Please help! Chances for an MA without BA

Hey folks,

my name is Michael. I'm a 36 year old German, teaching English in China right now. I have to admit, I'm a fairly late bloomer in teaching. But I'm not kidding when I say I found my calling. I started 3 years ago, more or less by coincidence. I taught almost 4000 hours since then.
I got a CELTA certificate last year with a Pass B and I really want to go further in this field. So I want to do an MA in TESOL/Applied Linguistics. My problem is that I don't hold a BA or even a highschool diploma. I know it's sad, but my life was...difficult. I'm very passionate about teaching, but I run into walls quite often, because of my lack of educational background.
If there is anybody out there who could give me some tips, I would be eternally grateful.

Thanks
Michael

 

Michael, I share your passion about teaching (and apparently your first name, too) I know that in the USA, it is practically impossible to achieve a master's degree before you get a BA. I know that National University offers a credential and master's combination but you must have a BA to start. I don't think any other legitimate universities would be any different. I know you can take a high school equivalency test to test into a high school diploma and there are also CLEP and other tests where you can test out of many undergraduate classes. All of this will take a great deal of work.

 

Age 36 is not too late to start earning a bachelor degree then following up with a masters degree. I was 49 when I earned my BS.

In the US colleges such as Excelsior offer what is probably the most flexible bachelor degree in the world. However earning credits to that degree while living in China may be expensive. Another thread has some information that you may find useful: http://www.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?t=33814

The U of London might be a good path to follow:
http://www.londonexternal.ac.uk/prospective_students/undergraduate/index.php

Some UK universities offer a masters as a first degree but I'm not aware of any that can be earned via distance learning (DL).

The Edinburgh Business School however offers an MBA by DL with no bachelor degree being required (and with a China connection):
http://www.ebsglobal.net/studying-globally/china
I know this is not the subject you are looking for but it gives offers arguably the fastest path to a masters degree.

 

A rather complicated inquiry—I don’t know if its accurate information, but I read this somewhere that Simmons College (MA) might be a possibility. http://www.simmons.edu/overview/admission/graduate/

WGU (e.g., NOTE: If, for some reason, you are unable or do not wish to send prior transcripts, your Enrollment Counselor or Admissions Counselor can counsel you on available options” (?)).
http://www.wgu.edu/admissions/requirements

Heriot Watt (?): http://www.postgraduate.hw.ac.uk/courses/taught/

School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) – UOL (?)
http://www.soas.ac.uk/admissions/pg/subject/

Disclosure: I’m uncertain if because of your particular situation you will be able to accomplish admittance to any of the institutions listed. However a contact would only cost you some time.

 

Why not do, assuming you have the knowledge and ability to achieve it, an exam or portfolio-based degree through Charter Oak State Collge, Excelsior College, or THomas Edison State College? If you have the knowledge and some time, you could probably knock ot the exams and portfolio to have a bachelors in 3 to 6 months (or, if you're REALLY aggressive and know everything you'd need to know, within 4 weeks). Then the door is open to most any masters program you want. These 3 schools are all regionally accredited and respected institutions. I'd think this is the best option for you.

You can learn a little more about the degree-by-exam plan by checking out Lawrie Miller's excellent site bain4weeks.com.

 

wow thanks a lot people, theres a lot of homework to do. And obviously a better chance then I thought.

I'll get back to you after I followed up on that ideas.

Thanks again.

BTW I would also consider doing it on campus in Europe, it does not have to be online...

 

I respectfully disagree - if you follow the university guide rules it is an easy process - I prepared several portfolios through the University of Redlands for upper division credit (but lost the credit when I relocated across the USA).

Excelsior charges $95 per credit (semester unit) for portfolio credit.

CLEP will not give you UD credit.

 

Hi Michael,

UK and Australian Universitites are a bit more lenient when it comes to graduate admissions. For example, with your CELA certificate, you might have some luck in gaining entry to a TESOL program with Aston University.

If you scroll down to the entry requirements, you will notice this statement (emphasis is mine):

You should normally have a first degree or a degree-equivalent professional qualification and two years teaching experience.

This is just one example.

Best of luck!

 

Australian universities may be an avenue. They seem more willing to allow those with professional experience into their programs without going the Bachelor route.

My first degree was a Masters in Public Admin. I earnt my Bachelor's degree later. You may do best trying a pure research degree that includes you area of interest.

 

Some Australian options for you to consider:

University of Southern Queensland - Master of Applied Linguistics

University of Wollongong - Master of Education TESOL

University of Newcastle - Master of Applied Linguistics

Monash/Open University - Master of Applied Linguistics I believe this program will definitely let you in without a bachelors degree, IF you go through Open University. In either event, the degree is issued by Monash University (a very well regarded Australian university).

 

Hello japhy,

thanks for the link to Aston, that seems to be exactly what I'm looking for. But I'm a little nervous about how to approach them. Any tips on that as well?
Or just go in saying sorry I got nothing but a CELTA and and a truck load of work experience?
Thanks
Michael

 

Hi Michael,

It's worth a try. The worst thing that could happen is that they will say "no" and you move on to other options. No tips really, except that you should really try to sell your experience and certification. Emphasize that you have three years of experience. Perhaps they will allow you to take a course or two to see how you might fare.

If Aston doesn't work out, then I would highly suggest looking into Open Universities Australia. OUA will accept applicants without bachelors degrees into their Master of Applied Linguistics program. The six units that make up this degree are offered by Monash University and the degree is awarded by this institution.

Best of luck,

 

Hi Michael,

I taught for a few years in Japan and knew many others in your situation. (English teachers with certificate but no degree.)

Many of them did the MBA from Heriot-Watt University. They found that the MBA combined with the CELTA certificate gave them more opportunities than what an MA in TESOL would. This included things like teaching business English, rewriting/editing work, advertising/marketing work, and so on. It also gave them a little more flexibility to do other things when they grew tired of teaching.

Another option some friends of mine did was the University of Leicester's MA in TESOL. The program has a long history in Asia and is well regarded. I think the normal rule is that you must have a first degree, but if you contact the department directly, you may be able to be conditionally admitted, especially by showing past teaching experience. I seem to remember a few cases of this.

Good Luck!

 

I was just checking on high school equivalency test stuff. I found various dubious "schools" such as "Excelschool" and "John Adams Virtual School". I was like WOW so easy to get a HSD...then the coffee and the brains kicked in.
Somebody knows some serious institutes to do this test?

Anyway I'm going to write to Aston first in the next days. I really hope they give me a chance. The offer really exactly what I want as DL.

Cheers
Michael

 

Sounds like a good option- Monash is generally regarded as one of the top universities in Australia.

 

Our old friend Tom Nixon has his own website related to online high schools. Maybe he can help.

http://www.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?t=26475

不要放弃

 

Thanks Kizmet,

that website is really good. I hope I don't need to go that far back
I would do it if I had to though.

In the meantime anybody wanna write a nice refernece letter for me?

Again I want to say thanks you all, you have been a great help.

Michael

 

Hi Michael,

How are you making out with your school selection/applications? Another forum member (sbr) just posted a similar inquiry on this board. Perhaps you could provide some suggestions for this person.

Best,

 

I think Morningside College + Excelsior College would be a good combination.

Morningside College offers a Masters degree in Teaching (one of their tracks is TESOL) for $170 x credit hour.
You can take up to 9 Classes from Morningside as a non-degree seeking student.

However they have partners like VESI from where you are able to take unlimited graduate classes that come to your masters as electives. (you have 9 credits you can use as electives but you can take more to fit into your bachelors, so you can pretty much complete 50% of your masters before being officially enrolled)

The good thing of combining this with Excelsior College is that you can use up to 30 graduate credits for your bachelors degree, so 30 of the 36 credits for your masters will count towards your bachelors.

You are in China, since you are in China I bet Global University will offer an extremely reduced tuition for your studies, that you can later transfer to Excelsior as part of your degree.

and finally don't even bother about getting a GED or getting a High school diploma! Most colleges won't ask for a High school diploma if you have achieved 15 credit hours, which you can easily do with Straighterline using FHSU as a partner college.