Job Discussion Forums

[jruss]

So basically, I'd really like to teach English abroad. I teach ESL here and I have great references.

But here's the thing: I have two Fs on my college transcripts. It's not a particularly long story. I had several (four) family members die within a few weeks of each other during one semester. I didn't respond very well to the situation. I failed two of my six classes and got As and Bs in the others. Yet my GPA was still 1.98 that semester. I earned a 3.5-4.0 in subsequent semesters and graduated on time. I retook one of the failed classes and got an A but my school did not compute this in my GPA. My overall GPA worked out to a 3.3 at the time of graduation.

I have no idea how the visa people or the schools would see this (I'm thinking Korea or Poland). My biggest fear is arriving somewhere, handing the school my transcripts, and then getting sent back because they think I'm flaky. So obviously I'm going to make sure they know about this before I go anywhere.

Do I have anything to worry about? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[Justin Trullinger]

Relax. Ya worry too much.

I've been teaching overseas for nearly ten years, including a brief stint in Korea.

THe only time I've had to produce an undergraduate transcript was when I was applying for grad schools.


Best,
Justin

[MO39]

I agree with Justin. At least in Mexico, in my experience all that the authorities want to see is your college diploma, complete with fancy seals and ribbons and official signatures. This includes schools where I've applied for work and the federal Migraci�n headquarters in Mexico City.

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

I agree, too. I've been in Japan for over five years. You need to show your degree (usually the actual thing) and your Certificate in TESL (mine is a university qualification so it's on the same paper as any other qualification from that university) if that's a requirement of the job and if you have one as well as your resume (with or without a picture, depending on the employer).

When　employers ask about yor degree in the future, then unless they want to actually see your transcripts (my current school has a copy of mine, but just because I needed them to authenticate them for an application to a graduate program) then you stress the postive aspects- talk about what you actually learned, and what was covered. Basically, just forget about the courses you failed (especially ones you retook). Many countries figure out GPA based on ALL of the courses you took with them, not just up to the time of your graduation (and GPA scales vary in different regions and sometimes from different schools, so just saying the number doesn't necessarily mean anything at all if you don't say 'out of X' anyway).

[denise]

I agree that there's probably nothing to worry about, but I HAVE had to produce transcripts before. Maybe that's just the Middle East, though... lots of paperwork and bureaucracy. I wonder if anyone ever looked at them.

d