Apply as transfer or freshman

<p>I am a student of first year at state university in my country. My mate has been contacted by an employee of MIT proposing him to apply as freshman although he is enrolled at first year at my university. He was probably found by MIT from the participants' list at international olympiad in Mexico.
Last year I was wait listed at Harvard, but was rejected at the end of the procedure. I intend to apply this year also, but after I heard of this recommendation from an employee of MIT I am having second thoughts to apply as freshman.
It could be considered as cheating, and I heard that they could refuse to issue college diploma if they find out somehow. I'd do this because probability to be accepted as transfer is almost impossible.</p>

<p>Is there anyone who could advice me on this topic?</p>

<p>I highly highly doubt that they would revoke your degree if they had found out you had gone to school somewhere else before. So you have an extra year of education- so what?</p>

<p>However in my personal opinion, it is not that much difficult to be admitted as a transfer. I believe (though am far from certain) that transfer spots unlike freshman spots aren't largely taken up by legacies and athletes. Thus the lower acceptance rate might not necessarily indicated higher difficulty.</p>

<p>I can only speak for transfer admissions at MIT: I know (from adcoms) that transfer there is really, really hard. The number of admits is often a single digit.</p>

<p>in my opinion, it doesn't matter much whether it's hard to get in as a transfer or not. To trasfer means to get in absolutely new atmosphere with great expectances from you. Your classmates are already friends, they know this university, and you will be just a newby. </p>

<p>It's always great to experience something comprehensively, from beginning till end, especially such a lovely time as student life in a good american college. To study there since 1st year is much different from joining it somewhere after.</p>

<p>I agree with both aw5k and veritaseeker.</p>

<p>lazyjoe will you have completed one year in college by fall 06? I don't know about MIT, but in Harvard and Yale if you complete less than one year of college by the time you matriculate you are considered a freshman applicant. The application process is similar to normal freshman admissions except you have to send in a transcript from your university as well. So this way you can apply as freshman without having to conceal anything. (On the other hand it's unlikely you will be able to transfer any credit this way.) As far as I know, though, most other colleges require you to apply as transfer regardless of how long you have been studying at college.</p>

<p>I wouldn't advise concealing the fact that you're already in college because while you might not get caught, it will be a perennial headache and you might end up living ten years less.</p>

<p>Dude he's an international........what are the chances of the prospective college finding out that he attended uni. in his country</p>

<p>^^ there's a good chance that the university might find out....There has been such a case with an Indian Kid at UPENN...He was pulled off the rolls of UPENN and deported from American and banned to enter the country for 10 years....I wouldn't take that big a risk with my career...
and yeah incase you havent figured out...the college WILL NOT issue you a degree if they were to find out.</p>

<p>^^ Unless someone intentionally snitches on you or you do something really really stupid ......its next to impossible to find out something like that</p>

<p>^^ well i dont how its like in your country but if from India a kid gets into the ivies or the prestigious universities (where getting in as a freshman is also very very hard) almost everyone knows about the kid (everyone who is applying to the US)..and then there is a good chance that someone might intentionally snitch on you...
Would have been different if you were going to a lesser known university..in which case no one would give a damn..</p>

<p>^^ I'm from India... it really depends on your situation man... you can't generalise things like that. Depends on your friends, etc. etc.</p>

<p>I have a friend who's going thru the exact same situation......lets see what happens...</p>

<p>About 4-5 students from my country do this trick, no one ever got caught. And I'm only counting those who got in top 5 - top 10 schools, with their picture in the paper and everything.
More or less, universities allow this knowingly. But it depends.
When I asked Brown if I can apply as freshman after enrolling, they said no.
When a friend of mine asked, who is now in 2nd year college, they said yes. o.O
And she doesn't even have to say anything about what she did 1 year, where as I have to say what i'll be doing my gap year.</p>

<p>Oh and one more thing.....over half the ivies aren't even conisdered prestigious here......hardly anyone has heard of places like Dartmouth, Cornell, Brown etc. even though they are great schools</p>

<p>Wow negru.... they get their pic in the paper for getting in to a top 10 uni.? cool.
BTW.. which country?</p>

<p>Romania</p>

<p>well, not quite front page pic, but articles usually appear here and there.</p>

<p>Seriously? Just for getting into a top ten college........i mean i'm not trying to undermine their achievement ... getting into even lower top10 schools like cornell or caltech is great...but an article in the newspaper for it?</p>

<p>Well, this is Romania ^^
Think of it this way : the avarage salary here is about 250$/month.
How many years would it take to pay for an Ivy education?</p>

<p>Well if you look at it that way, avg salary in india is less than 100$/month.
But over here due to the large population, there are a lot of people who are rich.
Plus no1 cares about ivy admits and stuff here.....people who get into IIT (if you get a good rank...and especially if you're poor) get front-page news.....so i kinda understand what you're talking abt</p>

<p>"getting into even lower top10 schools like cornell or caltech" Caltech is in lower end?</p>

<p>Lower end of the top 10.... anyway thats not the point here</p>