# AFI Directing MFA requires 4 year BA... but most European countries aren't 4 year programs? What's the equivalent for international students?



## carolinadolago2000 (Aug 12, 2021)

Hi everyone!!! Hope you are all doing well!  I'm Carolina and I'm from Portugal! It's been a long journey of being an International student applying for a USA school, in this case, AFI.

I would like that someone could help me figure out how can I still get the Master degree (if I'm accepted ofc) when I just discovered that the Bachelor in Sound and Image that I just finished is only a 3-year program (180 ECTS -  total of 5040 hours) and I'm seeing that IERF, an institution that AFI recommends, only consider Bachelors with 4 years? I'm finding it really annoying because here in Portugal and in most European countries there aren't 4-year programs 

Some international students that applied for AFI or others that could help me?
I still can figure a way of trying to enroll in some extra disciplines until January to get the minimum units required... But I really wanted to know the minimum units for a complete USA Bachelor's and how many hours does 1 unit have.
(In my country 1 ECTS (credit) is 28 hours )

Thank you so much!!!


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## llueve (Aug 13, 2021)

Bom dia, Carolinadolago2000!

I admit that I had a US Bachelors degree before applying to AFI, but it sounds like the title you received from your school was a Bachelors degree, even if it was shorter in duration. Have you emailed AFI to ask them directly whether or not your degree qualifies for their MFA requirements?

You can send an email using their website here: Contact

In the meantime, I hope some other international students can chime in!


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## carolinadolago2000 (Aug 13, 2021)

llueve said:


> Bom dia, Carolinadolago2000!
> 
> I admit that I had a US Bachelors degree before applying to AFI, but it sounds like the title you received from your school was a Bachelors degree, even if it was shorter in duration. Have you emailed AFI to ask them directly whether or not your degree qualifies for their MFA requirements?
> 
> ...


Hi, llueve  ! Thank you so much for your response! Yes, I actually asked AFI if I could still be recognized with my Bachelor's degree but they answered me that they are not the ones in charge to do the equivalency report, it needs to be an institution outside AFI like International Education Research Foundation (IERF)... From what I see it's like a grey zone because some other colleges like USC admit my number of credits: "*Bachelor degree with 180 or more European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) credits earned at an institution recognized by the Ministry of Education".*
I think that AFI may have the last word in admitting or not students besides the result delivered by the equivalency institution. 🤔
I still didn't get a response for that doubt since the begging of this week... I'll try to send a new e-mail using their website!

Thank you so much again,
Looking forward to more information from international students!


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## katiebonnie (Aug 14, 2021)

carolinadolago2000 said:


> Hi, llueve  ! Thank you so much for your response! Yes, I actually asked AFI if I could still be recognized with my Bachelor's degree but they answered me that they are not the ones in charge to do the equivalency report, it needs to be an institution outside AFI like International Education Research Foundation (IERF)... From what I see it's like a grey zone because some other colleges like USC admit my number of credits: "*Bachelor degree with 180 or more European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) credits earned at an institution recognized by the Ministry of Education".*
> I think that AFI may have the last word in admitting or not students besides the result delivered by the equivalency institution. 🤔
> I still didn't get a response for that doubt since the begging of this week... I'll try to send a new e-mail using their website!
> 
> ...


Hey Carolina! Mine was a 3 year and was accepted (with no problems!) for the equivalency report by IERF ☺️


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