<p>Head to the Financial Aid forum and read the stickied threads at the top. FA is based on the student’s perceived financial need (mostly based on family income) and how much the school can give. And there is a big difference in what schools will give an international student vs. a US resident.</p>
<p>Financial aid is based on need, so the more your family earns, the less financial aid you qualify for. In addition, most universities (all public universities, many private universities) do not have need-based aid for international students in the first place and even in those that do have need-based aid for internationals, there’s basically no need-based aid for international transfers. (What little there is, is reserved to students with 4.0 college GPA and excellent references from their professors.)
There’s also no merit aid for transfers.</p>
<p>Right now, your college GPA is going to bar you from almost all universities except those with open enrollment or very minimal transfer requirements. Since you do not qualify for financial aid anyway, your best bet is to enroll in a community college and “salvage” your college career by taking your general education classes and getting A’s, including classes like Calculus, Physics (calculus-based), Chemistry, and English. Bring your GPA up in community college since, based on what you said, very few classes you took would transfer anyway either due to your grade or due to </p>
<p>Note that in US terms you didn’t graduate high school 5 years ago, but after you got your ALevels. Although you can apply to American colleges with O’Levels, Further Education College, 6th form college, etc, is still considered “high school” since those two years are 11th and 12th grade in the US.</p>
<p>Do you have a TOEFL score?
What did you get for OLevels and what did you get for ALevels (precisely, subject per subject)?
Those elements would mostly matter if you wanted to transfer to a less-selective 4-year college, perhaps (in order of selectivity, from most to least) Nebraska Lincoln, ASU, U Kansas, Southern Mississippi, or UNevada Reno, plus directionals like Delta State, Chadron State, Richard Stockton, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Fort Lewis Eastern Oregon University… - the directionals are unlikely to have engineering BTWso check.
Community colleges will only require a TOEFL score and proof of finance.</p>
<p>How much can your family contribute, each year, in dollars? </p>
<p>Thanks for your very helpful reply…To answer your questions…No,i didn’t take TOEFL, instead i took the IELTS, since i had taken it before and since i was told US unis accept them. I got 7.5 out of 9. My Gpa at high school was 3.58. For olevel in my country, I got 1A,6b’s and 2C’s. In Alevels , I got A in Maths, B in Biology, B in Chemistry and C in physics. As for community colleges, I am not really keen on them, seeing as I intend to spend only 3 yrs in college, considering I have spent 2 years already. Do you think I transfer my alevel credits to community college so that I can spend only one year instead of two? I cant say precisely how much they can contribute, but i know they are pretty able to sponsor me if intend to go to CC.Thanks once again and I shall check those unis you recommended.</p>
<p>IELTS is good too, and 7.5 is excellent (most colleges require 5.5, 6, or 6.5). And 4 A Levels is impressive, especially for the subjects you chose (the fact you have 4 is impressive regardless, but if the 4 are “critical thinking”, “business studies”, “media studies”, and ICT, well… not as much).
With these grades, you probably shouldn’t go to a directional, these universities are likely to provide you with transfer opportunities but they are not at the right level.
You don’t have to spend 2 years at the community college, you could see if some of your ALevels transfer (they likely would) but few university classes would. Since your ALevels you already have the equivalent of one year of general education completed, but you would need to take the other types of general education (ie., English Composition, History, Social Science, Literature/art, etc.). So you would potentially get done in one year, or 2 semesters + one summer. Once you’ve established yourself at community college (and you better get a GPA 3.7-4.0 since based on your OLevel/ALevel you’re quite capable of that) you can transfer based on that GPA rather than on your current GPA. Your current college GPA will follow you around until you sort of “erase it” with community college. Choose your community college carefully; choose one that either has a direct link to a current university (Richard Bland/William and Mary, Virginia Piedmont/UVA, Diablo/UCB, Santa Monica/UCD+UCSB+UCSC, Georgia Perimeter/Georgia Tech…)
What state are you in? Because the advice above may have to be altered depending on states.</p>
<p>Ok so basically I was thinking of applying to community colleges as well as apply to some universities as a transfer student. I planned to do this is because I felt that would broaden my chances. At the moment , I already have good A level results, however my GPAs from university are quite low( as low as 1.5). so I felt that most unis might consider the low GPA and that might hurt my chances. Now I wanted to find out if community colleges will accept my A level grades for transfer into 2nd year since the grades were okay. In view of this, do u guys think I am better off applying as a transfer student to community colleges or I should apply to unis. is applying to community college a good idea? </p>
<p>I have been told that one cannot apply for visa using i20 from a community college and only university i20 is accepted for obtaining visa. so I felt if I was going to apply to community college, maybe I can use the i20 of another uni to gain visa and thereafter transfer to community college. do u guys think this is a good idea? are there any possible implications?</p>
<p>I am sure y’all can tell that I am rather confused, yeah , it cos I am rather new to the American system . so any contributions from you guys will be more than appreciated/ Thanks yall.</p>
<p>You would apply to community colleges as a freshman (ALevels ARE NOT considered university-level but advanced level exams, like AP). You would then get your ALevel work evaluated for credit equivalency. Typically 1 A-Level = 2 semesters of 1st year work in the subject. You’d still need to take the regular 1st year gen ed classes (English Composition, social science, humanities…) plus of course the 2nd level classes in science&math.
By the way it’s the exact same process for universities except community colleges accept everyone aged 18 and over so they don’t look at previous college GPAs.
You can absolutely get your I20 for a community college- how else would the thousands and thousands of international students who study in community colleges get visas?</p>
<p>Hey guys thanks for your previous responses. Right now I have gained admission into Voorhees college for summer entry, however I just have a few questions to clarify. It is a black </p>
<p>1) It is a liberal arts college, would that limit my chance of transferring to a regular college
2) would completion of my summer semester, mean one year completed? This is because I hope to finish the freshman by fall.
3) it is a very less selective college(I think), does that mean that my chances of transferring to a good college is low? Like if I do very well, would I be ale to transfer to a good college in 2nd year by fall?</p>
<p>4? Pls of you know a little bot of info about voorhees, pls kindly lemme know. Thanks</p>
<p>Voorhees is an historically black college in South Carolina. Most of your professors and fellow students will be American and to a lesser extent Caribbean and African blacks. Many of them will have been brought up in the black churches of the African diaspora. I think it’s associated with the Episcopal church but don’t quote me on that. It will certainly be a different kind of experience for most internationals who would enroll there. You might really enjoy it. It will be a slice of America that very few Americans even see. </p>
<p>To answer your questions: a liberal arts college is one that emphasizes the skills that can liberate: free thought, good oral and written communication skills, scientific inquiry unbound by orthodoxy, artistic expression free of political approval, etc. It is a school that emphasizes the humanities, social sciences, fine arts, and natural sciences. One alternative to a liberal arts education is an education that focuses on the fine arts only, or on science, technology, engineering, and math almost exclusively, or on preprofessional skills like dental hygiene. Most colleges in the US are liberal arts schools.</p>
<p>I do not understand your second question.</p>
<p>Your chances of transferring to a good college are dependent upon how well you do at Voorhees, what courses the transfer college expects you to have taken and will accept from Voorhees, whether the transfer college has room for you the semester you wish to transfer, and other such criteria. It will not depend on Voorhees, unless Voorhees is not accredited by the accrediting institutions the semester you attend.</p>
<p>Fourth question: I don’t know Voorhees even though I’m familiar with quite a few historically black colleges. It seems to me that you’ve picked Voorhees out of a hat, that is, randomly, and I think you could choose a school much more wisely than you chose Voorhees.</p>
<p>Thanks for your answers…for the second question, i mean Can I complete the freshman year between may and beginning of fall, which is the next semester…so I am basically saying can I complete freshman year as soon as summer semester is over? </p>
<p>I like the idea of liberal arts, only that I was worried if I would get in to study an Eng. course. But then as you rightly explained, I suppose I should find out what courses can transfer in d new school,right? </p>
<p>Oh and then I was also worried that since it is a less selective school, would that lessen my chance of transferring to a great school?</p>
<p>By the way, when you say different experience for international student, what exactly do you mean? Do I lose out on anything? Pls kindly explain.</p>
<p>Cheers</p>