German in need of some help :D

[CheshireKat88]

Hey, so I'm from Germany and obviously don't know much about the American college system and stuff. I'll be moving to Virginia by the end of this year though. I have a German Bachelor of Science in Social Science. And I'd like to get a second Bachelor's or a Master's degree in the business or sociology area.
I never went to most of my classes during the semester (and if I did go, I slept through them) and just took the exams at the end. So, I really don't want to go to a regular college, especially because it's so damn expensive.
So my questions, how do I know what classes I need for the degree I want and what the suitable CLEPs and the other tests are? And do any of those schools accept credits from foreign universities?
I am quite confused here.

[EI2HCB]

Wie Ghets! The process for international students I'm from Ireland is this, you must submit your German qualifications with professional translation to an evaluation agency. The College chooses which one they will accept. It costs about $185 - $200 depending on what your particular college decides they need evauluated. This is then submitted to the College in a sealed envelope, you must not open the envelope or the college will reject the evaluation. They then assign American College Credits for you Gymnasium classes and onward and then tell you what other credit courses you need to finish your degree in your new discipline.
There is generally a number of courses called general education that American colleges expect you to complete in order to gain a degree which may seem unusual to us Europeans. CLEPS generally cover basic education classes equal to your first year in an American College, DSST can cover some lower/basic course and some higher courses, Some MBA students here will be able to inform you on if any DSST can be used in a Master course as it is unlikely. There are ways to reduce your costs for certain courses and its possible as a German that you may be able to avail of certain visa work study programs. There are also tax credits available if you arrive on a spousal visa ect. I am currently waiting for my Irish qualifications to be evaluated it usually takes four weeks for an evauluation. Please feel free to ask more questions and use the search box on the top of the page to see if anyone has asked the question previously.

[CheshireKat88]

Thank you very much for your answer
So I'm guessing these evaluation agencies are American agencies and not some German agencies?
The Gymnasium classes are just my high school classes though, do I really need those translated and evaluated too? Or would it be enough to get my college courses translated and evaluated?
And I'm not wrong thinking that I can get a whole degree by just taking those different kind of tests? Or will I still need actual and/or online classes?
Aaaand what are tax credits exactly? I'll be coming over on a spousal visa.

[EI2HCB]

It depends, In the past it was possible to get your whole degree by just doing tests at what we call here "the big three" now the big three usually require that you do a three or six credit course they call a "capstone" which summarises all your previous knowlege in a series of projects or papers. As for your Gymnasium courses some may actually be of high enough education that you may be awarded U.S college credit for them. What we learn in High School final yearin the E.U many courses equal certain classes in a U.S college and therefore are transferable.
to gain a credit hour at the big three it usually costs about $300 per credit hour if you get three credits from translating your gymnasium results that saves you a thousand dollars. It depends on if you want to save E700 by doing it or just pay to retake the classes in English.
There are three agencies in the U.S ECE and WES being the most used for example ECE is who I'm using because that's what Excelsior college wants which is where I will be finally attending.
ECE requires your gymnasium results translated while WES usually only wants your degrees translated. It depends on each country so check out their websites and what you'll need.

Most colleges will require you to take an English test as a prerequisite to enrollment so that you can cope with English in a college setting. As for CLEPs and DSST you can take those tests in Switzerland while you are waiting to come over.

[EI2HCB]

If you are married to an American you will need to get a social security number once you are married or arrive in the United States and have a green card or work permit. Green cards take up to two years to have in your hand while a work permit which will allow you to get a social security number SSN takes about three months. You will need a SSN to take CLEPS and DSST exams but you can begin studying straight away. Any money you pay towards you education at a college can be allocated towards paying less taxes once you have your SSN this means both you and your spouse will be able to pay less tax to the government.

[CheshireKat88]

Okay, thank you very much again!

[BGSU_Alum_86]

A SSN is not required to take the CLEP exams -- this is an optional field to complete, at least it is right now. DSST requires some kind of 10-digit number but they have no idea if this is your number or a made-up number. Whether CLEP or DSST, whatever number (if any) is supplied will only show the last 4 digits on any official score reports/transcripts.

[cookderosa]

Welcome! I don't have any specific advice, other than to say if you have the option, I'd suggest a master's degree over a second bachelor. Of course, there are probably things involved that I know nothing about, as well as more international-friendly schools than others, perhaps others can be more helpful in that area. Also, a degree in sociology isn't going to land you a job in the USA unless you plan to teach at a community college, and even then, there are more MA Sociology holders than teaching slots. All things being equal (meaning access to the degree, cost, and interest) go for business.

Again, welcome to the United States and our forum!

[Yanji]

Welcome! I don't have any specific advice, other than to say if you have the option, I'd suggest a master's degree over a second bachelor. Of course, there are probably things involved that I know nothing about, as well as more international-friendly schools than others, perhaps others can be more helpful in that area. Also, a degree in sociology isn't going to land you a job in the USA unless you plan to teach at a community college, and even then, there are more BA Sociology holders than teaching slots. All things being equal (meaning access to the degree, cost, and interest) go for business.

Agreed on all accounts.

Fortunately for you (OP), Virginia has arguably the best education system in the country so if you qualify for in-state tuition you can attend some good universities at reasonable rates. Check out p/t Masters (or 2nd undergraduate degree) programmes at George Mason in Northern Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth in Richmond or Old Dominion in Norfolk, depending on where you're going to live. GMU and VCU are well-respected in-state and ODU has many online offerings which may be useful for you. (ODU seems to be a bit of an ugly duckling compared to the other big public universities in VA IME, but I've never been further south in VA than Richmond so things could be different down south) I've worked with a few German colleagues who have had no problems enrolling in p/t graduate programmes at NYU and Rutgers Newark with their German degrees so I think as long as you get a full evaluation done and can meet English requirements, you will have no problems with your German degree in the US.

[CheshireKat88]

Oh, thank you everyone!
My (future) husband and I don't plan on staying in VA for more than a few years. He needs to get some schooling straight (and his German skills ha ha) and then we will try to come back.
Even with in-state tuition I don't find the American costs for a degree acceptable. At least for myself. And I'd rather not have to use my husbands GI Bill.
I wouldn't mind getting a business degree or a language one in English, German or Russian (I think the latter would be hard to accomplish in the US). Is it enough to have a Bachelor's in a language to be able to teach it?
In retrospect I should have gone for a different degree to begin with, but by the time I realized it, it was little late and I figured I might as well finish it. I'm very undecided about what to do, I apologize.