Back to school, please share your experience and advice

[Ethanmama]

I came to the States 4 years ago and have one child now. With my son starting school next year, I want to go back to school as well, first to fulfill my dream of studying in a foreign country, second to prepare myself for a new job and build up my foundation here.

However, I don't know where to start, I already have a degree in Hong Kong, do I still need to show my SAT, or take any test to be admitted to a school?

Since my son turned 2, I have been leading a Cantonese preschool playdate for a group of 6 kids for about a year.  I have never done that before but I found that I can be a pretty good teacher indeed and I really enjoy it. Therefore, I want to be a teacher, may be a preschool teacher first, then I can also teach Cantonese plus some traditional crafts. I am thinking to obtain a degree in Early Childhood Development. Do you think that is the course I need ? is there anything else I should also consider?

My goal is to be independant one day, I love my husband but hate being to dependant on him. For those who immigrated to other countries, how did you build up your foundation? Could you please share your stories with us?

[nhockaday]

Why don't you take an hour or two and go talk to admissions at a college? You can tell them you are just trying to find out all the information so you can figure out if you want to go to school. You will probably need to show them SAT scores and/or take an admissions test if you decide to go to college. I'm not sure how foreign credits transfer over, but they will be able to help you with all of that.

An early childhood degree is 2 years or less here, but of course, you can go for longer if you want a better degree.

[laughingwater]

Hi Ethanmama,

Every situation is different and what you will need to do will depend greatly on where you eventually want to teach and which university you study at.  What is you undergraduate degree from Hong Kong in?  Is it something that you could use as a base and get a masters and teaching credentials instead of another undergraduate degree? Also consider that many preschools, such as Montessori may not require a teaching credential - just that you go through their teacher training program.

I had a similar experience. I have a finance dregree from South Africa, then moved to the States. I wanted to stay in my same field, but I needed a Masters degree in order to advance. I wasn't changing fields - so things will be different for you if you are planning to do that. I found that it was very difficult for American universities to interpret my transcripts because the grading scale is so different.  So I had to do a few things in order to be considered:
1. Get my transcripts evaluated by one of the agencies that does international evaluations. I don't remember which one I used. I asked the school I was applying to and used the one they accepted.  Even with the evaluation they gave me an assumed 2.0 GPA - even though I was one of the top students in the South African program.
2. I had to take the GMAT exam - required for entrance into MBA programs. And because they could not really evaluate my transcripts I had to get a much higher score than was typically required for entrance to that school.
3. I had to have a personal interview with the Admission's Director to explain why I should be admitted to that school.
4. Because they gave me such a low assumed GPA for my undergarduate degree I was only admitted conditionally for the first 2 semesters upon me getting good grades. I had to prove to them that I was as good as I said I was.

After all the hassle I went through to get admitted, I graduated 2 years later with a 4.0 GPA as the top student in the program.  But for me it was all totally worth it.

My recommendation to you would be to start at the end result you want to achieve. Find a school you would like to teach at and then set up an interview with them and find out what the requirements are to be a teacher.  Also find out what schools they consider to be high on their list of "good schools".  Then do your research on schools, find out how and where they are accredited. Then set up interviews with a few of them and explain what you are trying to achieve and get some advice before you actually go through the application process.

Embarking on further study is exciting. It is alo a huge investment both financilly and in time. Put the time in now to do the research and make the wise investment that helps you get where you want to get. Best of luck!

[LM]

I moved from South Africa to England 5 years ago, I didn't have formal qualifications. I went  back to school and did a degree in Media studies, I am now finishing my Masters degree in Mass Communication.I will do a graduate teacher programme, I will be teaching english at a high school next year and get my qualified teacher status (QTS) which will take me 1 year. I will then be a qualified teacher. My husband has a diploma from South Africa, he is now doing his Law degree. We are also still laying our foundation here in England. We have a 16 month old son, both work full time, our working ours are flexible, it is challenging but it can be done. 

[Ethanmama]

Thank your for all the great advice. It is very encouraging to hear all of your stories. I know it will not be easy, but certainly it can be done. My hope is I will be able to finish a degree by the time my son starting first grade. I am still thinking what to study though, I am quite fortunate that my husband bring home a good enough income so I can choose something I am really interested in. I am excited about going back to school ... I think I am starting to feel tired playing with a 2 yo and watching sprout Network all the time... there is no simulation in my life at all. I also miss my working life very much, so I have no doubt it's time to do something for mysef. Thanks for the information and encouragement again. It helps a lot.

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