Here is an email
question I received and my answer follows. The advice comes only from our
personal experience from the 15+ students we have hosted in our home from about
8 countries.
Question:
There is a
student who would like to get his master's degree in America
I looked up
online and found numerous language schools/institutes. Some of them are private
schools, some of them are institutes under universities. Personally I don't really trust those private
schools, the institutes sound more reliable. So I was thinking about
recommending him those institutes. What do you guys think? Do you guys know any
other ways for him to be able to come to study here in America U.S.
Thank you.
Answer:
Here
is what I know/my advice:
Each
school and each Master's program have different requirements for entrance.
Some take any test (GRE, TOEFL, IELTS) some require a specific score,
others just require that you take them, without requiring a specific score
(although, of course a better score increases your chance of acceptance).
Also,
almost every school (whether it is public or private) has there own intensive
language programs associated with the school. Most of the time they will
supplement passing the language school for the test requirement. For
example, if you pass all the levels of the intensive English program, you don't
need to take the TOEFL or GRE. Or, some students just enroll in the
intensive program for a few months until they can improve their English enough
to pass the TOEFL or GRE or IELTS.
The
downside of the intensive English programs is that they are often VERY
expensive $2000-3000 per month plus another $800 to $1000 if you live in their
dorms or homestay. http://languageandculturalservices.com/homestay
Many
of the students we have hosted have used some kind of agency to help them get
connected to a school here. I'm not certain, but I think it works like
this: the student provides the agency with their credentials and desired
plan of study, and the agency helps to pair them with a school that offers
his/her major and will accept his/her credentials. I don't know any of
these agencies and I'm sure you need to pay a fee.
My
advice is that it will be much easier if he already knows what program he wants
to study and a few schools that offer it so that he can know the specific
requirements of that school. Then, he can decide if it is better to try
to take the GRE, TOEFL, IELTS before he comes or take an intensive program
instead of the test.
We
have tutors who could work with him online to help him prepare for the TOEFL,
GRE or IELTS or to improve his score if he has already taken it. http://languageandculturalservices.com/tutoring
Let
me know if you have other specific questions. Most of our very specific
answers only apply to Oklahoma City
