Job Discussion Forums

[naturegirl321]

Has anyone done the MA in Applied LInguistics and tried to transfer credits? They say they accept 4 of the 8 courses as transfer credits. I've found 5 of the 16 I took for my first MA that MIGHT transfer. HOpefully they will as it would save me tons of time and money, But anyone know if they accept transfer credits easily or are they sticklers and want you to take all their courses so that they can get more money?

[spiral78]

I don't think it would be all about money, but about reputability. I'm sure if you can show that your earlier courses are up to their standard, they'll be accepted.

[Nabby Adams]

NG why did you choose that MA may I ask? I'm looking into doing an MA myself and finding it hard to choose.

[sojourner]

Hi Nature Girl,

I'm curious as to your reasons for choosing USQ. Some time ago, you mentioned that you were seriously considering UNE, and more recently you were toying with the idea of doing something else a bit different from Applied Linguistics/TESL ( educational admin, or something like that).

Have you done a lot of research into USQ ? Many people, in these fora, appear quite satisfied with their USQ experience - but, there are others who are not ! One who was quite happy with his USQ experience is a poster called "Gordon". Those who had a "bad" time at USQ are "Miyazaki" and "Rice Paddy Daddy" - do a search on the pertinent postings of those three individuals.

As I have mentioned previously, I did my Master's degree at UNE. One of the drawbacks at that uni is the somewhat limited choice of units (ie courses) available in any one year. But one good thing about UNE is that they'll allow you to not only to do some units that are being offered by other departments at that institution, but also units that are provided by other unis.Thus, if you want to do some non-Applied Linguistics/TESL units (eg in edu admin, adult learning, etc) you might want to re-consider UNE.

Besides UNE and USQ, check out the Masters' programmes provided by Macquarie Uni - apparently that uni has the best reputation in Aust for Appl.Ling./TESL courses and research - however, some posters have been somewhat critical of that uni's admin procedures ! When enrolled at UNE I was given permission to do Macquarie's unit in " Language for Specific Purposes" - a very useful background to have nowadays, esp if you are working in the uni sectors in many countries.

Should you choose to enrol at either UNE or Macquarie, don't disregard USQ entirely ! USQ has a Master's level unit in CALL - another v.useful background to have. I'm pretty sure that UNE/Macquarie's cross-institutional procedures would allow you to do such a unit through USQ.

During the past, through these fora, you have sometimes toyed with the idea of eventually branching out into the international school sector. Having undergone a primary/secondary teacher's training course (eg PGCE,Grad.Dip. Ed, B.Tchg, etc,) would prove far more useful in landing an international school job than a M.Appl.Ling. degree ! But, proper teacher training courses can't be done entirely online - a few units, maybe, but you are also expected to observe how fellow trainees/teachers perform in an actual classroom situation, as well as to be observed teaching yourself.

Re the matter of transferring credits/advanced standing, a lot will depend not only on the other instititution's reputation, but also the study work load involved as well as whether they cover similar ground to units being offered by your current uni. It's quite possible, though, that the "new" uni might consider that, say, three units from your "old" uni are equivalent to only one at the current institution. Anyway, check with USQ re their cross-crediting/advanced standing policies.

Good luck !

Peter

PS: I'm surprised that you are teaching in Sth Korea ! A few months ago you said something about applying for a job in Suzhou, which is a really nice place . Anyway, I hope that the Korean job is working out well for you !

[naturegirl321]

[naturegirl321]

Maybe it's just me, but is the website for UNE down? I've tried on Firefox and Internet Explorer and it's blank.

[johnslat]

Dear naturegirl,

If UNE stands for University of New England, its website not down on my computer.

Regards,
John

[naturegirl321]

www.une.edu.au this site is down here in Peru.

[Dedicated]

Naturegirl,

I'm a bit worried why you consider UNE and USQ as " good schools", as neither of then figure in the world's top 500 universities.

UNE was involved in the largest plagiarism scandal in Australian academic history in 2006 - 220 out of 230 awarded MAs were plagiarised, yet the students were allowed to graduate.

They have no credence whatsoever amongst British university circles.

You might want to reconsider.

[Insubordination]

Both schools are fine and will be equally recognised as will any university from Australia. OS employers can just look up your quals and both of those get the tick of an international standard. MQ and UTS also have good programs. Getting credit is called 'recognition of prior learning' and even a Celta might get you a few points. You should definitely ask as it might save you some money.

Australia doesn't really have a Harvard or an Oxford. Not enough history for that. I work at UNSW by the way.

[spiral78]

OP:But anyone know if they accept transfer credits easily or are they sticklers and want you to take all their courses so that they can get more money?

spiral78 wrote:
I don't think it would be all about money, but about reputability. I'm sure if you can show that your earlier courses are up to their standard, they'll be accepted.


It's not all about money, If you re-read my post it said TIME and MONEY. Come on, let's all be honest, most people do want to save time and money when possible. I wish I could say that money's no object.

NG, I wasn't criticising you for wanting to save money. I was saying that I didn't think the school would refuse to accept your previous study credits based solely on money.

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

I looked into both UNE and USQ before going with Deakin University. The biggest thing was that Deakin tells you how many transfer credits you can get BEFORE you register. One thing was that they have a twelve credit masters and when assessing a maximum of 50% off of the course for prior university study in this area it's off of the twelve credits, although if you have a four year degree, you are only required to take 8 credits. So the maximum you can get is six credits (when they give four for having a four-year degree), meaning you have to take six, even if you have a four year degree (as in only two less than you would have had to do anyway, assuming you have a four-year degree). It can still be done in two terms though (I did it in two terms). It wasn't easy, but it can be done. One guy was a full time teacher and did all eight units in two terms. I don't really know how he managed that, though!

The other thing to check very carefully is library access- do they have a lot of journals available for download from on-line? Also, a very important thing is whether you will be able to access that library AFTER you've completed your program- it's very difficult to publish your own articles without access to the latest journal articles. (Deakin's on-line library is amazing, and you can access it after graduating as well).

[naturegirl321]

[johnslat]

Dear naturegirl321,

It's true:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/une-accused-of-allowing-plagiarists-to-graduate/story-0-1225755730545

Regards,
John

P.S. Why plagiarize when you can paraphrase? That's what got ME through grad school.

[spiral78]

Ah, the effective paraphrase...clearly easier said than done, according to the several students on our latest academic writing course who are now losing their places at the uni for plagiarism