advising about transfer

[@lex]

Dear Ms. Elizabeth,

My name is Aleksandar Stojanovic and I finished listening final year at the Faculty of Economics here in Belgrade. This year I was in USA for 5 months and I visited some of collages there so I decided to try to transfer to one of those schools. I have 10 more exams to get a degree here, and I checked with some of those schools for recognizing the courses. I found out that there are schools which recognize almost every course I took here so I would be able to just continue my studies and get a bachelor's degree there in short time.

The collage I'm interested for that transfer is FIU ? Florida International University in Miami on their Business School. There I saw that they are offering come programs called BBA+ and that is Bachelor of Business Administration and is only on weekends, which is very good for people who work and want to get a degree. They said that there is no difference in regular BBA degree and this BBA+ only that BBA+ can be finished in shorter time. My real goal is to get an MBA degree in US and I think it is easier to get on MBA program with American Bachelor's degree then the one I can get here. The other thing is that during that time I can probably easier get some internship job while I'm on that BBA+ program which is looked as a working experience later when applying for a job or for MBA. I think similar kind of working experience here in Serbia is really hard to find and if I want to go on MBA here I will need to find a job after graduation and work for several years before I can start with MBA studies.

These shorter programs are more interesting for me because I planned to work and pay for school but if I can get some financial aid I might chose other options. I also have some relatives in Miami where I can live for a while, so that can be a small benefit for me if I go there.

I was on one of your advising session for graduate studies and I think that I can get a lot of useful information from the IAC for the right decision. I wanted to talk to you in person about these things in center but as you are really busy this might be the best way to ask. I have several questions and I hope to hear your opinion.

I haven't contacted the FIU admissions department because I am waiting to get the TOEFL done first. Do you think I should wait to get that done or start sending the transcripts for the evaluation and sending the application first? I don't know if those things should go together or not. To get the impression what they require here is their website: http://business.fiu.edu/landon/bba_adminfo_ts.cfm Maybe you can point out some important things I need to know about admission requirements.

I know that financial aid for transfers is hard to get but it is not impossible. Maybe you could tell me something more about ways to get some financial aid for these kinds of situations. Also if I can find a collage that gives financial aid, FIU doesn't have to be the right choice.

I have some friends who have transferred to STRAYER UNIVERSITY. FIU admissions department said when I called that they need my transcript to evaluate and then tell me what courses they can approve so I actually don't know how good Belgrade Faculty of Economics is there, but I know for sure that Strayer can approve lot of schools from Serbia without even asking for transcript. Because of that and some other things I heard I have doubts that the Strayer Uni is a good ranked business school. Do you know anything about that school? If you have anything I would be very grateful if you would share it with me.

I hope you would not mind answering on these questions. Many things I know about transferring but still I feel I need to know much more. If you can tell me when you have time, maybe I can come to IAC and talk to you in person. Right now I am preoccupied with practicing for the TOEFL and I think I will be ready soon, but I will come for a little practice in IAC for sure.

I know that you are really busy and I hope this isn't too much.

I'm looking forward to hearing from you.

Best regards,

Aleksandar

[elz]

Dear @lex,

My first concern is that the BBA+ program will have to meet fulltime student status requirements for visa purposes.  Have you had an opportunity to check on that?  Did you visit FIU when you were in the USA?  I am interested in the  schools that you visited, who you met with, and what you learned.

We have recently gotten a new addition to our library, The Best 282 Business Schools.  You might want to visit us and peruse it.  

About Strayer - I would take a very serious look at Strayer.  Although the school may not seem to jump right out at you, be sure to look at the professors listed, read their bios, see what the course guides say.  As I understand it, Strayer has a history of serving a very mobile community and could be a perfect option for a transfer student.  I believe that as a transfer student, Strayer is a very sound choice to explore.  Also, before you put too much faith in rankings, it is important to realize that often the criteria for rankings, especially Business schools often has little to do with the overall educational experience.  For example, Princeton Review's Best 282 Business schools gives a rather in depth profile of these schools.  The rankings on the other may be based  on criteria such as starting salaries of graduates - not always a good indicator of success on down the road.

As I said, I would like to know more about what you learned during your visit, where you were able to visit.  A great deal of your decision as a transfer student is most likely going to be based on how transfer-friendly the administration will be to your previous coursework.  Also since you mention working, it is important that the school you attend be able to provide you with the authorization to work during your studies, whether it is a work-study program, OPT, or some other program.

If you can find a program that meets  your needs, join that program, do well, and  at the same time try to look for a good graduate school - this would be a great opportunity for you.  

Another option for graduate studies would be Huron's MBA program in London.  This is just an option that I would like to mention early on because all students can work while in London and Huron helps students find jobs.  

I hope that you will visit us and look through our new treasure about 282 Business Schools.

Elz