<p>Since I'm now planning to go to college here in Pakistan for this year after unsuccessfully applying to Colleges in the US, I find myself looking at alternate options that might help me to still be able to get a liberal arts degree. Here the courses aren't so comprehensive or diverse. Taking a gap year is out of the question since I already took one. My problems now lie in the fact that transfer students get very limited aid, international transfer students even more so. </p>
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<li>What colleges are known to be relatively generous with thier Aid packages for foreign students?</li>
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<p>As I've already mentioned, the courses here aren't so diverse. So Question no. 2 is,</p>
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<li>Would American colleges transfer credits from, say, an engineering degree?</li>
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<p>And finally,</p>
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<li>Would it take me more time to graduate? What would happen if none of my courses transfer? Can you transfer and opt for accelerated graduation?</li>
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<p>International transfer success stories would be greatly appreciated.</p>
Your math and science credits should transfer. Your engineering credits might not transfer to a liberal arts school. </p>
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More time than …? If you go to college for x years in your home country and get credit for all courses, you should expect to finish your degree in 4-x years. If you don’t get credits for all courses, it might take longer.</p>
<p>Given that it is nearly impossible to get financial aid as an international transfer student, given that transferring might add 2 years to your undergraduate years (assuming a Bachelor’s degree is 3 years in your home country), and all to get a degree which would put you in a worse position in the job market than an engineering degree, it might be in your best interest to stay at home. Maybe your home university has an exchange agreement with an American university, or maybe you can audit courses in other subjects. Heck, even taking an entire year off just to attend lectures in other subjects might be faster and cheaper than pursuing a liberal arts degree in the US.</p>
<p>Thank you for your response B@r!um. The engineering degree takes four years here, and it’s very expensive to take courses in other subjects if they’re not offered by your own college. Very few universities here have exchange agreements with american colleges. There’s AIESEC but I really don’t know much about that.
Assuming I apply for a transfer to a place which offers an open curriculum, would the amount of credit transfers matter then? And thier diversity? There is only a minimum no. of credits that you have to have. If I can get that many, it wouldn’t take me more time would it? And even less if I go for accelerated graduation?</p>
<p>Quote:
“all to get a degree which would put you in a worse position in the job market than an engineering degree”</p>
<p>How? Many people here from the top engineering universities end up not pursuing an engineering job because of a lack of opportunities and end up in jobs that a liberal arts education might have left them better quipped for. Also, I probably don’t want to pursue a career in engineering but in education and development. The universities here that would’ve offered me a better degree for that are expensive and don’t give a lot of aid.</p>
<p>Also, wouldn’t a liberal arts degree from an american college put me in a better position to apply for grad school there?</p>
An open curriculum means that there are no core or distribution requirements, but you still need 4 years’ worth of credits to graduate. If a few of your courses don’t transfer, you can probably make that up by taking a course overload. The less courses transfer, the harder it will be to graduate in four years.</p>
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Accelerated graduation means completing 4 years’ worth of credits in less than four years, e.g. with AP credits or summer classes. Do you have a plan to get extra credits?</p>
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It probably would. I am not saying you shouldn’t go to the US. I just want you to be realistic about your chances, and think about if applying to US colleges again would be a good use of your resources (time, money, etc). </p>
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Can you audit a few classes? Like, go to class without getting credit for it? I know that engineering is tough enough as it is, but you might have time to attend one extra lecture each semester?</p>
<p>I read on MHC’s website that some A levels subjects are given extra credit for. But that was for freshmen applicants. On the transfer applicants page it said they do not transfer pre-college level courses. This confuses me. Do A Levels subjects count as pre-college level courses? If not, then no I don’t have an actual plan now :D. Can’t you opt for accelerated graduation once you do transfer by taking extra courses? ‘Course overload’ as you put it?</p>
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<p>The system here is very different from american colleges. You get an engineering degree from an engineering college that offers only engineering/math/science courses. There are some compulsory non-science subjects (i.e. Islamiat and Pakistan Studies) but I doubt that these would transfer. Also, I’d have to check if they are awarded credit even here. If you want to study a liberal arts subject, then you go to a college where they would award you a degree in that subject. There’s no overlapping allowed. Hence, even if I wanted to audit a couple of classes, I can’t. Ofcourse, I can join classes offered at other colleges during the summer when I’m free but then again there’s a pretty high fee for this which I kind of doubt my father would want to pay.</p>
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<p>This I realize, which is why I’m trying to be sure it won’t just be a waste of my resources. Sigh. I’m screwed, aren’t I B@r!um? Even if there were a tiny glimmer of hope, just a very small chance that I might, just might be successful, I’d apply. Turn that last stone.</p>
<p>Thank you for your help though. I really appreciate it :)</p>