Hi guys,
So I’m an international student. I am attending a college that is very unconventional. I can’t specify the name. Overall the courses are very good and the environment is awesome. However, I don’t think that it’s the right one for me right now. The program was very selective, and I was proud of myself. However, well, the environment is awesome for my personality development, but it’s a trade-off for other aspects such as a lack of career development. Because it’s new, it has a lot of disadvantages that can’t be compared to other colleges. Although I believe throughout the previous year I have learned a lot, I already decide I should move out of my college.
However, the tough question is: where should I go to? My parents and sisters were extremely disappointed that I enrolled in that school. Yes, the program is new so credits can’t be transferred. I made the decisions too late so all the good schools are out of deadline (most transfer deadlines are inMarch) If I want to study in other school I have to wait until next year (the spring transfer is fine, but not as many good schools for my major Computer Science).
My plan is to study in the US (parents’ pressure actually) and wait until next year. I have two other sisters here so they request that I have to stay here to nudge me on my future decisions. However I need to enroll in a good school here for the next 1 year because: my parents don’t want me to waste time (I took a gap year already, so I may be far behind my peers of my age from 2-3 years from earning a Bachelor’s), so entering a college “temporarily” will allow me to save time and expenses.
I’m thinking of studying in a community college. Can anyone provide me with any good suggestions/ advice? Some of my uncertainty include I may not be able to transfer the credits from a CC to a top-notch university, and a CC might not be worth it ? What do you guys think about CC? Can I enroll in Ivy League-ish schools by transferring from a CC?
Also, do you guys know any good programs/ colleges in Los Angeles area (I’m currently living here) that doesn’t exceed the deadlines yet, and might be a good choice for me to study temporarily while provide a great foundation for transfers? My choice right now is to enroll in a CC called Santa Monica college.
Thank you really much!
If you study for two years at Santa Monica, you will be able to transfer into the Cal State or UC system. Go meet with the counselors at Santa Monica and find out how that works.
@happymomof1 Thank you! I plan to study for only a year in a college in LA (Can I cram my 2 years into one to maximize credits for transfer?) then transfer to a great school. Also, I’m thinking of CalState and UC ones, but they don’t provide many scholarships for international students. My family can contribute to my education but I would like to look into other options, such as other private schools and non-California ones.
If you need money, take another gap year to give yourself time to find out if you will be considered a freshman applicant or a transfer, and to track down places that might offer you some aid. Financial aid is bad for transfers, and it is bad for international students. That means it is very, very, very, very bad for international transfers.
Check the admissions policies of your target colleges/universities to learn whether they absolutely require that you have two full years worth of credits before transferring. Very few places have that policy.
It is not a good idea to try to cram two full years worth of credits into only one calendar year. It is likely that you will end up dropping and/or failing some of the classes.
@happymomof1 Can you provide reasons (statistics for example) why it’s bad for international students to transfer? Thanks !
Do you need financial aid to make your education possible, or do you just hope for some money to help take the burden off your parents? That is the key question.
If you don’t absolutely need aid, but just want to stay within your family budget, then look around for places with a lower price. Run the college-matching search engines for places where tuition and fees are about $12,000 less than what your family can afford. That will leave you room in your budget for housing, meals, books, transportation, etc.
If you do need significant aid, it is important that you recognize that very few colleges and universities guarantee to meet full financial aid need for international students. Those institutions also are very, very selective and admit few transfer students. There also are a few colleges and universities that do offer good merit-based aid to some freshmen that they really want - some of these do occasionally offer merit-based aid to transfers. And, there are a very small number of colleges and universities guarantee significant merit-based aid for both domestic and international students - to the best of my knowledge, that money is only available to freshman applicants.
For ideas on finding money as an international transfer, spend some time in the financial aid forum and the international students forum. Look for anything posted by @MYOS1634 who does know quite a bit about money for international applicants.