Indian college student Freshman or Transfer ??

Applying to College
1

<p>Hey guys. Help me out. I was preparing for IIT-JEE for 2 years.In March, 2013 I decided that I will pursue Bachelors degree in US as earlier I was not aware of it and the procedure .I realized I had missed the fall application deadline. So after finishing 12th grade in april 2013 I joined an engineering college affliated to mumbai University , Electronics Engineering while giving SAT and applying to Universities for fall 2014 term for which deadlines are in Nov- Dec 2013.</p>

<p>Now , heres the thing , I was shocked to find out that most Universities will not consider me as a freshman applicant because I joined a college. I am forced to apply as a transfer only !</p>

<p>1>Transferring from Mumbai University to ... lets say Penn state seems impossible. In India , Everything is final exam oriented.Academic systems are so different. Also MU is ranked 700 ! </p>

<p>2>My college simply keeps lectures and pracs , and a small internal asessment test. The final semester exam takes place in December and is organised by mumbai university across all colleges . The result comes in march 2014 and transcript/ report card 2 weeks later. So my transcript wont be available in time for transfer application.</p>

<p>3>Some universities allow me to apply as freshman if I have less than 12 college credits. But if I claim I joined a college , The university will ask for the transcript which wont be available before march 2014.</p>

<p>4>I dont really qualify as a college student either as I dont acquire my first semester credits till the result and transcript of MU arrives , which is in March 2014 . ( More confusion) So basically, while I am applying , I have 0 college credits !</p>

<p>5>The first year courses I am taking now are not there at the American University of my intended major ( CS) either.So how can credits get transferred ?</p>

<p>6>So I applied as a high school graduate who didnt join college. Started with a clean slate. The application portal warned me that if I lie in my application and hide any data from an educational institution , my admission will be cancelled and I will be blacklisted or something. But what the hell am I supposed to do ??</p>

<p>So I got admitted to a good university of my choice.But I am worried if they find out they,ll cancel my admission or something. I didnt do anything wrong ! These weird policies prohibited me from mentioning my college in my application. I gave some reason for my GAP year. But now I am feeling insecure. I know I did the right thing , but the university may not look at it that way.</p>

2

<p>Schools vary in who they consider a fr vs. transfer applicant, but however they define it, what they are counting is the number of units/semesters of post-HS college work that you will have completed when you matriculate, not when you apply. Colleges always evaluate you assuming that you will finish your current and projected coursework and accept you under the condition that you will do so in a satisfactory manner.</p>

<p>Many times transfer coursework is not in the major field, most colleges require a certain number of units of general education courses. Which classes transfer is up the the college to evaluate after you are accepted.</p>

<p>You cannot decide that you have a clean slate. Whether you apply as a fr or transfer, you still have to send transcripts from all colleges you have attended.</p>

<p>What you need to do:</p>

<p>For any school where you applied as a fr when you should have been a transfer: call/email the school and ask what you need to do to reapply as a transfer.</p>

<p>For any school where you correctly applied as a fr but didn’t include your college work: call/email the school, explain your misunderstanding, tell them that you have college credit and send them a transcript.</p>

3

<p>Wait, doesn’t “college” in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan refer to “further education colleges” ie, not American colleges (= universities) but rather comprehensive schools for students past O’levels/GCSE’s as well as adults, including community education?
If your college is a post-A-Level university, you can indicate you registered at a university but do not have any credit because you were doing your gap year.
Some American colleges consider that if you didn’t take classes or if those are not credit-bearing classes (ie, continuing education classes, ESL classes…) those don’t count.
Others consider that if you registered anywhere you are a transfer. It’s kind of a problem because in other countries where tuition is free, most young adults just register because it allows them to keep their health insurance, or get a government stipend, or to help their parents claim them as dependent if they’re not working, or because it’s just not socially acceptable to be 18 and registered nowhere - there’s even a British slang word for it-, or get a permit for an internship, or whatever, which is totally unrelated to taking classes at all and thus doesn’t qualify as being a “transfer” - which implies being a college student, attending classes, taking exams, and having more knowledge than a high school student, thus being treated differently from them.</p>

<p>Or are you actually taking credit-bearing classes?</p>

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<p>Yes you did wrong. You concealed information that was asked for and misrepresented/lied on application.</p>

<p>You were not prohibited from the truth, you just didn’t bother to seek out the right way to report it.</p>

<p>No one would look at it like you did the right thing. You merely did what was convenient for your end. The warnings are there and you ignored it. </p>

<p>Contact the colleges and explain.</p>

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<p>Since the OP is concerned about transferring credits, one would assume that they are taking credit bearing classes:</p>

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<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/international-students/580010-international-freshman-better-transfer-apply-freshman.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/international-students/580010-international-freshman-better-transfer-apply-freshman.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>^I did a lot of Research in this matter , My situation is very uncommon. </p>

<p>1>Some universities consider me as a freshman.</p>

<p>2>Some universities make me apply as a transfer , But I am treated as a freshman . Basically nothing transfers , just the ADcom needs two transcripts.</p>

<p>However, IN Both THESE CASES THE UNIVERSITY transcript WILL REquired ! Which I wont be able to give and my application will remain incomplete and rejected !</p>

<p>(I neither have transcript nor any proof of college enrollment ! It comes at the end of the semester or year. Then how can I claim to be a college student ? )</p>

<p>–> The university which accepted me considers me a freshman if I have less than 12 college credits . Right now , I have no college credits. So should I cancel my admission in the mumbai college ? That will leave me with 0 credits while enrolling and qualifies my Freshman admission.</p>

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<p>I would love to apply as a transfer because in that case my SAT score wont be needed
which is not that great, Also I can save time and money if my credits are accepted. I did not declare it because I dont have the proof of it.</p>

<p>How can I claim to be a college student if I dont have official transcript nor proof of enrollment ? ( Which is required for transfer applicants )</p>

<p>Still nevertheless , I can still change things. I can cancel my admission in mumbai , so when I am enrolling at the university in US , I have 0 credits which makes me a freshman.</p>

8

<p>Go to the records office at your current university, and ask them to create a statement about your current status that can be sent to the places that you are applying to. There will be a way to come up with something that can serve as the equivalent of a transcript. If you need help, get in touch with the closest office of EducationUSA, and ask the counselors there what students in situations like yours have done in the past. You are not the first student to face this challenge.
<a href=“https://www.educationusa.info/India[/url]”>https://www.educationusa.info/India&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>And yes, if you like the place that has already accepted you and would be happy to study there, it is OK to ask them directly what you should do. Find out if you would still be accepted there if you drop out of your current university before you earn any credits.</p>

9

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<p>How could you not have proof of enrollment as you are in a college and taking classes? All colleges wait until the end of the sem to give the official transcript with grades, that’s why all acceptances are conditional on you finishing the coursework that you declared on your application.</p>

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<p>Yes, and that’s why: if you’re not talking to the colleges to ask them how you should correctly apply and asking them what you need to send, then you aren’t doing what’s necessary to assure that you are applying correctly. </p>

<p>The solution is easy, you contact the colleges and ask them, they have the final say in determining if you are applying appropriately.</p>

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<p>Because the word “Taking classes” is not common in my country. Promotion is based on year or semester or year end Standardised exams conducted by Educational departments of the country ( CBSE , HSC , Mumbai Univ ).That “leaving exams” section on CommonApp was for me.</p>

<p>Schools and colleges dont have the autonomy to give transcripts because they are not the ones conducting these exams and thats why these are not accepted at Universities where I apply.</p>

<p>I am enrolled at a college , but not at the University which it is affliated to. Till any transcript or proof arrives, My admission is “provisional” admission.</p>

<p>I,ll talk to the universities regarding this matter.</p>

11

<p>Suraj: Do you mean college as in Standard XI/XII/XIII or do you mean college as in “a small university”?
Because in the US, “college” is the same idea as “university”, but in India very often being enrolled at college means what being “high school students” means in the US. in the US, “School” does not end at Year 10/11 and “college” does not start at Year 11 or year 12 or A-Levels - it’s school from kindergraten until 12th grade (from age 5 to 18), then “college” is 4 years of higher education, for example ages 18-22. There can be several colleges (divisions, faculties) within one universities, and you also have stand-alone colleges.
If you are enrolled at a college but not a university, do you mean “further education college”?</p>

<p>Another way to distinguish is to see to which autority they respond:
Schools and colleges are under the responsibility of the Education Board of the province.
That would include CBSE, HSC…In that case, NOTHING would transfer (or along the same as AP in the US) because you would only be considered as a secondary school student taking upper-level classes to prepare for university in their country.
Universities can autonomously deliver degrees, they can determine the exams, etc., unlike schools and colleges. They are their own judges.</p>

<p>These Indian “schools and colleges” would be called “high schools” in the US, the Indian 'universities" could be called “college” or “university” indifferently in the US.</p>

<p>So if you are enrolled at a college linked to a university, are we to understand you’re in the pre-university curriculum, and if you succeed there you’ll be admitted to the university?</p>