Vocational or Academic

[KAK1955 0]

Hi,

In Ds-260 form - Education Section, for high school course of study, it is required to indicate whether my education is “Academic” or “Vocational Study". I have Technical Baccalaureate that is equivalent to a high school diploma and which is considered satisfactory for continuing onto higher education in my country as it contain some specific subjects similar to General High School curriculum such as math, second language, social science and information technology.
The DV lottery requirement states that "Vocational degrees that are not considered a basis for further academic study will not be considered equivalent to U.S. High school education". My Questions:
1. Based on my study, what do i need to include in Ds-260, Vocational Study or Academic Study
2. If i include Vocational, will the CO disqualify me? 
3. Technical High school is given by Vocational Institutes, so if i include Academic will this be considered as misrepresentation.
4. How the CO will consider my degree acceptable as a basis for further academic study in the US
5. The rule says " At Least a High School Education" what do they mean by "at least" - I have a Bachelor Degree, will this make a difference?

 

Appreciate your reply on my above questions.

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

You actually need to find out what this means for your particular country, there are a few countries where what is called vocational is actually academic enough for university (example I know of people in Albania with a “vocational” high school being accepted for DV), and others where it is not acceptable. If you have a university bachelors degree you are probably ok. You can either contact your embassy for advice on what they see as acceptable, or see if you can find a forum where others in your country have discussed this.

[KAK1955 0]

Hi Susie,

 

 I called the embassy but they referred me to their website. However as per Ministry of Education website in my country, it is mentioned that TVET is broken down into technical education and vocational education. The former is more theory, math and science, while the latter is more applied and practical in nature. As advised before, the technical high school allows me to study at the university without any issue, my issue is whether the CO will consider it as equivalent to US high school? And the second and more important question whether I include academic rather than vocational?

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

I’m sorry, as i am not familiar with the education system there I do not feel I can give you a definitive answer. 

[KAK1955 0]

Thanks Susie for your great help.

 

I have two more questions:

1. For distance learning degree in different country. Should I state distance learning and where do I need to mention the same? As if I insert the university address which is located in different country for a course of study of two years, I will be required to obtain a Police certificate from a country where I visited it for graduation Ceremony of 5 days only.

 

2. I don’t remember the secondary school starting date, it is almost 25 years back. shall I insert in the date attended from the usual starting date of secondary school and date attended to the date shown on the awarding diploma?

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

1. No, you don’t need a police certificate if you were not residing there. If necessary you can explain in the interview, but obviously your home address for that period will not be in the country  you got the degree from so it shouldn’t cause confusion 

2. Yes you can estimate.

[KAK1955 0]

Thank you for all your helpful answers. God bless you😊