something like performing arts.

 

Getting a Masters in performing arts would be expensive. Have you looked into the cost versus benefit ratio of that? It might shock you to see how expensive it is.

 

For now, she would take ESL classes and just focus on improving her English. If a group class isn't working, consider a private tutor or a mix of both.

[Redro 4,611]

/side note @JoooonMoi can you post a review/thread on medicals in Seoul after your fiance gets hers... haven't seen a lot of info on all the different hospitals you can go through and which is the best...

[JoooonMoi 26]

2 hours ago, ROK2USA said:

/side note @JoooonMoi can you post a review/thread on medicals in Seoul after your fiance gets hers... haven't seen a lot of info on all the different hospitals you can go through and which is the best...

Aye aye, will try my best

[Sarah&Facundo 595]

Most places don't care where your degree comes from, so repeating the same degree would be useless.

I also work in the performing arts. Many people who are involved in the field either never studied it in a university setting or never even went to a university at all.

My advice--Work on practicing English skills (both written, verbal, and reading comprehension). My husband has been speaking English for years and when he came to the US and enrolled in school, he REALLY struggled with classes in a university setting due to the language. He tested out of ESL classes thankfully which saved us a lot of money, but doing work took him triple the time as compared to others. Lectures were difficult. Everything was way harder for him and he is an extremely intelligent person. I have also studied his language (Spanish) for several years, and out of curiosity I started reading some of his textbooks and I could barely get through them. I would HIGHLY suggest putting a LOT of time into studying English if she intends on attending a university at all. In my opinion, that's where the priority should be at this point because she may be a long way (like....Years) from even being able to enroll in a class. 

[JoooonMoi 26]

Again, thank you all, this has been very helpful and I greatly appreciate every one of you!!!!

[JoooonMoi 26]

8 hours ago, ROK2USA said:

/side note @JoooonMoi can you post a review/thread on medicals in Seoul after your fiance gets hers... haven't seen a lot of info on all the different hospitals you can go through and which is the best...

@ROK2USA I've updated this page with some new information I found: https://www.visajourney.com/consulates/index.php?ctry=South Korea&cty=Seoul. 

 

Here are instruction packages provided by the embassy which lists the hospitals for medical exams. You can make online appointments at three of the five hospitals listed. The instructions are both in English & Korean (have also included this to the consulate page):

 

INSTRUCTIONS FOR IMMIGRANT VISA APPLICANTS (IR/CR): https://kr.usembassy.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/75/IV.pdf

   Source: https://kr.usembassy.gov/visas/immigrant-visas/packet3-iv/

INSTRUCTIONS FOR FIANCÉ/E (K1/K2) VISA APPLICANTS: https://kr.usembassy.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/75/K1.pdf

   Source: https://kr.usembassy.gov/visas/immigrant-visas/packet3-k/