I have read a few posts on this board and done a few searches and I have not run across anyone posting about their personal experience with UNISA undergraduate studies. I am from the US and I have not found a program that offers a math major and I am excited to find that I may be able to study mathematics at UNISA. My question is: does anyone have experience with this school and is/was it a good experience? My goal is to learn as much as I can for personal fulfillment (I already have a BA) and perhaps qualify for a graduate program should I survive undergraduate. Thank you in advance.
Ahoy whalerider, I am eagerly awaiting exam results from my second UNISA module. I hope to increase my UNISA course load, next year. I have sort of turned the thread below into my own personal blog: http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7223&highlight=off+to+pretoria To date, I am very pleased with my UNISA experience. My professors have rapidly responded to all of my queries. I'm enrolled the BA (Languages and Literature) (with specialisation in Early World Civilisations) and majoring in Biblical Archaeology, so I am not familiar with any other program. In my experience the course mark is determined only by the final exam. I enrolled by corresponding directly with UNISA. However, if you do need assistance you might want to contact John Craparo, UNISA's U.S. agent. According to other Degreeinfoers, UNISA's Canadian agent, http://www.iaci-canada.com, can also be quite helpful. Spes in Arduis,
Bear in mind that a standard South African BA (or BSc) is considered a 3-year, rather than a 4-year, degree and would not be acceptable for graduate admission at many (perhaps most) U.S. schools.
Interesting and useful info, but probably not relevant in this case as Whalerider already has an undergraduate degree (presumably a 4 yr, RA one.) If graduate admission is his/her goal, I wonder if it wouldn't be more efficient, and possibly economically competitive, to earn a second degree at an RA school such as Excelsior. Assuming, of course, all of the individual courses exist in DL format. Or perhaps just aim to fulfill the prereqs required for the graduate program. In any case... Good luck, Tony
If the goal is to use the UNISA degree for admission to graduate school you can enroll for a fourth year to get an honours degree which is the equivalent to an American 4yr degree. In South Africa all undergraduate degrees are 3 yr degrees there is then an extra year to earn a honours bachelors degree which is needed for admission to a masters program.
If the goal is to use the UNISA degree for admission to graduate school you can enroll for a fourth year to get an honours degree which is the equivalent to an American 4yr degree. In South Africa all undergraduate degrees are 3 yr degrees there is then an extra year to earn a honours bachelors degree which is needed for admission to a masters program.
Thank you for the replies so far. I completed my BA via University of New York (now Excelsior). From what I understand, I cannot get a second BA in Mathematics through Excelsior because of their policy. However, the degree is not as important as the quality of the curriculum.
just wondering which college in US allows you to get admission in the final year to get an honours degree based on any 3 year degree whether from UNISA or some place else ?
Have you considered Thomas Edison State College or Charter Oak State College? They offer Bachelor level degrees with a Mathematics concentration.
Yes, but they don't have all the courses. I would have to cobble together a course from this school and that (similar to Excelsior) to put together a program, when I would rather have a cohesive experience with all or most courses from one school. UNISA is a little less expensive as well. I noticed Ohio University offers a few of the courses, but then I ran across UNISA.
I just read the article on this site about TESC portfolio building and challenging courses. I wonder how one would go about challenging a math course? Hints and pointers appreciated, thank you.
There was a contributor a couple of years ago who posted about his experiences with the Unisa undergrad program in math. Here is his website (don't think it's been updated): http://marksykes.netfirms.com/unisa/unisa.html and here is the thread: http://www.degreeinfo.com/static/forum_archive/1/1730/thread_1730_page_1.html Best wishes, Alex
Actually I met someone who earned a three year degree in South Africa before moving here to the US. His degree was accepted as the equal of a four year degree in the US. Does anyone have direct experience with this?
I have a four-year South African degree that was accepted as equal to a 4-year U.S. degree for graduate admission. But the U.S. school did explicitly check that what I had was indeed a South African 4-year degree.