hoffage123

I am looking to get my qualifications credentialed before I move over to the US - I have a BSc(Hons) Psychology at 2:2 level and a Postgraduate Diploma in Radio Journalism.

Is World Education Services any good, or are there any other credentialing services I should think about?


Thanks,
Hoffage

NatashaB

they are one of the two recommended by the college I study at (admittedly an online college - Charter Oak) - the other is ECE (Educational Credential Evaluators). Details of which evaluators each college accepts are available on their websites - I would check out a few decent colleges FAQs to see which evaluators they accept - it's usually under the international students section.

I just looked on Michigan State University's site (which is a bit more of an established institution) and they recommended ECE and WES too. I have used ECE to evaluate my Open University qualifications and it came back as expected - 120 OU credits are one year's worth of full time study, translated to 30 US college credits. They didn't do anything in terms of aligning my OU score with a US degree score - I got an OU score average of 70 which was just translated to a C, even though the OU work was far tougher than the US college work.

If you have A Levels, those will get you some college credit too - I would get those assessed at the same time.

hoffage123

Thank you Natasha that is most appreciated - do you have to send in your certificates/transcripts to them do you know?

NatashaB

I emailed scanned copies of mine to ECE.

kimilseung

Maybe best to wait until you know the requirements of an employer or institution, different organizations sometimes require evaluation from specific people, although this might cost more money, as it might mean a short turn around, which can cost more.

The people that did mine, did it via t'internet.

kimilseung

I used FIS, for what it is worth, but they were one of the companies on the list of approved evaluation services for what I needed.

hoffage123

Thank you both - the information is most appreciated

Duncan Roberts

I wouldn't bother unless you find you need to. It's costly to do and it might be wasted money if you never have to use the translation.

scrubbedexpat099

I never bothered, I think it would depend on why you want them 'translated, what are you looking to do with those translations?

hoffage123

Hi Boiler,

I dunno, from what I read it seems like HR departments over in the US don't appear to recognise UK degree qualifications (unless I have that wrong), so I thought if I got them put in a format they recognise, it would help with applying to jobs.

Hoffage

scrubbedexpat099

Do people with Psychology degrees work in Psychology areas?

You mention HR so I am going to assume you are not looking for work in your area.

So your degree basically says I have been educated to degree level, do the details matter?

hoffage123

For me its a bit of a mish-mash because I did my Postgrad in Radio Journalism, and whilst I have freelanced in that on and off for the BBC, I have also worked a fair bit in Education Administration so my experience is all over the place. I never really used my Psychology degree.

I am going to look for work in my field (journalism), so will be networking for that, but am also conscious of the need to earn money as well unless I fell on my feet and get lucky the first time around with getting into my field. Therefore additionally I would be applying to more generic style jobs as well that pay a decent wage, as a backup just in case my plan A falls through.

I guess the details don't matter, as long as the employers can see that my degree is equivalent to whatever their minimum requirement for a degree is, if that makes sense?

Hoffage

kimilseung

Any evaluation details might just make a resume harder to read, no one wants to read about 300 credits here and 150 credits there.

scrubbedexpat099

So it sounds like translation would a waste of space.

Shezi59

WES were one of the 5 organizations recommended by the Education Dept in TN, I've just ordered mine.

It isn't translations that's the issue - it's the transcripts. Depending on your field of work or your prospective employer, it will generally be recognised that you are educated to degree level (or post-grad) and if that's all that's required you probably won't need transcripts. If, however, you are applying for a post that requires you to have a degree, the value of an overseas degree is meaningless without a transcript. There are different types available (commonly course by course).

As for too much info on a resume? I wouldn't put any of the info on a resume, I would simply state that transcripts are available. Most organizations will also only accept a transcript sent from a professional service (such as WES) in a sealed packet.

WES hold the transcripts and send out as many as required - I just paid the $212 for a course by course evaluation. There is a further charge for each of your universities to release the information (Liverpool charge about 20 quid).

Shezi