<p>I'm gonna read Econs at Durham University (UK) in October. Paying the international fees is really unaffordable for my family as Durham doesn't have any FinAid scheme for int'l students. That explains why I'm starting my freshman' yr with the thought of transferring to a US uni. I haven't done any SAT tests yet, but I'm planning to take them soon. Here is some of my personal info:</p>
<p>Country of origin: Vietnam. I went to the High School for Gifted in Vietnam, then got a scholarship to do A-Levels in England.</p>
<p>A-Level grades: AAB (Maths, Law, Econs). Yet I have reasons to explain why I got a B in Econs: an unexpected event occuring during exam time</p>
<p>Offers to study Economics from:
-London School of Economics (LSE)
-Durham Uni
-University College London (UCL)
-Bristol Uni</p>
<p>Extra-curri: Quite poor. I was the Head of the Fundraising Dept for a non-profit organization in my home country (Vietnam). That's it!</p>
<p>I hope u guys can have a general idea about my background. It's a pity that I haven't taken SATs yet. I'm planning to take them around December, including:
-SAT I
-SAT II: Maths IIc, Physics, Literature (Any comment on my subject choice?)</p>
<p>Taking these info into consideration, how likely do u think I would be admitted to one of the top-10 Unis? How famous is Durham University in the US? Or have u even heard of it? Do they like transferred students from the UK? Do u think I have any advantages over those who're transferring from a US uni?</p>
<p>One more non-essential and non-sense question: Since the UK has a 3-yr Uni system, how is it gonna be converted to the US system? Being a sophomore transfer, how many more years do I have to do?</p>
<p>if u came to one of the top 10 schools here you'd have to pay international fees as well which are very expensive and they do not tend to give much aid to international students...so if cost is a factor for you...you might have to re-evaluate the school you want to look at...</p>
<p>Actually I've been researching quite thoroughly on US uni's FinAid schemes and found out that they're quite generous in giving aids to int'l students. Top schools have $$$. They do state that their funds are restricted (and yes, it is). But their general policy is never to let any student be detered by their Financial hardship. </p>
<p>Yet, get back to my main question, please! Although I'm aiming for the top-10, I'm gonna apply to many lower-ranked unis and LACs as well. Yet I wanna set a high target in order to motivate myself towards it.</p>
<p>Only thing I can tell you is that private universities do have more reasonable financial aid packages to foreign students since they are self-funded.</p>
<p>As far as your chances, I cannot help you much. Best advice I can give to you is to thoroughly research the schools you want to attend, and contact them if needed (I also cannot give you any specifics about SATs and ECs).</p>
<p>The question I'm considering is whether I should take a gap year, then apply as freshman or should do my 1st yr at Durham then try to transfer? I know the pool for transfer candidates is much more competitive than the pool for freshman. Yet I'm afraid my profile so far is much too boring for the Admission Officers to look at. If I take a gap yr, I can only stay in my home country and would only have my SATs to lean on. I hope one yr at Durham will give me some more chances to express myself. Yet, is it much much more difficult to apply as a transfer than as a freshman? </p>
<p>I've just looked up for the transfer acceptance ratio at those colleges, and I think there's actually only a slight difference to freshman acceptance rate eg: 7.5% at Harvard, 8-->10% at Stanford. Is it more difficult because the quality and eligibility of the transfer pool is higher?</p>
<p>Those stats are misleading for the simple fact that there are more applicants applying as a freshman as opposed to a transfer, so when the the numbers are calculated, the percentage of admitted students tend to be the same. </p>
<p>Lets say for example that 1000 applied and only 100 made it, setting the rate at 10%. Now transfers are usually less in number, so for instance, if 300 applied and roughly only 23 will make it. Nevertheless, more freshman applicants are accepted than transfer applicants (note: these aren't the exact numbers; I just too a hypothetical situation to boot).</p>
<p>Your situation is really tough for me to have feedback on. I know that by staying at Durham for at least a year, you can pad up your resume, take those SATS, and look like a full fledge HYPS candidate. However, going by statistics, it would be much more difficult to take the transfer route. I hope more people can give you helpful information than what I have provided.</p>
<p>Hey, I do know that there many more freshman applicants than tranfer applicants. But the acceptance rate is supposed to give u the general idea of the competitive level at the college, ain't it? So if the acceptance rates are slightly different, does it mean that though applying as a transfer does narrow down ur chances of being admitted, it doesn't narrow it down massively. Correct me if I'm wrong!</p>
<p>I do understand that my situation is really tough to have feedback on, so I'm really grateful for ur time and replies, pellman!!! Yet, do u think a year at Durham Uni, some fab references from their profs (assuming I do get some), and a sound/good 1st-term result would beautify my profile considerably than if I just take a gap yr and do those SATs?</p>
<p>Believe me, I've tried to find sth else to do in those few months to polish my profile but it's almost impossible as there aren't many chances for gap yr students in my country. In fact, taking a gap yr is deemed to be kinda a failure here.</p>
<p>I guess those stats are suppose to gauge your chances, but here in the U.S., everybody has a general idea that transferring to the Ivies/other elite schools is much harder than getting in as a freshman.</p>
<p>If I were you, I'd go to Durham for a year and pad up my resume. Get the best grades that you can, get high scores on those SATs, and suck up to professors that will give you good recommendations. Also, in some cases, a lot of these schools make special cases for students such as yourself. If you write a superb essay explaining your situation, chances are they'll admit you.</p>
<p>Now I'm not writing this on stone, nor am I really the most qualified person to give you advice. I'm just putting myself in your situation and asking myself "what would I do." But hey, you never know. If you do good and stay possitive, I'm sure worlds will open up for you.</p>
<p>I do appreciate what u've done, putting urself in my situation and asking urself "what would I do". Certainly there ain't any person who can be qualified to tell me what to do and guarantee me it's the best way. I often turn to my common sense in such a situation. And now my common sense is telling me to risk going to Durham. It's a whole new world there, and I have more to do, and to believe in. And Durham is so lovely place that I can't wait to see ^^</p>
<p>Btw: Have u ever heard of Durham before? I guess it's kinda unknown in the US.</p>
<p>Nope, but I'm sure a lot of those UK schools are top notch with good academics and education, even though they aren't as famous as the U.S. schools (or atleast, they aren't as known this side of the Mississippi!).</p>
<p>Hey, and I just realised that the total number of transfers admitted includes both sophomore and junior transfers. Interesting! It's getting tougher now... Hah, enjoying it!</p>
<p>If I were you I would go to durham. I'm pretty familiar with cdn, american and UK application systems (as I've applied to uni in all three). Durham is a good school (hence Doxbridge) and I'm sure most admission counsellors would be aware of Durham along with oxbridge and some other big uni's (like manchester, edinburgh, st.andrews, nottingham, etc.). If money is an issue though, maybe taking a year off would be cheaper? Getting transfer credits will be difficult because of the difference in course length but they will be familiar with dealing with that. Go and pad up everything you can. Marks, SAT's, rec's, EC's, EVERYTHING. imo a uni is more likely to take a great transfer who has been doing stuff while at uni then a fresher who hasn't done much in the past year. Just some food for thought.</p>
<p>ive heard of durham i considered it b/c i figured id use the IB diploma for something...but anyway, yeah its not that well known in the us. and another reason for the low admit rate is a high retention rate.</p>
<p>a high rentention rate is when a school keeps a lot of it's freshman. ie. 95% of the class goes onto their sophomore year. If a lot of freshman are retained at the school for their sophomore year (or junior year) it means less spots for transfers.</p>
<p>Taking a year off is cheaper. Yet a year at Durham may pay off. And the question I'm considering is how likely it is to pay off. A few months at Durham may not be long enough for me to get involved in many activities or to impress the professors there. Also, the list of colleges does narrow down a lot because many would not provide FinAid or even admit Intl transfer (Princeton, Duke, Williams, etc).</p>
<p>"imo a uni is more likely to take a great transfer who has been doing stuff while at uni then a fresher who hasn't done much in the past year. "
Thank you for ur words of wisdom ^_^</p>