<p>Hello,</p>
<p>I'm posting a whole new thread because my situation is a little complicated.
I'm actually studying Economics and Management in the university Paris 1 Panth</p>
<p>I cannot help you find specific universities but I can outline some general paths you could take. </p>
<p>I am not sure what you mean with “3rd grade”, but if you have the equivalent of a US Bachelor’s degree (usually defined as the successful completion of three years of full-time university study) you are not eligible to apply as a transfer student.</p>
<p>So (assuming that you will have the equivalent of a Bachelor’s degree at the end of this year) you basically have two options: You can apply as a freshman for a second undergraduate degree or you can apply to graduate programs.</p>
<p>If you go for a second undergraduate degree, you can usually transfer some of the credits from your first degree to the second degree so that you can finish the second degree faster (i.e. in two or three instead of four years).</p>
<p>The biggest disadvantages might be financial: you would have to pay undergraduate tuition and after you graduate you still hold “only” a Bachelor’s degree. Also, if you start the degree from scratch, you would only be able to take one CS class in your first semester (the intro class) which might feel a little bit like a waste of time. Technically you could take math classes during your first semester but I guess that you already had a lot of math for your econ degree (definitely calculus/analysis and probability; maybe or maybe not discrete math). You might also find American undergraduate classes to be disappointingly easy (my experience after two semesters of math at a German university).</p>
<p>The second route is a graduate (Master’s) degree. Most graduate programs in the US do NOT require that you already hold a Bachelor’s degree in that subject but they do expect some prior experience in the field. There are several ways to gain that experience if you don’t have it already: you can study computer science for a year in France, you can take online classes, you can enroll at an American university as a non-degree seeking student…
The fastest path towards a Master’s degree would probably be to self-study (or take online) an introductory computer science course and then enroll somewhere as a non-degree seeking student for a semester taking four or five computer science courses while applying to grad school. </p>
<p>Pro: financial gains. Many graduate students don’t pay tuition (because they are holding fellowships or teaching assistantships) and a Master’s degree usually comes with a higher salary than a Bachelor’s degree.
Contra: It’s more work than an undergraduate degree.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot for the explanations.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the bachelor’s degree is at the end of the year, and I don’t think I am going to finish this school year (I’m really disgusted about the course I’m in now).
So eventually, on one hand I will have 2 years in university with with no diploma, or one that is not recognised. On the other hand, I can apply for Transfer student, but I don’t know the benefits of this application.</p>
<p>The graduate degree could be a nice choice I could have later on, but I’m really scared to fail and I’d be a lot more confident to start as a freshman, even tough I might be bored.</p>
<p>You are in a really tricky situation…</p>
<p>You can apply as a transfer and get two years worth of transfer credit in econ and business which would be enough to fulfill most or all of the requirements for an econ or business degree at an American college. But in order to graduate from an American college you would also have to fulfill certain general education requirements, so you would likely spend much of your last two years (four years for a degree minus two years of transfer credit) taking courses in history, literature, sciences etc. After those courses are taken care of you won’t have enough time and electives left to complete a major in computer science.</p>
<p>In addition to that some (most?) universities force you to complete the major with which you transferred in. So you would probably have to complete your econ or business major (I would guess you would need at most two courses on top of what you already have) and then take all the electives you have left after taking care of general education (/distribution/core) requirements in computer science. With some planning you would be able to complete a minor (usually 6-7 courses), which would be enough exposure to apply to graduate school afterwards if you so wish.</p>
<p>If you really wanted a major in computer science, you could probably find a college that would allow you to stay for an additional year, but I would rather invest that additional year in a Master’s degree.</p>
<p>Most colleges only accept transfer students with no more than two years worth of transfer credit, so if you finish this (a fifth) semester your options for transferring decrease dramatically.</p>
<p>The second option would be to apply as a freshman, but unfortunately most colleges don’t allow you to apply as a freshman once you attended a university.</p>
<p>Lol, why does my second post appear before your second post (which I replied to)?</p>
<p>Again thanks a lot for the explanations. The forum got a little buggy and put your post before mine lol.</p>
<p>I get the situation. This is really tricky. I guess transfer would have been an option if I wanted to keep the same course: economics and management.</p>
<p>I guess I am only left with applying as a freshman and International students. I don’t know what are the disadvantages and advantages of International students. Can I start as a freshman too?</p>
<p>I think the best for me would be to apply as a freshman, and get in first grade (first semester). But most college don’t allow this ? What do you think if I explain I was studying another course, in another country, and I didn’t fail? That I just want to do the course I would like to work in later on. Would it work?
Otherwise I could say I’ve been working during those years, in a shop for example, and then maybe get in first year (this implies lying). What do you think is the best solution?</p>
<p>Thanks again.</p>
<p>International admission is not something you can pick 
You are an international student because you would need a visa to attend a college in the US (I assume) and as an international student you can apply for international freshman or international transfer admission. The admission process is almost identical for international and domestic students except for some additional paperwork for the visa and the unavailability or scarcity of financial aid. (Would finances be an issue?)</p>
<p>Yes, unfortunately most colleges don’t allow you to start over once you have started college - but a few do. It’s just really hard to find those few 
I would suggest you contact the colleges you want to apply to and ask if they would allow you to start as a freshman. </p>
<p>The problem is that a lot of colleges keep track of communication with prospective applicants. You need to mention your full name because if a college says “yes” you want them to remember it when they read your application. On the other hand when they say “no” you cannot just go ahead and lie because they might notice once they read your application. </p>
<p>I really don’t endorse lying… but it would make things a lot easier for you. And since you are international it is extremely unlikely that colleges would find out (there is a central American database that keeps track of who attended college where and when but you are not in that database yet; and since international students are not eligible for federal financial aid, colleges won’t discover it through your financial aid records either).</p>
<p>If you start as a freshman, most colleges will give you one year of “transfer” credit for your French high school diploma if you wish so (“advanced standing”). That would in particular take care of your general education requirements at most places if you don’t really want to take literature, history, lab sciences, a foreign language etc again.</p>
<p>If you end up applying as a “regular” freshman you will have to take the SAT or the ACT. The SAT is offered on January 26 and the next time after that in March - too late if you want to start college this upcoming fall. Unfortunately the registration deadline for the January test date has already passed.
The ACT is offered the next time on February 9 with a registration deadline on January 4. I would strongly recommend that you sign up for that test if you think you might apply as a freshman ([ACT</a>, Inc. : A Student Site for ACT Test Takers](<a href=“http://www.actstudent.org%5DACT”>http://www.actstudent.org)). You would also have to sign up for the TOEFL asap.</p>
<p>The next thing to keep in mind are application deadlines. Application deadlines for freshman admission are earlier than for transfer admission - usually in January and February for freshman and a few weeks later for transfer applicants.</p>
<p>If I can’t pass the SAT I’m really stuck. I can’t pass the ACT, it seems it’s for US citizens.
I am going to register for the SAT tomorrow. I have found some universities with low requirements. I do think the university of Oregon doesn’t require the SAT or ACT. Well I’m not sure which ones, been looking at a lot of websites, but a few had low requirements, and didn’t seem to be bad school.</p>
<p>I could say I’ve been working since I got out of high school, in a shop for example. I don’t understand tough why it’s a problem joining a university as a freshman because I stuied a totally different subject here. To make sure if this applies to my case, I will phone a few universities (I have already picked up) to make sure of that. Unfortunately, it won’t be until monday or wednesday (due to new year’s).</p>
<p>Again, I thank you very much b@r!um for your help and your explanations. It has helped me a lot.</p>
<p>I am afraid you will be stuck with the ACT. What’s wrong with it?</p>
<p>You cannot take the SAT because the registration deadline for the January test date has already passed and the March test date will be too late.</p>
<p>Let me know of the result of your phone calls! I am curious :)</p>
<p>P.S. If you really want to take the SAT, you can try your luck as a stand-by but that is a long shot. Basically you show up to the test center without signing up for the test (you cannot because the registration deadline has passed), and if they have an extra test booklet (e.g. because some person who registered did not show up) you can take the test.</p>
<p>March sat isn’t offered to internationals. You can take January SAT through standby, just go to the testing center and fill some paperwork. But check collegeboard for more about standby.</p>
<p>Okay thank you.</p>
<p>About the ACT, I think it’s not available for me, as an international student. It’s for students living in the US. Correct me if I am wrong.</p>
<p>Closest date I could take is may 3 
I am going to look for standby, but I guess I’ll be stucked :/</p>
<p>ACT is available for international students. At my school it isn’t as popular as the SAT, but it is available.</p>
<p>How is it possible that it is available in a developing nation and not in the great Paris or any nearby city in a first world nation ?</p>
<p>[ACT</a> Registration : International Testing](<a href=“ACT Registration & ACT Testing Dates | The ACT Test”>ACT Registration & ACT Testing Dates | The ACT Test)</p>
<p>You may have to travel a bit to the nearest test center though. The only French city that offers the test on Feb 9 is Nice… Or you could try and see if there’s a test center closer to you in a neighboring country.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot barlum. I have to say that I’m getting really depressed. I’m thinking of going on with my university and try my best in the summer on the exams, so I have no stress, and I can pass them again if I fail. This way I would get my degree at the end of the year… but this solution does not make me happy, because I hate studying what I am studying. I guess I have no other choice.</p>
<p>I am still going to call some recruiters in different universities on monday or wednesday, and ask what they do think of my situation. This will give me an idea if the bachelor (in economics and management) will help me get directly to a master’s degree in CS, as you said above (because they are no pre-requist for applying for a master’s degree).</p>
<p>Well thanks a lot from both of you, I will write down the conclusion from the phone calls as soon as I’ve done them.</p>