Can you apply to colleges as a first-year student while you are studying at another college?

Applying to College
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So I’m enrolled at college X, and I’m a freshman. I think my current college is too costly and I want to apply to other colleges this year. Is it possible for me to apply to other colleges as a first-year student even though I’m enrolled at another college? My thinking goes like this: If I get accepted to colleges I want and get the financial I need, I could just drop out of my current college and enroll there. If I don’t get accepted, I could just brace myself and continue studying at my current college. Is this possible? Do you know anyone who did this? Thank you for your time!

Disclaimer: I don’t want to apply as a transfer student since it’s nearly impossible to get any financial aid.

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There’s a National College Clearinghouse which colleges can use to see if you have earned credits elsewhere. So don’t lie or omit anything on your applications, especially about former enrollment at other colleges.

That being said, check the colleges where you are interested in applying and read the websites carefully. Some will allow you to apply as a freshman with fewer than X credits. Some will not. You can make your list - and decide whether to pursue a spring semester where you are

  • accordingly.
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If you lie it will be an automatic rejection. The colleges will know.

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If your current university is too expensive, then you probably should apply to in-state public universities. Most students attend in-state public universities for the simple reason that in-state public is what they can afford. One consequence is that quite a few very strong students attend their in-state public universities. My employer has definitely noticed this, and hires quite a few exceptional graduates from our local in-state public university. A couple of hiring managers and one HR director from other companies have told me the same thing.

You also could apply to universities that meet full need for all students. For these you could run the NPC and see what they predict.

You definitely need to include on your application the fact that you are currently enrolled at a university. Colleges and universities do have a way to find this information.

Transferring is possible and reasonably common in this situation.

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Many colleges do offer transfer students need-based financial aid on the same basis as frosh, although merit scholarships are typically much less common, and some of their need-based financial aid is not good for anyone (frosh or transfer).

In terms of your main question, you need to check each college that you intend to apply to. Any college attendance after high school graduation may require you to apply as a transfer, but some colleges allow frosh application if the amount of college credit attempted or completed is below a small number of credits. I.e. there is no general answer to your question.

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Take a leave of absence at the end of this semester. You will have only one semester of credits which makes it more likely that you can find a place that will still consider you to be a freshman applicant.

If you don’t find anywhere that you like enough that is more readily affordable, then you will have the option to return to your current institution next fall.

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Thank you very much for taking the time to answer my question @happymomof1 . I really appreciate it. I want to talk to you about my specific situation. I’m an international student as you may have guessed from my name. I graduated high school in 2018 and took two years gap and applied to only one school in February 2020 because that specific school’s deadline was extended by one week. I have an SAT score of 1430, TOEFL 107, and my high school GPA is 3.9. My current college’s average SAT score is 1230. I intended to take the SAT this year again, but the seats were full. I really think that I didn’t reach my potential. I didn’t prepare well for the SAT, and I feel like I could reach the 1500+ score If I really tried. I feel like my current college is not suited for me if I were to reach my full potential. I didn’t even write the college essays carefully, and I still got in. It took just one sitting to write my whole essays to get in the school. So, my thinking goes like this: I really want to write banger essays this month and shoot my shot with the schools I really wanted to apply to. At least I want to be in a school that has an average SAT score ranging from 1350 - 1450. The whole reason I want to do is I think I have just one shot left this year to really apply, and If I don’t I will regret it. The other big reason is for financial reasons. My current college gave me a $37,000 a year scholarship, but I still have to pay a lot of money like $20,00 0 a year. I believe the colleges that are competitive will give me at least 90% of the total cost if I get accepted. So, that is why I want to apply to other colleges and universities this year and as a first-year student. I just want to see if I can get into the schools I wanted. Usually, transfer students don’t get financial aid even if they get accepted. That is why I want to apply as a first-year student and don’t want my current school to know I’m applying this year. I don’t want my current school to get in the way like they tell the schools I apply to that I study there. So, is that even possible? Will the schools I want to apply to know that I already study at another college? I just want to try my shot. Thank you again.

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Yes, schools will know you attended another college via the National College Clearinghouse that the first poster mentioned above. You can not hide this semester on your transfer applications, even if you could, it would be unethical.

What schools are you interested in transferring to? Go to those websites and look at their definition of freshman and transfer students to see what applies to your situation.

I do not recommend you re-take the SAT, colleges won’t necessarily be impressed with a high score from a college student.

Being international does complicate your financial situation. Again, you will have to research school by school to understand their FA policy for international transfer students.

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@Ochiroo -

Don’t retake the tests unless:

  1. they are absolutely required for both freshman and transfer applicants
    and
  2. tests taken after college enrollment are accepted. Many places don’t look at those scores.

You are absolutely required to include your current studies on your application. Period. There is no way around that.

Contact each of the places on your list. Find out if you are a freshman applicant or a transfer applicant. File the correct application for each place.

If your university here is too expensive for your family, have a conversation with them about options in other countries as well. You might have better options elsewhere.

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You cannot ignore the school you are in and apply as a just out of hs freshman. Some schools consider a student who has even one credit from a college after hs grad as a transfer while others consider those with 1-26 credits as a freshman and not a transfer. You have to check each school.

If you really want to transfer, stop taking classes at your school until you know what the school(s) you want to go to consider freshmen or transfers. You should also investigate whether the schools will take an SAT taken after hs graduation, especially for merit (my daughter’s school only accepted scores taken before Feb 1 of senior year).

I think you will be disappointed if you are expecting 90% financial aid, especially as an international student. That’s just very very rare.

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The additional information is useful (sorry that I did not notice it before my original post above).

Getting the price below $20,000 per year as an international student is going to be challenging. There are a few universities in the US that meet full need for international students, but there are not very many and they are all very competitive for admissions. The fact that you got your cost down this low is probably specifically based on the fact that you were a strong student for your current school.

You cannot hide the fact that you are currently a university student. Universities know about each other, know how to find each other, and have all heard of the Internet. They will have a limit regarding how many classes you can take as a university student and still apply as a freshman. I think that the limit might be “none” at some schools but I am not sure since this has never come up for us.

You can certainly apply to other schools in the US. However, do not get your hopes up. Since you are an international student the “apply to in-state public schools” in my post above does not apply. Also, at least as far as I know most public universities in the US are going to cost more than $20,000 per year even for in-state students unless you can get quite a bit of aid.

Your best bet is probably to do as well as you can at your current university. Look for internships. Get to know your professors. This may seem strange, but you really can ask professors for more work if you want to, and they can help you get more out of the class than most students. Internships, good references from professors, and good grades are in most cases going to help you more than the “big name” of the university that you attend.

The other way to save money is likely to be to return to your home country.

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True, but you don’t have a choice.

You must report your current school. Applying as a new freshman to gain a financial advantage, has legal implications.

If you do apply as a new freshman, and not as a transfer, there will be serious repercussions. It’s considered fraud/ embezzlement. If you are so desperate for funding, you need to contact the universities, where you hope to apply, and ask them what they consider a freshman.

When you apply to another university, your electronic signature indicates that you are confirming that you are being completely truthful in the information you have provided.

The universities expect to have students with integrity. If you feel the need to omit your current university information, to gain a financial advantage, you will be caught. It happens and is very detrimental to your future:

When you get caught, you will be expelled and expected to return all funds. Sometimes, the schools will include penalties derived from previous funding from previous schools. If you can’t repay, you may be legally charged with with fraud. Your visa will be terminated and the US Immigration Department will be quick to flag your file and reject future permission for you and/or family members to enter the US.

The school will use the National Clearing House to flag your file, FOREVER, which will advise every college and university in the US that you attempted to gain admission for a financial advantage. It’s not worth it.

Taking an SAT, as a college student, brings nothing to an application. The Admissions committees don’t consider those scores.

This is completely on you. You must have been very desperate to get into a US school, regardless of your budget or fit. You had two gap years. You chose to accept your current school. This was your choice. Now, you think that retaking a high school test and rewriting high school essays will get you into a college. You are complaining about a school that is giving you $37K per year. No school is going to give you 90% funding. Where did you get that information??

Admissions, in the US, don’t work that way. You can’t turn the clock back.

Be honest because it will come back to you.

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Exactly this. OP, this is how people who need good merit funding get it - by going to schools where they are among the top x percentile. (Your stats do not put you in the very top tier of colleges, which are the only schools that give full need based aid to internationals.)

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@DadTwoGirls Thank you for taking the time to reply. I really appreciate it. I just want to know if the National Clearinghouse thing applies to Canadian Universities. I figured I could try applying to the Canadian Universities as a freshman. Would they know I study in the U.S. college?

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@“aunt bea” Thank you for replying with a thorough answer to my question. However, one person on quora said “In the US, no school is going to expel you or cut off your scholarships because you applied to another school. As long as you meet the GPA requirements in your offer letter, they cannot reduce your aid. They certainly cannot expel you without cause.” “I think it is much more likely that you will get denied for lying on an application. Most schools report enrollment to the National Student Clearinghouse. Most schools also run new students against the Clearinghouse. These are automated process, and designed to verify student information.” So, his answer suggests that I would just get denied if I get caught, rather than get flagged as fraud. I just want to know the truth. So what is the truth? WIll Canadian Universities know when I apply as a freshman that I study at a U.S. college through National Clearing House? Do they even care or check?

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This person on Quora had personal experience?

I have two friends in admissions; one at a UC and one at a private Catholic university. They take lies very seriously, especially with financial aid. Yes, they will expel you. Yes, they do notify Immigration.
I don’t understand why you don’t care about lying. It shows that you have no integrity. None.
There are people whose degrees are and were rescinded.

There are celebrities who lied about their children’s accomplishments and are serving jail time now. USC was embarrassed.

When I was a sophomore, I met my friend’s, (Leslie’s) roommate.

I would see the friend at functions for our major, and occasionally at Greek events. Then Leslie said she needed to find another roommate at mid semester and asked if I was interested (I had a lease and couldn’t move if I wanted to). Leslie didn’t tell me why.

A neighbor, in Leslie’s building, saw me coming over one day and asked me if Leslie had found a roommate yet and that it was a bummer that the roommate had to leave. So I asked, “why did she leave?”. The neighbor said, “she was expelled and lied on her application that she was a new freshman last year”. It took them awhile but she was caught and had to leave immediately. Leslie told me later, that the girl’s file was flagged and she couldn’t apply anywhere.

https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2017/08/28/u-rochester-revokes-admissions-offer-student-who-lied-her-way

https://www.savingforcollege.com/article/financial-aid-fraud

Some people, who work for universities, watch this website.

Some Canadian universities use the clearinghouse.

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I will give you three words of advice.

DO NOT LIE.

Colleges rightfully frown on dishonesty. You are currently a college student. Here’s what you could do…you could immediately drop all of the courses as a first term freshman and withdraw immediately from your current college. You would then have zero college credits at your current school and would not have completed one semester.

At most places, that would make you a new freshman applicant.

But you can’t have it both ways. You can’t stay enrolled at your current college AND apply as a new freshman elsewhere.

Please stop asking folks to support your desire to be dishonest on your applications to other schools. Every single college…including Canadian ones…require you to send transcripts from any college courses you have taken. You will be required to submit your current transcript . REQUIRED.

If you get financial aid by knowingly providing inaccurate or dishonest information, it is considered fraud. Look that up…it’s a crime.

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One would hope that anyone applying to colleges would know that just because a random user posted something on Quora does not make it true.

Regardless, the OP’s question has been answered. Since the mission of this site is not to help users commit fraud, I am closing this thread.