I am an international student and hold a bachelors degree in Psychology , which translates to 3 years of under grad study in the US and about 90 credits. (based on transcript evaluation from World Education Services) My plan is to pursue grad study here but all universities require a bachelors degree from US or equivalent. Since my degree is not equivalent to a bachelors degree in the US I am getting a little lost as to what is best way to complete my undergrad degree. ( in terms of duration and financial investment)
I have met several universities and applied as a transfer student in Chicago area, and it turns out I will still need to get about 30 to 32 more credits to achieve a bachelors degree.
I tried UIC , they asked me to do about 4-6 courses from community college and then transfer to UIC. Also to receive a bachelors degree from UIC a of minimum 30 credits have to be done from there. That makes my under grad study duration close to 2 years. I have shared my original transcripts with the university however I am not told if they will transfer all my 90 credits or a part of it. So, I don’t know if this is the best solution. I really don’t want to invest more than a year to a year and a half for my under grad study.
I have met private colleges too, some of them are pretty flexible and are willing to transfer all 90 credits. However even with scholarship the cost for the undergrad is approximately 10-11K for a semester. I don’t know if I should invest so much for under grad.
Online programs seem like an easy option but I would prefer to attend college and complete my degree.
Does anyone have a suggestion? How can I complete the deficit credits and receive a bachelors degree in the US? I have tried to put ample information regarding my concern but if further details are required I will be happy to provide it. Thanks!
30 credits in the US is only 2 semesters (1 year) of courses; the average is 15 credits a semester. What’s the issue with just completing the 30 credits in the US as a transfer student? If they want you to do community college first, then attend for one semester (4-6 classes is about one semester worth of classes). That’s still only a year and a half; I don’t know where you’re getting 2 years from.
Most four year colleges want you to attend for at least 2 years (50% of credits) before they will grant a degree. Perhaps it would be easier to finish off the coursework you need in your home country.
Thanks for your response. What I meant to say was that most 4 year institutions have a minimum credit requirement which needs to be earned from their institution to earn a degree, typically 30 or more. If I attend community college for a semester then I will have about 15 credits plus I will need to fulfill the minimum credit requirement of 30 from the 4 year institution as well to receive a degree. That will make it about a year and a half. Is that the best approach?
Have you confirmed with some of the schools you’re targeting for grad school that your bachelor’s degree is indeed not equivalent? Did they say they would base it on World Education Services?
If you know the graduate school that you would like to attend, you should speak directly with the graduate admissions office and with the graduate advisor in the psychology department there. Many programs will award provisional admission, and require that a student in your situation take certain undergraduate courses before enrolling as a full-time graduate student.
Yes I have checked with the institutions, my 90 credits from my international degree do not qualify as a bachelors degree here ( I think in US a bachelors degree requires 120 credits)
^If you have already talked to graduate programs in the U.S. and they have confirmed that what you have is not equivalent to a bachelor’s in the U.S. (and you are therefore ineligible for admission), the next question I would ask is whether you have to earn a second bachelor’s degree in psychology or whether you can fulfill their requirements by taking some additional coursework as a non-degree student in the U.S. Taking a couple of extra classes as a non-degree student is likely to be much cheaper and much less hassle than trying to earn a second bachelor’s.
If it does turn out you need a second bachelor’s…I think you have to make some compromises. It seems like your choices are either pay less (at a public university) but take longer, or pay more and take less time.
What do students in your country normally do before going to the US for grad school? Do they spend an extra year as an undergrad in order to complete an “Honors Diploma” (possible in some UK-style systems), or do they complete a local 1 or 2 year Master’s degree program? You need to look into that as well.
Thanks Juillet! That’s a good suggestion, I am trying to find out the ways to pick up some coursework to avoid a double bachelors. Tell me something, earning credits through a certificate program in US a good idea? I have to earn 30 more credits.
@happymomof1 well most people have a masters before they move to US. My case turned out to be different since I only had undergrad degree. I am contemplating picking up coursework or a certificate program. I will really appreciate if I can get more info on coursework and how to go about it.
I expect that the folks at the local Education USA office should be able to tell you what the options are for students in your situation. Back in the last century, I had friends who earned a local MS before going to the US because their bachelors degrees weren’t recognized here.