Chance Me. New to transferring.

Transfer Students
1

<p>So this last year I was an international student when applying and that didn't fare so well, but now I have my green card and hopefully that changes somethings. I am hoping people can give me some suggestions on schools for bioengineering and thoughts about the major if you are in it. Also it be great to know my choices are financially sound since I'm shooting for less than 20k in loans each year.</p>

<p>Thanks,
littleindia70</p>

<p>Stats
Objective:
ACT: 34
SAT II: 800 Bio E, 800 Bio M, 800 Chem, 800 Math, 800 Physics, 770 USH
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 5/500 ish?
AP (place score in parenthesis): Human Geo 4, World 5, Euro 5, US 5, Bio 5, Chem 5, Physics Mech 5, Physics E&M 5, Calc BC 5/5
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Subjective:
Ton of WYSE awards, National Chem Olympiad Qualifier (couldn't attend since I'm not a citizen), Scholastic Bowl, Math Team, Scioly awards. All in state level.
Job/Work Experience: Planning on starting private tutoring paid/free
Volunteer/Community service: Altar Service Leader, Hospital (Cardiac Rehab Volunteer)
Essays: I'll get there hopefully sooner than last year
Summer(After HS): Took Calc 3 and Lin alg
Teacher Recommendation: Probably will be pretty good from Lin Alg, and Orgo profs
Counselor Rec: no idea how the other transfer recs go?
Currently in: Orgo I, Diff Eq, Stats, Psych, FORTRAN
Probably going to take Orgo II, Microbio, Microecon, English II, Thermodynamics
State (if domestic applicant): IL
School Type: Community College in the NW suburbs of chicago
Ethnicity: South Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: ~60000
Major: Biomedical Engineering
Applying (Somewhat in preference):NU, Rice, A&M, Wash U, Cornell, SLU, Not sure about UIUC They say I cant be accepted into their bioeng program again because it is closed off so maybe Chem E plus their fin aid is very brutal.</p>

<p>Let me know if there is anything else I should share.
Once again thanks,
Littleindia70</p>

2

<p>bump. (sorry I just want to have some input soon)</p>

3

<p>Have you started college yet? Have you considered taking a gap year and applying as a fr?</p>

<p>For suggestions on good bioeng schools, post your question on the Engineering major suborum.</p>

4

<p>I have already started school and have 9 credits from summer school. I’m shooting for 50+ by years end. No one really told me about what a gap year really is?</p>

5

<p>The reason I suggested a gap year is because your HS record is so great, and at many colleges, the acceptance rate is higher for fr admissions than for transfers. If you might consider this option, you should check to see how these schools define a transfer. Some say that you are a transfer if you have taken 1 post-HS college course, others have credit limits and others still consider you a fr applicant if you have not completed a full year of post-HS college (which would be the case if you only attended this sem and did not attend in the spring)</p>

<p>Check all of the privates to see if they have different FA policies for transfers than fr admits, if you can’t find it on their website, give them a call. It’s worth it to find out now rather than wasting the time and money applying if FA is likely to be poor. In general the privates you have chosen give relatively good FA to fr, the only one I’m not familiar with is SLU. Since Texas A&M is a public, they likely don’t give good FA to OOS students.</p>

<p>Have you checked to see if any of the no loan schools have good bioE?</p>

6

<p>Unfortunately since I will have 28 credits at the end of this semester I have a feeling I will be a transfer student when applying anywhere. Is it that that much worse being a transfer student for admissions and financial aid everywhere? Four of my friends who are rising freshman got stellar aid from NU and I have heard transferring in is easier? Also I was hoping to get a decent scholarship from a public school since I have never applied to one that wasn’t in state (not a fan of the Illinois system after that experience.) I have no idea what a no-loan school is, but from a quick google search these schools seems out of my league (i tried a potshot last year to get some good fin aid as an international at almost all the ivies and that didn’t turn out so well.)</p>

7

<p>

</p>

<p>It depends on the school, admission rates for fr and transfers can be found on the CB Search. I don’t know about the publics, but Cornell rates are a little misleading as they have transfer agreements.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>I’m assuming you know about merit scholarships open to transfers at A&M.</p>

<p>Yes, no loan schools are generally selective schools with large endowments. The reason I suggested a gap year and fr admissions as a possibility is because of your green card status. There is a world of difference for both admissions and FA between Intl. and US citizen/residents.</p>

8

<p>I keep hoping that there really is a world of difference because I was just denied almost everywhere last year and I think I have had scholastic and ec success, but I guess those colleges didn’t think so. I received my green card around 3 days before decision day and requested an appeal of my decision from all the schools even if I had not received a decision yet. The people at NU kept insisting it would not make a difference though they later told me after denying my appeal that it was the fact that I applied for financial aid that was killing my application. So I’m really not sure how much it all changes now.
Thanks alot for your help though!</p>

9

<p>What NU told you later is consistent with their stated policies for Intl. applicants, it makes a huge difference if you require FA:</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Work hard in your classes (I’m sure you will), do some ECs that you enjoy, and I’ll bet things turn out much better next year. Hang in there!</p>

10

<p>Yeah I was aware of the policy. I was just unhappy about the lying that occurred while I was emailing them and the fact that they later shared the information that it did matter with my counselor and me. Hopefully after visiting some more schools this year I can find a school that I’d really like to attend. Once again thanks for all the help!</p>