<p>Hi all, I'm an A Level holder from Singapore and I may attend the NTU computer science/electronic & electrical engineering(triple E) course at the end of this year. Now, I know that NTU is ranked 14th in the world for its engineering schools(if I'm not wrong) but I would like to transfer to a US university after my first year in NTU. I've checked some college websites and I know that we're supposed to have completed one full year of college but cannot exceed two years. However, here's my question - how are our credits transferred & what are the chances of a successful transfer? I've asked some lecturers and professors at the university and they said certain credits might not be recognised by the college I want to apply to, and it really comes down to which college I want.</p>
<p>Does anyone have any experience with such transfers? I would love to hear all your opinions! Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>Ps, I've already taken my SATs and subject tests last year. Not sure if those are useful though.</p>
<p>It’s hard to say - every college sets its own rules for which courses transfer and how much credit they award for each course. You might be asked to submit course descriptions, maybe even homework assignments or exams, for every course you are requesting transfer credit for. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, that evaluation is usually done after admission, i.e. you’ll have to decide where to attend without knowing how much transfer credit you’ll receive. It’s even possible (though unlikely in your case) to be offered transfer admission but receive no transfer credit at all, so that one has to start over from scratch at the new university. (This might happen if a law student transfers to the US, since law is not offered as an undergraduate degree in the US.) </p>
<p>Hi, thanks for replying! I have a question about a particular comment ‘evaluation is usually done after admission’. When I’m accepted for transfer to a certain college but the credits to be transferred are largely unrecognized, can I go for another college that may recognise more of the credits? Also, is there no way to know what credits will be recognised? Maybe make sure I take the exact same modules for the same course?</p>
<p>When you are accepted as a transfer, if the college/university doesn’t give you a preliminary evaluation of the number of credits that are likely to be accepted, you can ask them to do that. You will not know the final number that have been accepted until you actually enroll.</p>
<p>Keep every single homework assignment, every course syllabus, every lab notebook, every textbook, and take them with you to the new college/university. That way if you need to petition for credits that weren’t automatically awarded, you can present your documents for their review.</p>
<p>You might want to engage a credit evaluation company to do an evaluation of your credits completed at NTU before you decide to transfer. At least it gives a rough indicator of how much you have done and what you have studied for the incoming school to know.
Some schools give credit exemptions for A level subjects taken as well. You will need to check with the school directly.
As a rough indicator, a poly graduate can get almost 1 1/2 years off credits out of 4 years. Most of the credits were general eds. All the major had to be done at the Uni itself.</p>
<p>Also, since you don’t really fall into the ‘transfer’ student category since it’s hard to calculate if you have 24 credits or more etc etc. The Uni might make you apply as a freshmen and then have all your previous course work evaluated. - I know of a girl who went from NUS to Columbia, she had to apply as a freshmen even though she finished 1 year at NUS.</p>
<p>Thanks for your reply! Does it matter what GPA system the college uses? I was told that SMU (Singapore Management University) would give me a better edge because its GPA scoring system is similar to american’s but NTU’s GPA scoring is different (max score is 5.0 if I’m not wrong, whereas SMU is the typical max score of 4.0).</p>
<p>Ultimately it still depends on the college I apply to right? Since the credit evaluation is mandatory even if the GPA system is similar. It will still be a case-by-case basis where they evaluate my credits in line with the course I’ll be taking in the college I applied to right?</p>
<p>You’re right. Each school will have its own way of looking at your GPA. They will look in depth at the break down of each of the course taken, syllabus, etc. And have their own indicator of the GPA. My wife has a GPA of 4.5/5 from NTU, but when she went to do her Masters in the US - her GPA was not as easy as converting the 4.5/5 GPA into a 4.0 scale. (Like multiplying it by 1.25)</p>
<p>They wanted to look at everything to evaluate.</p>
<p>Instead of wanting to go NTU and transfer after the first year - have you thought about the alternatives?</p>
<p>For example, enroll with a US Uni’s (RA school) Online degree program and after you’re done with the first year, transfer into another school ? Or even go to that school on campus. You could even finish your first 60 credits online, and moving to your school of choice to do your major, since year 1 and 2 are mostly GE classes. </p>
<p>There’s quite a few top schools (state/RA/public) that offer online degrees.</p>
<p>@nyvrem so would it essentially be “easier” for me to go to SMU because it uses a similar GPA system? Or will it be the same because whether or not I go to SMU/NTU, I will still have to get evaluated? This is the main thing I’m considering right now. If it doesn’t make a difference, then going to NTU would make my 1-2 years in SIngapore very easy. Plus, NTU has unrestricted electives where I can choose to read what I’m interested in to clear credits. Not so sure SMU allows that.</p>
<p>I have quite a complicated reason for wanting to transfer overseas after 1-2 years. I was thinking of transferring during my year 2 so that there’s a better chance I will be considered a transfer applicant rather than having to apply as a freshman all over again just because I do not meet the min required credits for transfer students.</p>
<p>I want to complete my bachelor’s in the US and then continue with my Master’s. If need be, I will do my PhD too. This is all because I intend to move out of Singapore and settle down in the US but we all know its hard to get a visa these days. Even if I were to get a H1B visa it could take up to 10 years (correct me if I’m wrong) to get a green card.</p>
<p>And for the online degree program you were talking about - do you mean I can take up online classes while studying in NTU/SMU (whichever I may choose)? I know that NTU has this online portal where we can take online classes and those offered by NTU in conjunction with other universities may be granted credits.</p>
<p>There’s a few ways of going about this. When do you intend to start Uni ? This August? If so - you would have gotten all your acceptance/choice of courses already. What are you intending to do here (SMU) and what do you want to do in the US ?</p>
<p>Since you have thought all the way through to PhD, what field would you be intending to read ?
I won’t say its easier to get your courses at SMU evaluated just because they have a 4.0 GPA. If you want course acceptance into a US Uni, I would say NUS is the easiest since they have tie ups with some US Unis for certain programs, and cross culture programs. </p>
<p>You can take online classes on your own on top of going through NTU/SMU. I can discuss with you in more detail through PM. </p>