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Pursuing MS/MBA in the U.S.A on F1 or H4 visa

Discussion in 'General Discussions - USA & Canada' started by neha1, Mar 6, 2010.

  1. 27csweetangel

    27csweetangel Silver IL'ite

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    Hi can anybody tell the procedure to obtain transcripts from Nagpur,university, letters of recommendation for admission in US university.
     
  2. Jyothisri

    Jyothisri Bronze IL'ite

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    Hi all,
    I’ve been reading this thread since the last few days and I finally finished reading the last post now. I am in exactly the same situation that Neha wrote about in her first post. While doing research on which course to pursue and which college to apply to, I came across some good information that I would like to share here; it just might help others. I do have a lot of questions in my head, and I’m hoping to discuss them with you and find some answers. Meanwhile, I’d just like to share whatever I found.

    I am posting below the text of an article that talks about college accreditation and how to find a college with the right accreditation. This article talks mainly about accreditation of online universities and colleges, but I guess the same principles can be applied to brick and mortar schools also. The article can be found at
    Distance Learning, College Accreditation & Online Degrees: The Facts | GetEducated.com

    What Is College or University Accreditation?
    Accreditation provides for the independent review of education programs for the purpose of determining if that education is of uniform and sound quality.


    Why Is Accreditation Important?
    College accreditation is important if you want to have a public record of your learning that will be widely accepted by employers, professional associations and other colleges and universities.

    Types of Institutional University Accreditation – Regional
    In the United States the most widely recognized form of university accreditation comes from the regional accreditation boards. Harvard University is regionally accredited. Ohio University is regionally accredited. Stanford University is regionally accredited ... and so on. When people ask if you have attended an "accredited university" in the United States, they most commonly mean a regionally accredited university.

    The Six Regional Accreditation Boards
    Each of the six geographic regions of the United States has a non-governmental, regional agency that oversees and accredits degree-granting institutions headquartered in their territories. The six regional accreditation boards are:

    • MSA—Middle States Association of Colleges & Schools
    • NASC—Northwest Commission on Colleges & Universities
    • NCA—North Central Association of Colleges & Schools
    • NEASC—New England Association of Schools & Colleges
    • SACS—Southern Association of Colleges & Schools
    • WASC—Western Association of Schools & Colleges.
    There is no better or worse agency among these six agencies. Regionally accredited colleges recognize degrees and credits earned at other regionally accredited institutions as equal to their own.


    For example, if you earn an undergraduate or bachelor’s degree at one regionally accredited online college, such as the University of Maryland, it will be recognized as a valid degree for entering a graduate program later at the University of Illinois Online or any other regionally accredited university.


    Types of Institutional College Accreditation - National
    The most common type of accreditation other than regional accreditation is national accreditation. The three most common types of national accreditation agencies:

    • Distance Education & Training Council (DETC)
    • Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges & Schools (ACICS)
    • Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology (ACCSCT)
    The DETC, founded in 1926, and first recognized as an accreditor by the U.S. Department of Education in 1955, accredits about 60 degree-granting home study institutions, as well as many schools that provide career and vocational training.
    Colleges that offer theology training programs for the ministry may be accredited by these specialized national agencies:

    • Association of Theological Schools in the US & Canada (ATS)
    • Association of Advanced Rabbinical & Talmudic Schools (AARTS)
    • Transnational Association of Christian Colleges & Schools (TRACS)
    All of the above agencies are sometimes referred to as “national accrediting agencies” because they can accredit colleges located anywhere in the USA.

    National Accreditation - Limits
    Be forewarned that the majority of regionally accredited colleges (greater than 80 percent) do not accept courses and degrees earned at nationally accredited colleges as the equivalent of their own. If you earn your bachelor’s degree at a DETC-accredited college, for example, the majority of regionally accredited colleges may not accept this bachelor’s degree as sufficient for entering their graduate level program of study. Careers that are governed by state licensing boards—such as teaching, accounting and engineering—may not accept academic degrees unless these degrees are earned at regionally accredited universities.[FONT=&quot]
    [/FONT]
     
  3. Jyothisri

    Jyothisri Bronze IL'ite

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    What Is Programmatic Accreditation: Do I Need It?
    Academic departments within universities often seek specialized accreditation for individual degree programs. Careers regulated by state licensing may require degrees that carry special programmatic accreditation.
    Teacher licensing boards may require degrees earned from colleges whose education schools are accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). State bar or lawyer licensing regulatory boards often require law degrees from schools accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA). If you hope to become a licensed engineer you may have to attend an engineering degree program that is accredited by the Accrediting Board for Engineering Technology (ABET).

    Three different agencies in the United States specialize in accrediting business schools. Among these agencies, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools Business International (AACSB) is considered, by academics themselves, the most prestigious type of business school accreditation. If you intend to pursue a career in teaching or research in a university environment, then an AACSB-accredited business degree may be a wise investment.

    Unrecognized & Fake Online College Accreditors
    In order for accreditation to have any meaning, it is important that your online college’s accrediting agency be recognized by the Council on Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) or the U.S. Department of Accreditation.
    As online education has increased in popularity so have the number of unrecognized, fake and bogus online college accreditors. Be very careful when searching for college degrees online. Hundreds of fake online colleges—also known as degree mills—advertise heavily online. These fake colleges are usually accredited by fake accrediting agencies with very official-sounding names.

    State Approved Online Universities
    There has been a big boom in "state approved" schools offering degrees via distance learning, especially from Alabama and California. Many states regulate private trade schools by putting them through a state approval process. State approval or state licensing of an online college is not the same as accreditation. Sometimes “state approval” simply means that a license to do business has been granted.
    A "state approved" distance learning college may provide sound training, but degrees earned from state approved online colleges are unaccredited degrees; and degrees earned from unaccredited universities are not widely accepted in the academic or corporate world.
    A degree earned at a "state approved" college may not be acceptable for transfer to or admission to a regionally accredited college should you later decide to attend such an institution.

    This article gives a list of online schools that do not require GRE/GMAT for online MBA.

    This article talks about whether you should tell your employer that you earned your degree online.
     
    Last edited: Jul 21, 2010
  4. Jyothisri

    Jyothisri Bronze IL'ite

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    Now, about my situation, I have a Bachelors degree in alternative medicine (Homeopathy, to be specific) from India. I am in the US since one and half years and I have a 2-month-old baby, and we live in Durham, NC. My husband has a software job which may require us to relocate at least once a year. I am now thinking of going to grad school to do a Masters degree.

    The first step was to decide which course to do and whether the Universities in my state offer those courses. I have Public Administration, Physical Therapy, and Nutrition in mind. As fast as I have researched and understood, both Physical Therapy and Nutrition programs require full-time study and on-campus presence along with internships and later on licensing and registration. My problem with this is A) I may not be able to concentrate on full-time study and internships because I have to take care of my child (well, daycare is an option, but not really the first consideration), and B) We relocate every few months, so I might need to write licensing exams and undertake registration in every state that we move to, in order to have a job; that does not sound very practical to me.

    Public administration also needs field work, but it does not require licensing and registration. Also, University of North Carolina Pembroke offers an online MPA. Another school that offers online MPA is DeVry University’s Keller Graduate School of Management – and this does not require GMAT/GRE.

    Pfeiffer University has Master of Health Administration, so I’m also considering that. Both Pfeiffer Uni and Keller School have campuses very close to where I live, so I’m also thinking of a hybrid learning involving both on-campus and online studies. My questions are:

    1) What are your suggestions regarding the choice of school? Do you have any reviews for the above schools?
    2) What is your opinion about learning 100% online, considering all aspects like value of the degree, ease/difficulty of online learning with family commitments?
    3) Now the big question – H4 or F1? I would like to start a separate thread to discuss this because this thread mainly discusses MS in US and visa concerns are a different, and huge, topic.

    I have sent email inquiries to the three schools I mentioned above, and an admissions advisor at Keller School arranged to meet me this week. Hopefully, I will get some clarity once that is done. Meanwhile, I’d really appreciate hearing from all of you who have been there and done that.

    Thanks!

    Jyothi
     
    Last edited: Jul 21, 2010
  5. Gauri03

    Gauri03 Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    Jyothi,

    You will obviously have to make a decision based on the constraints of your husband's career. You do seem to have a good understanding of the constraints that you will be operating under. My only advice is to know beforehand the utility of the degree that you will be working so hard to get. I personally am very leery of degrees offered by online universities. An online degree offered by a regular university is a much better option since the school itself will be much better recognized than a purely online school. You need to look at your choices from the perspective of the end result. Will it prepare you for your future career? What is the acceptability of the degree you will get? What qualifications do prospective employers look for? What type of jobs will that degree fetch? Which companies/agencies/institutions hire people with your background? When you have satisfactory answers for these questions only then should you choose a program be it online or on-campus.

    One thing to note is that you will not be able to study on an F-1 visa if you do choose an online program. F1 visas require you to be enrolled full-time and stay on campus for at least 9 months in a year. You are only allowed to take summer off. The choice of which visa to study on will be governed by your financial situation. If you can pay for your education then an H4 will work just fine. From my discussions with the ladies on this forum I have learnt that studying on a H4 visa can actually be quite economical provided you live in the right state. The F1 visa of course provides some distinct benefits over the H4 visa. You qualify for financial support and get an OPT status after graduating. You will also be eligible for internships during your course of study.

    If you read the first 10 or so pages of this thread you will find a lot of information about the H4 vs the F1 visa.

    HTH!
     
    Last edited: Jul 21, 2010
  6. neha1

    neha1 Silver IL'ite

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    For transcripts, check your university website. If you have the contact number of the examination department then you could call and ask them the process for the transcipts. Another option is to ask someone to go directly to the university and apply on your behalf.
    Recommendation letters can be given by your professors at college or your ex-supervisors at work.
     
  7. neha1

    neha1 Silver IL'ite

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    Thanks for your information post on accredition:)

    Gauri has given excellant information to your questions. I"ll add what I know too.
    1) What are your suggestions regarding the choice of school? Do you have any reviews for the above schools?

    I do not know much about online schools/courses. But, from what I know they can be as expensive as attending classes at a campus. Hence, in my opinion, better to take up a course on campus,may be part time.

    2) What is your opinion about learning 100% online, considering all aspects like value of the degree, ease/difficulty of online learning with family commitments?
    I find it more hard to study in online courses. I had taken a one month course online from a community college in my area and found it so boring and demotivating to study. I think a class room environment is better for study. It gives us interaction with students/profs and also helps us learn better. In an online course, we are left at our own mercy to study and unless we have extreme discipline, it will be hard to take time out and study. This is purely my opinion. I know that online courses work better for some others.
    3) Now the big question – H4 or F1? I would like to start a separate thread to discuss this because this thread mainly discusses MS in US and visa concerns are a different, and huge, topic.
    This thread also has information on H4 and F1. However, in online courses I don't think you will be given F1 visa(not sure though).

    Since you have mentioned that you need to move places, I think you should check if a transfer is allowed. That way you can continue your studies elswhere. Try to find more information on this.
    Regarding courses, why don't you look at M.S health management or MBA in heath management. The courses that you have short listed are great too!!! But, I just thought of adding this option as well. I know that Health care domain is one HOT field here :). Hence, you should be having lot of options if you get a degree here.
     
    Last edited: Jul 21, 2010
  8. 27csweetangel

    27csweetangel Silver IL'ite

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    thanks a ton neha for info .
    Think will have lots of questions in coming days:)..
     
  9. Jyothisri

    Jyothisri Bronze IL'ite

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    Gouri,

    Thanks a lot for the prompt reply. I understand the drawbacks of getting a degree from on online university, as opposed to getting an online degree from a brick and mortar university. This has been discussed earlier in this thread and upon reading that discussion I did not contact any school that is 100% online. UNC Pembroke and Pfeiffer University are brick and mortar universities that offer online degrees. Keller School also has on-campus learning and online learning; so I guess it should be called a brick and mortar school.

    I do not encourage anyone to go for a degree from an online school either. I only shared the information I found because I felt that it would apply to any type of school, and it would help to know what to look for when searching for schools. I'm sorry if that was not clear from my post.

    Now about the questions that you've posed in your post, that's exactly where I'm stuck.

    Will it prepare you for your future career? What is the acceptability of the degree you will get? What qualifications do prospective employers look for?

    How do I determine this? I will ask the advisors these questions and also how their alumni are doing. Is there anything else that I can do?

    What type of jobs will that degree fetch? Which companies/agencies/institutions hire people with your background?

    I am going to ask these questions when I meet with the advisors. I have made another appointment to meet with an advisor at Pfeiffer Uni this evening.

    I'm thinking hard about the visa issue. Here is what I've analyzed:

    H4 visa: Advantages:
    1) Can qualify for in-state tuition
    2) Can study part-time/online

    Disadvantages:
    1) Will not qualify for OPT/CPT
    2) There may be problems to convert to H1B - Is there anyone out there who has studied on H4 and then succesfully converted to H1B? Are employers ready to sponsor H1B for non-IT jobs?
    3) Not eligible to work on-campus - This is not really a criterion for me. I don't think I'll be able to concentrate on study and work at the same time anyway.

    F1 visa: Advantages:
    1) Eligible for financial aid
    2) Eligible for OPT/CPT - can convert to H1B later relatively easier than H4
    3) Eligible to work on campus

    Disadvantages:
    1) Have to study full-time
    2) Costlier than H4 - We're planning to take a loan if I get an F1.

    I'm also trying to explore the possibility of starting my education on H4 and then converting to F1 midway.

    Another important question that struck me as I wrote this post is whether the degree that I do, let's say MHA or MPA, is eligible for H1b. Are jobs in Health or Public Administration considered speciality jobs? Will it be difficult to find a sponsor? How do I know more about this? Everybody I know has an H1B to work in the software field. It's difficult to find information for H1Bs in healthcare-related jobs.
     
  10. Jyothisri

    Jyothisri Bronze IL'ite

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    Neha, thanks for your reply. I know what you mean when you say that online study is more difficult than on-campus study because it needs more discipline. I have elaborated more about my situation in my reply to Gauri's post.

    I have not been able to find MS Health Management in any of the universities in my state (at least not in those that I'm interested in). I am not really interested in MBA because that will take my career in a totally different direction. I feel that MHA or MPA will complement my previous education, whereas MBA will concentrate more on the Business aspect, which is not what I'm looking for.

    Do you know anything about whether employers will sponsor H1B for an MHA or MPA candidate? How do I find more information on this?
     

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