Howdy,

What a bummer. My wife's BS in Business from a university in the US (not Ivy League by any means, but legit school with regional and national accreditation) is apparently not good enough for admission to University of Geneve's Master program. We didn't receive any other details except that she can't get in.

They say that: "Each university makes its own decisions as to whether a foreign Bachelor's degree can give the holder access to Master's programmes, and what are the conditions, if any (entrance examinations, further requirements). "

I have no idea what to do next - can anyone please suggest a Master's program in GE canton that is US-degree friendly. I know that in the US - they use independent evaluators such as WES to see if a degree matches, but it seems as in Switzerland it's up to faculty/ admissions committe.

Thank you.

approach other universities. if they do not want to take your money i am sure someone else will!

Did you provide a list of the subjects with explanations of learning objectives and assessment requirements? This might help.

Otherwise, if you can get hold of a list of the subjects in an equivalent Bachelors programme from Switzerland and show the equivalency that might help. Or show equivalency with other Bachelor programmes from the US.

If the university is just unfamiliar with your wife's degree but not others the above could help.

No list of subjects. They just looked at degree and school I guess. I'm going to try to see if they could clarify this.

Did she apply to CRUS for 'recognition' of her degree ? They will issue a document which states the equivalency and they have a set of precedents depending on the course, year, university etc.

It's not a very complex process, they will process the application in English, and it's not too expensive, but it then gives you a letter which states that your degree/diploma is recognised in Switzerland...

Even if they recognised the degree, it doesn't guarantee admission.

They may well have recognised the degree and also recognised that it, and your wife, wouldn't be good enough for a Swiss Master's program

Exactly. The CRUS website makes it very clear that the universities decide for themselves when it comes to admission to their masters' programs. I would suggest asking the admissions office why she didn't qualify.

Just to clarify, CRUS does not provide a recognition, but rather a recommendation for recognition. For some agencies/universities/businesses this is enough, for others it is not.

For recognition, try the BBT:

Question about diploma acceptance / recognition

Other criterias than recognition of a diploma can play a role:

- a waiting list (more candidates than places available)
- number of foreigners already enrolled (UE and non-UE)
- candidate resident/ non resident in the canton
- previous experience with bachelors from said university
- the marks you get
- language
-etc...

so it would be good to clarify things with unige.
good luck