Need advice: Bachelor of Business at the Big 3 with German A-Level

Dear All,

I recently found this great community and read a lot of useful information in the last days!

Unfortunately I found no information, which particular fits to my situation. Well, I'm a little bit lost right now!

I'm 31 years old, born in Germany. I made me A-Level (Abitur) back in 2003. I started to work right afterwards, now having a General Manager position and working in Doha/Qatar for the time being. The only thing I'm still struggling with, that I never made a bachelors degree.

I made some research, and soon the Big 3 were coming up. Especially the portfolio courses to obtain life experience as credits sound perfect to me.

Could you give me advice, which university would suit best for me? Of course, I would be happy to shorten the needed time as much as possible - And as far as I can see, CLEP and DANTES are not available here in Qatar.

What is the action I have to take to enroll (especially in my case with a a german A-Level)? Anyone with experience in that?

Thank you for your help! I appreciate your advice!

 

I have heard of US colleges accepting A-levels from the UK. But any school would require that foreign academic awards be evaluated (often by a specific independent evelaulators).

Any of the Big-3 US schools are a great choices. And will accept international awards subject to evaluation. They also accept CLEP and DSST exams along with exams from several other bodies.

Have you looked at the University of London and the UK Open University?
Course search results | University of London International Programmes
Distance Learning Courses and Adult Education - The Open University (you may need a European address for OU)

The CLEP site lists a Qatar location and also sites in Saudi Arabia and UAE.
The DSST site lists locations in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
There may be sites in other nearby countries.

The PLA approach, if you take 12 or more semester units, works out to be around $150 (USD) at TESC. Other schools also have PLA but I have not worked out the cost.

 

Max, because you got your Abitur under the G9 system, either TESC may already award 30 US semester credits is various subjects, or you will have to get your Abitur evaluated by whatever US-based evaluation agency they use. I would get your Abitur evaluated before you take any CLEP/DSST exams or any courses in order to avoid duplication.

 

Ian and Muaranah,

Thank you so much for the detailed explanation! I decided to go for the Excelsior in Bachelor in General Business, since the UExcel exams can be done in three different locations here in Doha. I will wait for my Abitur to evaluate with ECE and hope, that some credits are awarded.
The CLEP exams here in Qatar are being held at the US Military base, I will try to find out if access is easily possible.

1. I wanted to go for the UXcel ENGx110 (College Writing exam) as a proof of English Language. Is this a good choice or should I consider other courses in other colleges?
2. Excelsior is referring to learningcounts.org as their partner in Portfolio Assessment. Do you have any experience in that service? How many credits can I collect with them? Should I consider any other PLA course?
3. Do you have any general hints or advice to gain credits fast (budget is not a primary concern) and going effectively ahead?

Thank you for your help,
Torsten