nik

Dear Elz, I have all scans ready and I am just waiting for your signal

I have it Elz!!! It's all here. I thought that I had it only scanned, but after a little digging through my documentation I found it! Good old hard copies! I can sent it to you all as of today.

I can scan the ECE report and send it to you as of today. As of my course by course certificate from the Law Faculty I can't. I had it scanned but unfortunately my laptop died last week. So I bought a new one. God bless America I didn't have the backup but I am trying to get it fiixed. It's out for repair. Besides that my sister (who is in Belgrade), will get me the new certificate next week if necessary, so I can have it in almost no time. Oh, I also have the copy of my Diploma with me. For start I am ready to send the ECE report and Diploma Thank you so much. PS Just tell me please to what address I can send scanned docs?

Yeah... I guess it is. I spent all my luck winning the green card lottery For the rest I have to work harder. I don't mind. Cant have it all.

I did it like that exactly, but later on,during the admission process they requested professional evaluation They werent sure what kind of degree I have. Maybe they will be even more confused now Evaluator who contacted me was kind of sorry, but according to her, they couldnt find the better match for my degree in the U.S. system. She was aware that I have a law degree but either way couldnt evaluated it as the J.D. because thats apparently exclusive for the U.S. Anyway I hope it will work for me like this. At least I have more than enough credits. Best, N

CHEERS THEN Thank you so much. This just boosted my hopes Anyway I didnt wanted to start practicing law out of the blue. I just spoke to the Rachael from the ECE. She wasnt sure about that. Next week I am making the appointment with my dear admissions officer. Salute

Bachelor of Arts is awarded for either a course or a program in the liberal arts or the sciences, or both. I didnt study any of them. I know it is first university diploma but how I suppose to be admitted for example at the LLM program for foreign lawyers with BA degree? Lots of students who got degrees at the Law Faculty in Belgrade were admitted to LLM and LLD programs. Equivalent doesnt mean the same but comparable. And as the course of study I didnt study it as BA with major in Serbian Legal Studies. When somebody earns a BA degree with major in Legal Studies here in the U.S. that means he/she took various college and courses plus some very basic pre-law courses. And just a few and basic. Such as : Introduction to Criminal Law. Introduction to Juvenile Justice,Gender, Crime and Justice, Race, Crime and Justice. Juvenile Law,, Legal Philosophy.Courts and Sentencing, Law and Psychology, Correctional Intervention, Advanced Seminar in Criminal Justice, Advanced Seminar in Law, Advanced Seminar in Juvenile Justice. And before that recommended supporting sequences could be: Economics, History, Law, Policy, and Society, Philosophy or Political Science. I dont know really how this correlates to the course of study at the the Faculty of Law in Belgrade. OBVIOUSLY THE ONLY EVALUATION CRITERIA IS DURATION OF STUDY AND NOT QUALITY OF IT. As of my goals I am not sure if this evaluation will help to achieve it. Hope it will. At least I have 141 credit hours to bargain I wanted to be admitted to MPA and possibly to LLM program for froeign lawyers, for which I need the first law degree whatever that meant. Thanks Elz. Really appreciate your fast reply.

Thanks for understanding but it is not necessary. I don need it because among first things you learn in the law school is about justice. Justice and knowledge. Knowledge is something that we all need. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing apparently. So hopefully, I will get the answer soon, from Elz and ECE because I already I called them. Best

Thanks for the reply. All that you wrote sounds logical but as I know the Law faculty in Belgrade is a law school and not come college. If they wrote I have major in Serbian legal studies that means that before major, I must studied something else. Like fine arts or geography I guess. But I didnt. At the Law faculty in Belgrade we didnt really had any majors. We had streams, like Judicial law and International law and difference between those two are in exactly seven courses during four year study. With a law degree issued by the Law faculty in Serbia you dont have to attend any other school to become a lawyer and start practicing law. If they are trying to give the EQUIVALENCE for my Law degree nothing except J.D. or LLB is correct. Because equivalence means putting in a relationship my degree with degree here in the U.S. It means to evaluate qualities that are comparable. It doesnt mean that I can practice law in U.S. with Serbian law degree (which is possible by the way with foreign law credentials in 13 U.S.states). It is just acknowledgement act, act of recognition that I studied law in my country in the comparable way students study law in the States. That means that I was admitted to the law school by rules and that I graduated from the law school after passing 32 exams. Which, except English as a second language, Sociology, Political Economics and Economic Policy all were very connected to law. I dare to say pure law.

Can somebody answer my question please?

Ja glasam za IACBG sajt. Ipak cela stvar treba da ima neku kolicinu akademske ozbiljnosti Dobrovoljno javljam da budem Special Representative of the IACBG, Midwest region, Chicago office

Eto. Stvar sredjena

Ja nisam ni bio na casu Sorry... Kako bilo sigurno je da je za svakog ko dolazi u US prvi put to veliki sok i promena. Negde sam na forumu procitao da neko pita da li postoji neka organizacija studenata iz Srbije. Ja nisam cuo za nesto tako. Ono sto znam je da ne postoji u Cikagu. Kako je isti grad sa najvecim brojem nasih ljudi u US onda se mozemo pitati kako je u nekom drugom gradu. Takva organizacija bi bila visestruko korisna jer bi pre svega mogla na licu mesta da pomogne nasim studentima oko ogromnog broja prakticnih,svakodnevnih problema. Posebno onih koji se javljaju na pocetku boravka ovde. Mislim da bi IAC mogao preko nas ovde da odigra veoma pozitivnu ulogu. Meni npr. ne bi nista smetalo da nekog ko dolazi u Cikago sacekam na aerodromu,objasnim gde je sta... Mislim da bi to olaksalo zivot i dalo neku vrstu sigurnosti studentima. Summa summarum javljam se kao dobrovoljac da pomognem koliko mogu svima koji dolaze u Cikago. A administrator bi mozda mogao da razmisli o otvaranju nove sekcije. IAC mreza u USA

Nikakav problem. Sleces,uzimas prtljag i onda ides na imigraciono. Ne mozes da promasis. Tamo dajes pasos sa vizom,oni te pitaju zasto dolazis ili nesto u tom stilu,snimaju te,skeniraju otiske,stavljaju pecat u pasos i to je to. Nikakvo osiguranje ti ne treba. Americka administracija je veoma efikasna za razliku od evropskih drzava

Dear Elz, I graduated from the Faculty of Law, University of Belgrade. According to the evaluation report I received yesterday, U.S. Equivalence for my degree is Bachelor of Arts with a major in Serbian Legal Studies. My total semester hours of undergraduate credit is 126,00. I also received 15 credits for some graduate level courses done at the Faculty of Political Science,University of Belgrade which is pretty good. How is it possible that U.S. equivalent is a Bachelor of Arts degree if I was studying law, just law and nothing but law? I understand that Legal studies system in common law countries is different than in civil law countries (almost all European countries). Still I know that during my four year studies I never studied any arts but law. My Diploma is evaluated by ECE. Thanks

Dear Elz, I am stuck in evaluation process believe it or not. Here it is how it happened. My precious admissions officer from the IIT assured me that I dont need professional evaluation. That was before I applied. I sent of my documents and waited for few weeks. Then I received rejection letter in which it is stated that I lack academic credentials to be admitted. Of course I called them immediately and wanted to clear that out. Apparently they didnt know how to evaluate my law degree especially since I am enrolled at the specialist studies at the Faculty of Political Science in Belgrade, and I have a few credits from there. They were kind of confused and advised me to evaluate my diploma with some professional evaluation company. And to call them back as soon as I get the results. By there words, admissions committee will gladly accept my application but they need to see the professional evaluation. What a mess ha? Now I am waiting evaluation of my diploma and courses from ECE. O tempora o mores! Best

The statement is done and sent off yesterday. My application is finally completed. Now I have to wait and see.... Hope not too long.

Deadline is May 15th. Is there any way to contact Elz in next few days? Hope there is

Hi Elz, I hope you have that editing system set up because I need it. Application deadline is coming at me very fast. Best

Hi again Elz. I am still waiting for the book. Couldn't find it in the Chicago Public Library. I ordered it and hope I will pick it up in next few days. I am not sure how exactly I will contact you about the editing of my yet unborn professional statement Maybe I can write my email here so you can contact me. Best from Chicago (which is still under snow and some more is coming soon )

Thank you so much Elz. I know I am the lucky one. Advantage is to be here,to have green card and working experience in the US. It helps a lot in communication with admissions offices. Now I will seek for advice from the good old educational consigliere Mr. Asher. Salute

Dear Elz, I am writing you after a long time. Finally I think I am ready to apply to graduate studies in the USA Program i have picked is the Graduate Program in Public Administration. I successfully solved TOEFL and GRE issues with the Office of Graduate Admission. My recommendation letters are also on their way. Recently I applied for FAFSA (i am not eligible to receive the Federal Pell Grant because my expected family contribution is 11363) and hope that I will be eligible for some other federal student aid. NOW I JUST HAVE TO WRITE A GOOD PROFESSIONAL STATEMENT in order to complete my application. Since I didnt attend any of your preparation courses (last 18 months I live in the USA) I am not sure how. Can you please help me? Thank you. Best, Nikola

thanks elz but i cant find your answer. i already found some info about evaluation of my serbian degree.. i can see there is a few organizations providing that service. but i am not sure which one is the best. as i said i couldnt find your post so obviously i could use some technology lessons too... my email is nikolarms@yahoo.com ...maybe we can communicate faster that way. thanks elz

Please Elz, can you tell me something about certification of Serbian university diploma here, in USA? Whats the procedure,how long it takes, etc? thanks

Elz, can I apply for Federal-State Financial Aid,Scholarship,School Based Aid or Student Loan, before I apply to the University?