ENEB Master Thread

[eLearner]

However, I won't be listing it as an MBA or Master but instead as a Graduate Diploma as they're 30 credits and they don't have the necessary research project/thesis or capstone a real Master's degree will have.

I get where your thinking is situated there, and I think the aim is to be as honest as possible and that's commendable. But you'll be selling yourself way short by doing that. A capstone or a thesis is not what makes a Masters "real". Those are not mandatory requirements for all Masters programs even in the United States, and it really is dependent on the program and school and what each requires.

Off the top of my head, I can think of programs from Amberton, TCU, and Liberty which have all had Masters degrees without a capstone or thesis requirement at one point or another. The absence of those things wouldn't make your Masters any less a Masters. Besides, one program could require a thesis or capstone and still require far less overall work than a program that doesn't require one. That variable alone says a lot. Also, in the Spanish system, private employers don't treat propio degrees any differently from official degrees, they don't care. The different treatment of propio degree holders only applies when attempting to work in public service/government in Spain, or when attempting to enter a Doctoral program in Spain. Luckily, we don't live in Spain.

Just think of a scenario where you list your degree as a "Graduate Diploma", but the verifying institution (like an employer for instance) contacts the school and the school says it's a Masters Degree (because it is)? Not to mention that an MBA is not a mere Graduate Diploma, it's a known professional degree where a title is normally expected to be used after obtaining it. The whole thing would be an awkward situation to have to explain away, and you could wind up losing out on an opportunity by trying to be unnecessarily modest as it could come across as a red flag even though your intention was good.

A foreign evaluation is going to turn out one of several possible outcomes, but in my mind it's best to list the degree title as it's posted by the issuing school, with the exception of making an English translation if the text is in a foreign language. It's what you will have factually earned, and it's what the issuing school will have on record, so it will match during any sort of verification process.