Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
need advise with online BA in psychology
#1
Hello,
My wife and I are living overseas. Currently, she's working at an international school in China; both of us are non-US citizens.
Lately, I have been thinking seriously to get a degree from an accredited university online in psychology. It doesn't have to be in the US, EU / Canada / AU /UK would be ok, but it has to be in the English language. 
What would you guys advise me on this matter? Any particular online university or anything I should be aware of? 
Any recommendation for an affordable online degree that would allow me to teach or work in a school? 
Please feel free to ask me about any more pieces of information.

About me :
I am 34 yrs old Egyptian citizen, I have a BA in management information systems, and three years of college in fine art / interior design. I am eager to learn new things, and I am in love with philosophy and psychology. My main goal is to earn a BA in phycology then a master later on. It has to be online as I am currently living in China and usually on moving depends on my wife new contract.
Reply
#2
Hi, I'm also based in China now, but from the USA. I have some questions for you.

1. If possible, would you want to just transfer your BA credits over to an equivalent degree from a U.S. university and complete the relatively few graduation requirements that would be left?
2. Is your BA from an accredited institution?
3. Is your sole purpose in getting another degree to have one completed in English for a new job? (Are you seeking employment within a Chinese school as well?)
4. Finally, if you really want a degree in a completely new topic, it would be simple to start taking some Psych credits online. Do you already have some Psych coursework completed?

I'm sure other people will post here with specifics regarding particular courses and programs, but I'm just curious about your long-term goals for getting a degree, as I am not even sure if China specifically requires a regionally-accredited degree as part of the Z-visa process. Long-term, you'd want a regionally-accredited degree if it's for job prospects.

Shanghai Intl. School Leadership Team Member, College Counselor, SAT-, PSAT-, & SSD-Coordinator. Reverts to PADI Divemaster when near a coast.

BS Anthropology (Minors: History, Brazilian Studies) | Tulane (3.90, summa cum laude)
BA History & Political Science (Minors: Pre-Law, Intl. Studies, Social Studies, Criminal Justice, & Business Admin) | UMPI 
MS Early Childhood Studies: Administration, Management, & Leadership | Walden (3.90)
Certificate Teachers College College Advising Program | Columbia
Certificate College Access Counseling | Rice
Certificate College Admissions Specialist | American School Counselors Association
Goals: A) EdD/MS in Higher Ed; B) 51/195 Countries; C) Find 3rd good hamburger in Shanghai (accomplished June '19, August '21, and...?)

Reply
#3
By the way, here is a thread with a roadmap a few posts down: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...-and-dirty

Shanghai Intl. School Leadership Team Member, College Counselor, SAT-, PSAT-, & SSD-Coordinator. Reverts to PADI Divemaster when near a coast.

BS Anthropology (Minors: History, Brazilian Studies) | Tulane (3.90, summa cum laude)
BA History & Political Science (Minors: Pre-Law, Intl. Studies, Social Studies, Criminal Justice, & Business Admin) | UMPI 
MS Early Childhood Studies: Administration, Management, & Leadership | Walden (3.90)
Certificate Teachers College College Advising Program | Columbia
Certificate College Access Counseling | Rice
Certificate College Admissions Specialist | American School Counselors Association
Goals: A) EdD/MS in Higher Ed; B) 51/195 Countries; C) Find 3rd good hamburger in Shanghai (accomplished June '19, August '21, and...?)

Reply
#4
I guess transferring my BA credits over to equivalent degree from a U.S university sound interesting I remember there is a service like WES doing that services.
My wife has her equivalents to U.S degrees done by WES, but she is an EU citizen and studied in one of the top EU universities.
Here is the thing, its nearly impossible to get a job as teaching couples with "choir teacher + IT teacher" in China, basically international schools in China do not teach IT, and my first degree is BA in management information systems (MIS).
I also have a certificate from Cisco and Microsoft too
- CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate)
- MCSA: Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate Windows Server 2016
I tried multiple times to get a job around here with absolutely no luck, and everybody sees my passport change his mind it's not so easy to hire Egyptian with a degree from Egypt, a U.S degree maybe! But Egyptian degree is a NO-NO.
The only time I managed to get a company nearby to hire me, things changed big time once they figured out that I am not first world citizen they thought I am sough African or British. Also, I am a non-native speaker. A little accent is a BIG DEAL for international schools here. That's how things are going here in China.
Are my BA from an accredited institution, this is a tricky question to answer, to be completely honest I am not sure.
The Egyptian government accredits my degree, does that works for U.S university? No idea. I guess I have to send a copy of all my documents to be evaluated by WES to be able to answer this question accurately.
I need to earn a degree in English from a native speaking university. Even a degree in the English language from Egypt won't cut it.
Do I seek employment within a Chinese school, not mainly, I mainly need to be able to have a work in the same school where my wife gets her contract, in which most of the time is at international schools in China, or somewhere nearby so we both can provide income.
In my point of view, having a psychology degree, then a master in psychology is much more flexible to have a job around here in China. IT jobs has proven to be quite challenging to get me anywhere here, especially in teaching its nearly do not exist for schools.
Everyone here is a computer geek!
Also, they prefer a local IT admin guy to deal with all the equipment, software and people around in Chinese . "routers, switches and even windows here are in Chinese also cisco routers here is rare they have Huawei, a national company. imagine my fibre optic link goes down, and I need to contact the telecommunications company to get it fixed ."
Regarding starting from scratch in psychology, well, honestly, no I did not have any previews coursework at the subject, except for high school. But I have an extensive background in both psychology and philosophy as I am a book worm and a certified nerdSmile one of the only few things I enjoy in life anyway.
I studied both IT and Fine art /interior design.
Sorry for the wall of text Smile
Reply
#5
All of the "Big 3" Universities have Psychology degrees that are very friendly to testing out. They are:

Thomas Edison State University
Excelsior College
Charter Oak State College

I believe Charter Oak will be the cheapest, but it might depend on how they evaluate your existing credits.
Completed:
BA History & Psychology, Thomas Edison State University, March 2020
ASNSM Mathematics, Thomas Edison State University, March 2020

Up Next:
JD, Cornell Law School, Class of 2024

Link to all credits earned: Link
Reply
#6
In your shoes, I'd go ahead and submit my credit to WES and see what they make of them. Then you can apply to one or more of the Big3 and see where you stand on credits needed.
NanoDegree: Intro to Self-Driving Cars (2019)
Coursera: Stanford Machine Learning (2019)
TESU: BA in Comp Sci (2016)
TECEP:Env Ethics (2015); TESU PLA:Software Eng, Computer Arch, C++, Advanced C++, Data Struct (2015); TESU Courses:Capstone, Database Mngmnt Sys, Op Sys, Artificial Intel, Discrete Math, Intro to Portfolio Dev, Intro PLA (2014-16); DSST:Anthro, Pers Fin, Astronomy (2014); CLEP:Intro to Soc (2014); Saylor.org:Intro to Computers (2014); CC: 69 units (1980-88)

PLA Tips Thread - TESU: What is in a Portfolio?
Reply


Possibly Related Threads...
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  Online Ivy League degree programs that require less than a week on campus sanantone 43 22,779 03-11-2025, 04:51 PM
Last Post: SophiaPrincess
  Coursera's Online EMT Program sanantone 3 2,004 03-04-2025, 11:31 AM
Last Post: Mint Berry Crunch
  'It's never too late': Older students fulfill goals with ASU Online degrees LevelUP 1 413 02-05-2025, 10:37 PM
Last Post: NotJoeBiden
  Online Degrees Out of Reach: Fewer than half of students graudate in 8 years LevelUP 1 375 02-05-2025, 06:55 PM
Last Post: ss20ts
  Online university with exams, projects, flat rates ArboristFlames 9 4,717 01-25-2025, 01:30 PM
Last Post: ArboristFlames
  Online certificate in biblical counseling Sowak777 11 3,001 12-05-2024, 04:59 PM
Last Post: Bingbong
  Any accelerated online engineering bachelors out there? jobojoe285 10 2,636 11-20-2024, 12:23 AM
Last Post: bjcheung77
Question Online Degree in Worker/Social Cooperativism? Pinko64 1 476 10-31-2024, 04:45 AM
Last Post: Avidreader
  AACSB Certified Online Business School? Trich1996 15 2,003 10-09-2024, 11:28 PM
Last Post: LevelUP
  Seeking Advice on Free Online Courses as a Non-Degree Student rickrick 6 1,979 09-09-2024, 05:19 PM
Last Post: CollegeStudentAC

Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)