Can pretend i took a gap year ?

Applying to College
1

Hey guys,

I was wondering if i can pretend to be on a gap year, and apply as a freshman. The truth is i am attending an African university, and this is my first fall there. I got a perfect GPA (4.0), but as an international student i know that i have more chances to be accepted as a freshman than as a transfer. Same thing for the financial aid.

So do you guys think they can know ?

And what if i apply as if i took a gap year, don’t get accepted,and decide go on exchange from this university i am in currently. Am I going to have problems ?

Thank you all for your help!

2

You will be required to apply as a transfer student. A perfect GPA is a good thing and will not hurt your chances.

3

Thank you for your answer. It is true that my GPA won’t hurt my chances, but the problem is the schools i want to apply to don’t offer financial aid to international transfer students, however, they do offer it to freshmen.

4

do they offer it to international freshmen? that would likely be very competitive

5

Because it’s not a US university, it’s very unlikely that it’ll catch up to you.

6

Since the previous poster is a high school sophomore I wouldn’t take his advice on serious matters like this.

So integrity is not a problem with you. You risk being rejected for this dishonesty as well as expelled and required to repay funds given to you if it is discovered later. Even if you graduate your diploma can be cancelled. Colleges take pains to check out prior enrollment for students in the States, so I can’t imagine they will just ignore that for internationals. Especially with an unaccounted year it will be something to note.

You can write to colleges and tell them you would like to begin as a freshman and let them know your university and classes and see if they will allow it. I did know an international student at Brown who was enrolled as a freshman and given aid although he had attended university in his country and they knew all about that. I don’t know the details of his application or communication with them, sorry, but I think he did properly apply as a transfer.

7

But I don’t get it. If they would not take any credits from the African university, wouldn’t the student be a regular freshman? Where I teach, if someone tries to come in with courses that do not meet our standards, they can’t get credit. If you get credit for one or two courses, you start as a freshman either way.

But as others said, don’t lie. A stupid way to live your life, even if it seems wise in the short run.