Foreign Transcripts

[2ndChance]

Whats going on everybody?

Does anybody have any experience with the whole foreign credit transfer deal? Any recommendations and advice?

Ive looked up the process of having foreign credits reviewed for TESC and WGU and they both are saying that I would need to go through translation and evaluation through a third party first and that agency would have to send their recommendation to TESC or WGU for their own review.
I havent looked up COSC or Excelsior yet but I have a strong feeling their process would be very similar.
A few examples of these agencies are World Educational Services, Inc. (WES), Academic Credentials Evaluation Institute, Inc. (ACEI), and SpanTran Evaluation Services.
Each country has their own guidelines as to what documents are needed.
Reviews of these agencies are a mixed bag. Some of the agencies have websites that just look sketchy to begin with, even if they are recommended.
I surely cant be the only one in this situation and Im sure others would also find any info useful.

A little background on me: I am trying to get my education back in gear after a quite a few years off. I am looking to go to any of the Big 3 or maybe even WGU. I have about 50 credits from a university in the Philippines back when I was living there and would like to hopefully transfer as much of those credits I can and go for a bachelors here in the US.
Also, is it even worth having 50 questionable credits evaluated? I am hoping to get at least half but thats just me being optimistic.
On top of that, the university I went to hasnt updated their website in about a year so Im not even sure about how I would go about contacting them as they havent replied in a week.

Any recommendation or input would be a huge help.
Thanks

[heidi08]

I am an international student and a good choice would be World Educational Services, Inc. (WES) for TESC. Excelsior only use Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE). I had 102 credits evaluated and I received 48 from ECE evaluation service. I called TESC and they recommended WES and I got 99.5 credits transferred to TESC. Note, for international students, you need to do 30 credits from a US college/university, thus only 90 credits will transfer to get a BA/BS. Also, I found out, TESC do not accept a D grade for foreign applicants to be transferred, which is different if your grades were from a US college/university.
Here is the link for TESC foreign credential review agencies and international student info
International Student Policies

[johnvan]

I used AACRAO, I don't see it listed on the TESC link you provided though. I had a good experience, it cost about $300 and the evaluation seemed thorough. I had transcripts sent to two different schools and then a few months later paid an extra $20 or so to have a transcript sent to TESC. The service was quick and easy to use.

[Saharapost]

I used Educational Credentials Evaluators and I believe I got a very good evaluation. One thing I don't like about them is that they wouldn't evaluate foreign medical credits as equivalent to United States undergraduate work.

Recently, a friend had problems having his ECE evaluation accepted at Patten University and TESC because they claimed they couldn't state whether his foreign credits are undergraduate or graduate levels. Upon writing to ECE, they responded thus:

In the United States, medicine is offered as a professional school program. One cannot obtain a degree in medicine at the undergraduate (bachelor's degree) level. Therefore, the medicine study you completed in Hungary does not represent completion of undergraduate level work in the Unites States. In summary, the evaluation report we prepared for you on 20 August 2013 is correct.

It is understandable that the US medical education system is different, but then, elsewhere in the world, more than 80 or 90 percent of the countries around the World do not follow the US system. I guess only 4 or 5 countries probably follow this system... In Nigeria, Slovakia and elsewhere you enroll in medical programs immediately after high school and these are undergraduate degrees. I am not sure ECE has a system to look into the nature of "complicated" credits (and whether they can fit as undergraduate or graduate level works) to make a favorable decision. For example, the basic Biology, Chemistry, or Biochemistry on his transcript were not evaluated even though they are usually taught at undergraduate level in the United States- may be pharmacology or neurology, are subjects that are at graduate level. So, you might want to think twice if you are transferring in medical degree courses for evaluation and admission...

[2ndChance]

Thanks for all the replies guys!

Looks like WES is the way to go for me. Hopefully things fall in to place so I could start testing!