I want to go back to school! (this is a long story, be weary)

[chapstick 0]

Is there already a topic on this? I wasn't 100% sure.

I would just like to know if anybody has had any experiences with transferring their college/university credits from Canada to a school here in the US?

What kind of evaluation services did you use?

I guess I could just briefly give you all a run-down on my situation.

I graduated high school in BC with almost a 4.0 GPA and made it into a great university. During my 1st year in university, however, I did poorly and completely bombed all my courses. I don't think I was quite ready for the transition at 18 years old, especially when I practically lived my entire high school life "winging" my courses and just doing well with very little effort. University was a totally different atmosphere, unfortunately, I had to actually "study" and complete homework assignments to succeed and pass. Long story short, I was put on academic probation and then got kicked out of university.

You would think that getting kicked out of university would be considered a wake-up call, right? You know, I would just enroll in community college, take a few classes to boost my GPA, transfer back to university and finish up with a degree... easy! NOT!

Well, I guess I'll just sum everything up for you all now ------ my efforts in pursuing a post secondary education followed me even to community college. YES. That's right. Community college isn't exactly "cake" like everybody assumes. I ended up taking a bunch of courses, failed a few, withdrew out of a lot, couldn't decide what I wanted to take etc etc etc. I also think my decision not to take out any kind of student loan had somewhat of an impact on my post secondary experience, that, and sheer laziness. I was working a part time job to pay for part time school, juggling boyfriends and trying to have a social life. Ugh, regrets.

I did finally manage scrounge up enough credits to graduate with an Associate of Arts Degree (with a specialization in psychology) from community college a few years later with an embarrassing GPA of 2.24!

Nonetheless, I felt minimally satisfied with this accomplishment, like, "Hey, at least I have some kind of piece of paper to show I'm not just a high school graduate!", right? (not that there is anything wrong with that, but I feel this is considered the absolute minimum to today's working standards)

Plus I can finally add something else to the education portion of my resume beyond "high school" ---->

I consider myself very lucky, I am married to a well educated man (currently he's one course away from obtaining his Masters Degree) with aspirations to pursue his PhD, makes you wonder why he picked me, right?

Despite my education level (2 year college degree with a pathetic 2.24 GPA), I did manage to find a great job here in the US. I work full-time 40 hours a week with a decent salary, my husband and I are very fortunate that together we are surviving very well financially.

I have been tethering back and forth these last couple of years trying to decide if it's worth it to go back to school and get my Bachelors Degree. I mean, I know I'm being ridiculous here, because the answer is obvious:

HIGHER EDUCATION = MORE OPPORTUNITIES!

To be completely honest, I have a great job, but I know it's not something I want to be doing for the rest of my life. I want to be able to do something that I LOVE, but unfortunately, those jobs require a BA.

I feel now, that 10 years after high school graduation and a more mature mentality/outlook, I would be better suited to pursue a BA at this time in my life. Plus my employer would pay for a great deal of my tuition no matter what kind of post secondary education I pursue (doesn't have to be work related).

Do you guys feel with the information I have disclosed above (2.4 GPA community college, getting kicked out of university), would it be even POSSIBLE to get into any schools here in the US to pursue a BA? I already know that I would not get into a State University with my 2.24 GPA, should I even bother trying to transfer any credits? What about trying to enroll into a community college here in the US? Do you think it's worth paying an evaluation service to evaluate my Canadian transcripts? Should I just enroll into a community college here in the US (now that I'm a resident), and start from scratch? Could I retake some courses to boost my poor GPA? Pretend I never got an Associates Degree in Canada and just try and enroll based on my high school GPA? Is that allowed?

With the educational turmoil I am in, I feel like this whole "going back to school" idea is now a lost cause. Any advice for me?

Thanks to everyone in advance who responds and took the time to read my story

Edited November 4, 2011 by chapstick

[GnBnL 50]

If I were you, I would take a few courses to upgrade before entering the program of your choice. It will be a good warm up for pursuing your degree, and it will make you feel better to go in with a stronger GPA. It's never a bad idea to get MORE education! I think its great that you're considering it! Especially if your employer will help pay! its a great op, and what do you have to lose?? I came from a college in Canada and transferred to a college here. I had no problems with it, but it probably depends on many factors. Once you choose a school, just pop by the registrars office and ask them! got a copy of your transcript handy? Go for it!

[Flames9_RN 358]

Many Community colleges have partnerships with the bigger schools! I know many try and take as many classes at a Community school and then transfer to the University----much cheaper route to go if $$$$ is a concern. They should be able to provide you a list of companies that can evaluate your Cdn schooling. I know mine did, I had to get a form sent directly from the evaluation company stright to the school (I just had grade 12,lol no college classes in canada)

Are u living in the USA right now? As some States state one has to live their for a year to get in-state tuition rates! For me in VA, they based it on my wife residing in VA for a year (proof was showing a past VA tax form)

[SapphireDreams 71]

I don't know if its the same when tranferring to a US school, but I transferred universities in Canada (and then back again) and the actual grade of the class didn't count towards my GPA at the school I was transferring to. It just counted as a credit. It just has to be C- or higher to be counted. Although, I had a D+ in one of my classes and they still took it as credit after evaluating the course and deeming it at a high difficulty.

I'm not sure your entrance into a US school is even based upon your grades from your Associates. I would call the school you're interested in getting a BA from and figure out the entrance requirements. I think you'll be surprised at how helpful schools will be to help you figure out how you can be accepted and how easy it can be (depending on the school of course).

[Inky 1,111]

You need to speak to the school. Every school is different and has different requirements of you to be able to get into the programs and to transfer your credits.

You will need to pay a company to have them "translate" all your courses, In my state the schools only use certain companys for this and will not accept other companys that are not on their list. After translating the courses for a fee. You get a transcript that is equivalent to US standards. You send this to the school and you take your testing etc to see if you are accepted then they look at counting credits for you when you are accepted.

A lot of the schools I have looked at require testing SAT or ACT testing plus general class testing as well as having pre-requisites class credits to get into programs.

You really need to do your research at the schools you want to go to. Set up meetings with counselors and get the facts of the school.

[thetreble 19]

I work at a University here in the US.

They may force you to take the SATs since that is a requirement for most college students, whether they began as students at a community college or not.

Other than that, it will just be your marks that will do the talking. As every one says, meet with the individual schools academic advisers and see what's possible for you. Some will probably accept your GPA like it is. Some might need it to be transferred. However, I have found that they treat Canadian diplomas and credits much like they would treat american ones.

I was going to do my MA here in the US which would have been no problem. However, almost every university in the US for an academic program like history, math, english, etc. makes you write the GRE which I did not have time to study for. So, I just ended up doing it through an online school in Canada.

Good luck!