36 yr old International Student with 0 credits and work experience

[Personherebb9]

Your Location: India
Your Age: 35 (36 next month)
What kind of degree do you want?: A degree to get a job in IT sector in US/Canada
Current Regional Accredited Credits: 0
Budget: Max of 20k USD, prefer to save as much as i can
Commitments: 2 cats, mother, wife and a 4yr old daughter but i can focus solely on working/studying because of their support.
Dedicated time to study: 1-2 hours/day if i join Amazon Customer Support job. 6 hours/day at-least if not working.
Timeline: Max of 2 years
Tuition assistance/reimbursement: None
Target: Get an entry level job after 2 years or sooner if possible.


Hi,

Past couple of months have brought major changes in my life and now i am in a position similar to 18 years ago when i finished my high school but worse and old. I went to study at Uni of Auckland for 3.5 years between 2004-2007 but am a dropout with nothing to show for it (no credits). Since then i have been involved in my father's transport business and other endeavors but these are not something i can much use on my resume. I even had a US green card (through grandmother) from 2008-2018 which got expired as i couldn't leave the business and move to US. But now all this has come to bite me and i have to find work/job to take care of my family.

I am good with computers. I studied basic java when i was in HS and my degree at Uni of Auckland started with Bach. of Business and Information Management which i later switched to Bach. in Science (Computer Science) but due to my reasons i never finished it. I studied .Net, VB, SQL, back then which i used to love but never got to advanced levels for any of them. All of this is more than 15 years back and i probably need to refresh my high school math first of all.

My cousin is working in Amazon Customer Support (chat) and she says i can easily get the same job (chat or voice depending on their assessment test) which i plan to do for now while i plan for the future. Since i am basically starting over i prefer to move out of India for my daughter's future. My sister lives in US and i have extended families both in US and Canada. I am thinking of Canada as i can get faster PR there and can move my family there quickly too.

I have been reading online and watching resources past week, one of which led me to find this forum. I need advice on how to proceed from here. My target is to get an entry level IT job after 2 years at a maximum. I was initially planning to move to Canada next year and do a diploma or something along with some certifications and hope to get a job. But i watched some videos how I can get an accelerated degree using Study.com credits from TESU in 2 years. Specifically this recent video from Josh Madakor:
Online Degree in Under 2 Years (OUTSIDE THE U.S. OK!) - TESU+Study.com

So i wanted some clarifications about this:
Can i do this completely while sitting here in India? Or i can move to US on student Visa and do this from there?
Most of all after i get a degree like this can I get a a job in US while sitting here to be to able to move on work visa?
Is there something similar i can do for a Canadian University? Canada preferred because of relatively easy PR.

Thanks for your help.

Firstly, I would definitely reach out to University of Auckland to get some official transcripts of courses you completed while there. Have those transcripts evaluated by an American evaluator such as ACEI for the equivalent credits. From there I would apply to TESU, send in your (evaluated) transcripts and get an evaluation done of the courses you still need to complete. I would suggest doing TESU's BA Computer Science program, since it's one of the easier ones to get credits for.

Then I would set up a degree plan (List of courses still needed and then courses you can take through Study/other sources). At TESU, you can transfer in a max of 117/120 credits (if you pay the residency waiver fee and as long as 30 of those credits are RA credits (if you can get a transcript evaluation from uni of Auckland this shouldn't be an issue)). Alternatively, you can transfer in 104 credits and then complete 1 final 3 month term at TESU, that would cost you a bit less than doing the residency waiver route. 

Please review the forum's wiki for a rough degree plan for TESU's BA CS: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Sa...ience_Plan

My advice: reach out to university of Auckland first for those transcripts. Once you have them, reply again on this thread and we would be able to help you from there.

Answer to your question:
1) Yes you can do this in India and no, online universities are not legally allowed to grant student visas to international students.
2) Yes, you will be able to get a job in the US with a degree. Disclaimer: the job should be a visa sponsorship job; try racking up relevant work experience, since work experience is in most cases more valued than any degree; be prepared to get rejected A LOT. A lot of people are wanting to move to the USA and many international applicants fight for those visa-sponsorship jobs so be prepared for that, getting a degree from the USA does not guarantee you a job in the USA.
3) I'm not aware of any competency-based universities in Canada. However, to me at least, it seems like Canadian universities are fairly respected and well-received in the US and visa-versa.

Just added: Immigration is not easy. Many countries will not allow you in the country without a work/student visa for anything other than vacation, even then they are very strict on who you are able to bring with and they will check if you have enough money at your disposal to sustain you and your family. So honestly, try finding a relevant job in India for the time being, anything IT related, get your degree, have a STELLAR CV and apply to anything and everything.