My wifes unfinished Education

[Patrick & Li]

My wife is a few credits shy of getting her university degree in accounting. Her interview is March 1st, but because of her degree, she will not be able to come here until about June.

My question is as follows.... Will her degree be beneficial to her here in America? Will she be able to use it to get a job? I know that her main obstacle is to learn fluent English, but she is very close to that now. I think it will probably take her about 1 year to get her English skills to a level of fluency. She and I both have teetered on the brink of saying the hell with it, and she would come as soon as she gets her visa, but at the same time, it seems such a waste if her degree will be useful here.

 

Looking for opinions, Thanks, Patrick

[Jim - Portland, USA]

Patrick,

 

In my opinion, I think it would be worth it for her (and you) if she were to complete her degree. Mostly just for her own sake, not only so she can say she has a degree, but also on the simple premise that education benefits the mind, and the more the better.

 

But from a practical standpoint, when looking for a job here in America, a degree wouldn't hurt. The only experience I have is ... a few years ago I had a Japanese girlfriend living with me here in America (on a student visa), and she had a four-year degree from a Japanese university. After she completed her studies here in America, she had the opportunity to work. What is it called ... practical training or something like that? Anyway, she was pounding the pavement looking for work, and I think her four-year degree was definitely an asset. She said in her interviews that the interviewer liked to see that she had a degree. Was it the final factor which landed her a job? I don't think so. But again, it didn't hurt. But I also agree that fluent English is by far the most important thing.

[Patrick & Li]

Thanks Jim, that is definitly what i need. Looking for more reinforcements!

 

Patrick

[skibum]

I am interested in this also. I asked the question on one board but never got an answer. Her degree in Organic Chemistry is not something that is useful here in the mountains but I would think that she would be able to transfer some credits to her college courses here.

[danswayne]

You better believe it is worth it. If she has a 4 year degree she just has to prove it is factual and then she can probably go straight to a masters degree. However if she has not finished the degree there she might have a few years of school to finish when she gets here since many of the classes might not transfer. But if it is an accredited school in China the degree should go pretty far.

[Dynasty]

Hi Patrick,

I too would suggest letting her finish her degree, rather than trying to transfer credits. Surely she will follow your suggestion, but I'd let her make the call. Although my wife (I can call her that now since we have had our chinese wedding ceremony) has her masters in international finance and speeks fluent english, we do plan for her to attend a university here, so she may become more comfortable when in the work enviorment, is she so desires to continue her career. At this point she much perfers to start a family (big smile), instead of working. Since she has never been outside of China, she would be too self-conscious working with americans. Some university time here would ease her mind.

So, if you can handle it financially, (and the emotional wait), let her finish there and continue here.

 

pat

[Mick]

I concur with all that has been said above. Have her go ahead and get the degree. In a field like accounting I should think it would be a definite asset. Li has her degree already. It is in English Education. Unfortunatly, not too many schools are hiring foreigners to teach English in America. But the fact that she has a degree helps, even when searching for jobs in other fields.

[chinadave2001]

I agree with the others. There is a huge advantage to finishing the degree in China. Then, once her English is up to speed, she can enter the work force directly or go to graduate school. Most schools in the USA will require her to do between 45 and 60 credit hours at their school in order to get a BA degree, regardlesss of the number of past credits. My advice: finish the degree in china.

CD

[bobmal99]

If she gets her visa in March, it will be good for six months. So she will have until sometime in September, to enter the US. Having her degree will help some, but the US accounting laws are what she will have to learn. I have experienced that not many companies will recognize to many degrees from China.

 

Most important will be her English and her experience, if she has any. There are many temp agencies accross the US. If her English and Computer skills are good enough, this is a way to get into the US business world. Most companies hire employees that they have employed as temps through these temp agencies.

 

This way it is easy for a company to tell if this person will be a good match for their company. So I suggest she brush up on her, Microsoft, Word, Excel, Access and Power Point skills. These are what will help her in the begining. Give her 3-4 months to acclimate to the US. Maybe during this time she could take some computer classes here in the US.

 

Just my 2c worth. Good Luck.

 

Definitely finish the degree!!!!

[Patrick & Li]

Thanks all, That will definitly be my push.

She has been a Chinese CPA for 11 years, but the new Chinese laws required her to get her degree to continue practicing.

 

Patrick

[Francine-gg]

Patrick,

 

In my opinion she should finish, it will be to her advantage once she looks for work here in the states.

 

Francine has degree in Mechanical Engineering and Masters in Business Administration, both will be very helpful in getting her a decent job.

 

If Francine needed a little more time to finish I would encourage her stay until the studies were completed too.

[keelec]

You better believe it is worth it.  If she has a 4 year degree she just has to prove it is factual and then she can probably go straight to a masters degree. However if she has not finished the degree there she might have a few years of school to finish when she gets here since many of the classes might not transfer.  But if it is an accredited school in China the degree should go pretty far.

Most universities have residency requirements so she wouldn't be able to necessarily just come to an undergraduate college and take a few classes to finish. They may also have some other "core" requirements (i.e. it would take at least a year to finish here in the USA).

 

Perhaps US Business wouldn't like a Chinese Business degree. But with the undergraduate degree in business (assuming it is equivalent to a 4-year bachelor's degree), she could easily apply to an MBA program. Most MBA programs will even accept students from other undergraduate disciplines.

 

If she completed an MBA program in the USA, nobody would care where she did her undergraduate studies.

 

----- Clifford -----

[frank1538]

I work for an accounting firm but not on the accounting side of the business. I think that my firm, one of the "Big 4", will require at least an undergraduate degree (post graduate degrees on the tax side of the business) plus eventual US state CPA certification. We have hired a numer of people from China, and I think most had Chinese undergraduate degrees and US post graduate degrees. I did post a link to my firm's Asian employment website a while back (in the cultural or immigration challenges forum, I think). Maybe you can glean some additional information about foreign degrees.

 

I would advise the same as the others - go ahead and finish the degree.

[JerryL]

My vote would be to go ahead and finish the degree too. One thing folks sometimes overlook is that it is much harder to get into a university in China than it is here. In America, if you have the tuition, there's a college somewhere for you. College entrance exams in China are pretty competitive, and your fiancee has done well to get herself in. So irrespective of whether or not the Chinese degree would help her in whatever job she gets here in the U.S., I think it'd be a good thing for her to finish the degree.

 

Jerry