I just finished my freshman year of college (Oral Roberts University) as an international student. I finished with a GPA of 3.72 and changed my major to Mathematics (concentration data science) from Finance over the break. I am planning to transfer in my junior year, but what are my chances to get into colleges like Boston University, Southern Methodist University, and the University of Wisconsin Madison? Thanks.
Do you need financial aid?
If you don’t need financial aid, you should even apply this Fall for Sprig 2021 as your odds will be better and since many credits from Oral Roberts won’t transfer you’d have less credit loss.
What’s your budget?
How did you choose these three universities? They have little in common (size, environment, cost…)
You should definitely apply to more than these though.
Thanks for your reply. I need financial aid or scholarship that can cover more than half of the college’s tuition. But what is the reason that most of my credits won’t transfer to any of these colleges?
I am looking for colleges that are prestigious, somewhat strong in the math program, and have a good studying environment.
I am also thinking about applying to Ohio State, George Washington University, University of Miami, Purdue University, and University of California San Diego
Cross off most state universities from your list- they won’t be giving you financial aid: they are supported by the taxpayers in that state. For example, UCSD will cost you more than $65,000 / year. GWU is not famously generous with funds, and there is very little for transfer students. etc.
When you say “half” - how much is that in $?
It depends on colleges, but it would be nice if they offer me around $30000~$40000.
Should I focus more on liberal arts college and Private Universities?
Do I have a fence chance getting into a good liberal arts college like Skidmore or private universities like Boston University with GPA 3.72?
The problem isn’t your GPA, the problem is your needing financial aid. There’s little, if any, financial aid for international transfers. Generally there’s zero.
Oral Roberts is in part a Bible college, not a primarily academic institution, so you need to save all your syllabi as you’ll need to show them to get credit for any class you took. Not all classes transfer, in general, and even fewer if you attend a college whose main mission is to prepare leaders in their faith.
That being said, if you have 30-40k, you would have a shot at
- Truman State: top-notch school in MO
- UMaine Orono
- most SUNYs
the question is how much do you have, not how much aid is offered- tuition varies between colleges.
It would be around $20000~$30000.
I think Truman State could still be within budget, some SUNY’s (SUNY Plattsburgh has good scholarships), not sure about UMaine Orono.
Some universities are still admitting transfers because of CoviD19, you could try and apply, see if that’d work. You have a good idea of how much transferring would cost you.
(Lehigh has openings for transfers, but I’m afraid they want full pay transfers… Still worth a try?)
Go to the thread about NACAC list.
So for the college that is listed on NACAC, do they give a little bit more financial aid or scholarship to international students?
No- it’s just a list of colleges that have places that have openings for this September. But some of them are ones you can afford on your budget.
No, but they still have places for transfers due to the Covid19 disruption.
You’ll have to fill out your certificate of finance and it’ll be the most important part of your application.
As an international transfer, you’re unlikely to qualify for financial aid/scholarships. Most aid is given to freshmen.
However, some colleges (especially in the Midwest or along the East coast) that are about 30K or need more students… may be okay if you can pay 20-25K; they’ll be better, more respected in the academic world, than Oral Roberts.
Do you want another evangelical Christian college? If so, look at Wheaton, IL; Grove City, PA; Hillsdale, MI; Messiah, PA; Eastern, PA; Calvin, MI; Hope, MI. All of these are more academic and more recognized than ORU.
If you are okay with a traditional Christian college, there are lots on the list, too: St Olaf, Marquette, Gonzaga, also St Michael’s, Luther
Strong academically and secular: Miami Ohio, College of Wooster, UDayton, Lehigh, Union, Lawrence, Whitman, Lewis&Clark, Rollins, Juniata, Trinity TX, Ball State, University of Kansas…
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/2186067-nacac-list-of-colleges-with-openings-is-out.html
It doesn’t have to be a Christian college. Am I pushing my self to get a more challenging education? IS there a chance for me to get more than half of the cost from Wheaton or Lehigh?
I saw University of Miami is on the NACAC list. Do they give aid generously to international transfer students?
Almost NOBODY gives aid generously to international transfer students!
University of Miami is need-aware for admissions for international students, but they will ‘meet need’ if they accept you.
Lehigh gives no financial aid to international students (it’s on their website). Wheaton (IL) maxes out at $12-16K / year for international students.
Transfer students (American citizens) get lousy aid and international transfer students do not get financial aid. Period.
There’s no such thing as a university with “generous financial aid” for transfers, American or international, and even fewer meet need for American transfers than for freshmen. Even merit aid is about 1/3 to 1/2 what it is for freshmen.
If you want to transfer, you have to try your luck now with the universities that are worried due to covid19, because some will consider your application now and, seeing your certificate of finance, will think “This appears to be a strong student and we can’t really afford to let 25K go”. It’s very different from usual, when most international transfers get a “no” or “finance your own education if you want to transfer”.
So, because of the covid19 situation, some universities will accept a student who has 20-25Kand a good GPA. These universities would likely either offer significant merit aid because the Covid19 situation incentivizes them to do so, or cost 35-40k to start with. THOSE are your criteria, not “which university is usually generous?”
ALL universities I listed will have better academics and reputation than Oral Roberts. Oral Roberts’main goal isn’t academic, but faith-related.
If your goal is to have more academic rigor while practicing your faith outside of class, all universities I listed previously will work.
Truman State is much more rigorous than Oral Roberts. St Olaf is vastly more rigorous than Oral Roberts. Miami Ohio will be more rigorous than Oral Roberts and has merit and may have some for transfers (what SAT score did you have when you applied as a freshman?) St Michael’s, Luther, Union, Ball State will all be more rigorous and have a better academic reputation than Oral Roberts.
How did you choose Oral Roberts if you aren’t strongly invested in your faith? What characteristics are you looking for?
Is a conservative university important? (St Olaf is relatively moderate, Miami Ohio is considered relatively conservative, as are Union and Trinity TX.)
Oh, I am invested in my faith. I went to Christian elementary, junior high, high school, and college. As a Christian, I am not going to live around the Christian community all the time, especially when I get a job. So I thought it would be a good time to go out of my comfort zone and also pursue challenging academics.
I am looking for college that is medium size (6000~20000), high academic reputation, and affordable college.
Okay, that makes sense.
As an international transfer who needs aid, you can’t really have all three (the size you’re targeting doesn’t offer aid at all, either financial or merit based, to international transfers, because they’re often either directionals, ie’, less well-funded, or Catholic institutions with less endowment).
U Maine, UNew Hampshire, URhode Island, UMass Lowell, Miami Ohio, Truman State, UNC Asheville, are all within this size but I don’t think they’d have financial or merit aid. You can try applying now and see.
All universities listed in this thread so far have a strong academic reputation. As for aid, as has been said before, it usually doesn’t exist for international transfers but you may have a shot if a university whose yield has been upended by Covid-19 is interested in your combination of 3.72 GPA and 25k budget.