<p>I have some questions about undergraduate applications.
Post-graduate study is not what I have in mind, however. I am currently a year and a half away from getting my Bachelor's degree in English and British and American Studies at my home university of Sofia, Bulgaria, and I would like to undertake another four years of study in the US for another Bachelor's degree in something else.</p>
<p>My concern is with the perspective the adcom would take of a person who has already had a taste of higher education. Do I have the right to submit letters of recommendation by my university teachers? Do I need to inform the adcom of the grades I've received at university? </p>
<p>Would their view of my SAT results be skewed by my university education (since my major includes extensive study of the English language and also linguistics, British and American literature and British and American culture)? </p>
<p>I'm asking that, because I took the verbal part of the Sample SAT test on petersons.com and pulled off a 720 in almost half the time, without breaking a sweat and without having set my eyes on a SAT test before.
On the other hand, English IS a foreign language to me, and one I did not start studying in earnest until I was 17. I am 21 now. </p>
<p>I would appreciate any piece of advice that I can get.
Thanks in advance :) :) :)</p>
<p>I don't know if anyone here can answer that question as it's so unusual.
I imagine that you'd have a better chance getting into a master's program. Here in the U.S., you don't have to have majored in a subject to do graduate work in it as long as you've taken the courses that are required for that graduate program. I went to grad school in 2 different majors that I had not majored in as an undergrad.</p>
<p>I'm with NSM. Get your undergrad degree and then get into a US graduate program. In about the same amount of time, you'll have a master's degree instead of a single undergrad degree.</p>
<p>Thank you very much for the recommendations, but...well...let's say I have some reasons for my wish to get another Bachelor's :) One I can mention is that my first attempt at university study was not entirely successful. Otherwise, I still have a number of different majors in mind and I am in the process of narrowing my options down. As of now, there are history, anthropology, philosophy, economics and political science, although I'm thinking of ruling the last one out. </p>
<p>And, yes...it is indeed unlikely that many people have been in my situation. I suppose I would have to ask the admissions staff themselves at some point :) </p>
<p>Anyway, thank you very much again, and I'll be looking forward to any new information in the thread. :) :) :)</p>
<p>You don't need a perfect academic record to go to grad school. I know some students who got into grad school with weak academic records. Sometimes, they were admitted provisonally.</p>
<p>What you probably will need, however, is money to go to grad school here. That, I'm guessing, may be your biggest hurdle because depending on your major, you probably can find some grad school that would accept you.</p>
<p>Well, my somewhat mediocre (not weak, mind you :)) academic record was one of my less important reasons, actually ;) I still intend to go through with my plan :)
Still, thank you for the info, and yes, finances, especially in my case, would be the biggest problem. My whole family's average yearly income is about $2400. I am going to depend strongly on getting a scholarship.
This is just guesswork, but, if I have decided to start from scratch, maybe the adcom would not be interested in any previous academic experience I might have? Or is it just wishful thinking?...</p>
<p>Try e-mailing a few US schools (anonymously), explain your situation, and ask how they would treat your case (both academically and financially).</p>
<p>Usually American colleges and universities do not give financial aid to international students for a second Bachelor's degree (most do not even give aid to international transfer students and do not allow an actual transfer student to apply as a first-year student). It might be easier for you to get aid on the graduate level, with a Teaching Assistantship for example.</p>
<p>I think it would be very hard if not impossible for you to get the scholarship money that you would probably need.</p>
<p>THe colleges in the U.S. that are able to be the most generous with international students are places like Harvard and Yale, and also the colleges that are the most difficult to obtain entrance to. They are tough enough for U.S. citizens to gain admission to, and are even harder for internationals.</p>
<p>I also doubt that such colleges would be interested in accepting a student who already had a BA. </p>
<p>When you apply to colleges here, you also have to provide them with your record of secondary and college courses. Failure to do this would cause your admission to be revoked or you to be kicked out of school.</p>
<p>It's also not something that you could hide. After all, colleges would want to know what you'd been doing since h.s. graduation. While colleges take nontraditional students -- students who took time off before going to college -- the colleges want nontraditional students who've done something productive, so you wouldn't be able to write something fake about how you've been spending your last few years.</p>
<p>I think that the chances are low for your getting funded for a second BA in the U.S., but of course, the best way for you to find out your chances would be to ask admissions and financial aid officers at colleges that interest you. Much as we'd like to help, us well meaning folks on this board probably don't have the expertise that you need.</p>