Hi,
I was wondering if anyone has successfully transferred into a decent US uni as an international transfer applicant? If so, what were your stats?
Any insights would be appreciated!
It’s extremely difficult and in most cases you need to be full pay.
Yes it does happen. However it may make better sense to take a gap year and apply as a freshman instead.
For one person’s experience, look for old post by @b@r!um
Please don’t look for my old posts. Some of them are embarrassingly immature X_X
I don’t have any personal experiences with international transfer applications. I did take about one year’s worth of university classes while I was in high school. Americans call this “dual enrollment.” That particular arrangement allowed me to still apply as a freshman applicant. (FWIW, I did not receive any credits for my foreign university classes. The American college limited new freshman students to 1 year of credits from prior work, and I opted to receive credits for my high school courses to satisfy some general education requirements.)
International undergraduate transfer students face a few obstacles:
- There is very little financial aid for international transfer applicants.
- Many American universities, especially public universities, demand that transfer applicants have completed their general education requirements prior to the transfer. Since foreign universities don't usually let students take courses outside of their major, that may not be possible.
- American undergraduates would typically focus on their general education requirements first and their major later. As an international transfer student, you'll probably have made significant progress in your major but not on general education requirements. Many students in that position would find it frustrating to put their "focused" education on hold in order to take a random assortment of intro classes in history, foreign languages, math, etc. Even more so since you'll be paying good money to take these random intro classes...
For all of the above reasons, it often makes more sense for foreign students to finish their undergraduate degrees abroad, and then apply to American universities for a graduate degree.
Haha I’m sure they were fine. 
I do see the financial aid difficulty and find that to be a factor but for your other points, the school I’m currently as is completely modeled after the US system, more so in the Liberal Arts curriculum so I’ve completed a bunch of general ed requirements such as two social science courses, foreign language courses, and writing etc. Actually, I think I’ve done more general ed than major courses lol. And I think I’d want to continue my education in the same way (Liberal Arts) but just somewhere a bit more intellectually stimulating. So, I’ve been looking at a few liberal arts colleges but I’m beginning to wonder whether its feasible/smart to consider applying since they’re also the ones who sufficient funding to even consider need?
I guess it’s good news that only 1 of the 3 obstacles I mentioned is relevant to you. The bad news is that you picked the hardest one to overcome.
The general rule of thumb for international financial aid applicants is that you need to be among the very best applicants the college receives to be considered for admission with financial aid. E.g. a representative of Colby College said a few years ago that they had funding for about 10 new international students each year (freshman + transfer combined), and about 900 applicants vying for those 10 spots. That’s an admission rate of less than 2%!!!
The best advice I can give you is to apply widely. Even if your record is strong enough that you’re generally competitive for admission with financial aid, the odds will be stacked against you.
Thank you for the advice! I guess that’s whats hard now, figuring out where to apply. Do you think it might be easier if I apply for undergrad instead like happymomof1 said?
You cannot apply as a new freshman undergrad student “like @happymomof1 said” because you are no longer a freshman.
On June 29, you posted:
You cannot deceive the US colleges and universities; they do not take lightly any omission or deception. You would be rejected immediately and if you happened to be admitted, you would be expelled.
Don’t defraud your way in because the penalties are severe.
Agree with @“aunt bea” I would suggest you contact the admissions office of colleges you are considering and find out if it is feasible both academically and financially.
I had no intention of deceiving anyone, there would be nothing omitted in my application. I thought it was a possibility because the websites I checked said that you would have to forgo college credit in order to apply as a freshman applicant.
How many credits do you have? If 30 (or 60 ects) you would be considered a transfer. You can always take your chances and apply + there aren’t many risks involved as long as you understand your odds are likely 1-2% of you need financial aid and you could well be admitted nowhere.
Yes thank you it seems that I didn’t understand the admission requirements probably and I’m sorry for that. I didn’t realise that it was against the law. And yes I think I’ll still try my chances at transfer, thank you!
I’m not sure what I would have written to make you think that you get to decide if you are or aren’t a transfer applicant.
Each college and university sets its own policy. You need to ask each of them what kind of applicant they consider you to be. Given that you have attended university-level classes, it is most likely that you will be required to apply as a transfer everywhere. But do ask. Some colleges and universities determine freshman vs. transfer applicant status based on number of attempted credits or on number of completed credits.
No it was not what you said, I’m sorry that I caused so much confusion. I didn’t realise that you couldn’t apply for freshman entry if you had finished college level coursework. I did not research enough and I’m not that familiar with the laws regarding this, it was completely my fault.
I’m completely fine with just applying for transfer. Hope that clears it up.