<p>Hi all, so basically Im looking for some advice regarding my situation. A little bit of background about myself international, rejected by my US colleges and will be starting university this fall in the UK. My decision to apply to US was actually an extremely last minute one which I believe attributed to the rejections. I practically decided to apply early December last year, and had like a week to prepare for the SATs which I got a 2180 for (something Im sort of amazed at given the time constraint), and rushed my essays and literally submitted them on December 31st.
The reason for my late decision was because my parents were discouraging me from going to the US with some pretty valid reasons too. But I guess, the thought of being able to explore classes around my major finally won me over (in addition to the beautiful campuses colleges in US have compared to UK).
I know that it is a bit premature, considering I havent even set foot in my university in UK, but Id like to keep the option of transferring open. I also finished my last year of school last year, and so reapplying and taking a gap year is out of the question. Im also not sure if transferring is at all possible because I looked at some of the colleges and they mention that only US style universities are allowed to transfer their credits.
I would really appreciate any advice you have on this matter. I know it's really wordy. Thanks!</p>
<p>I will tell you that as an international applicant that you will not receive any kind of financial aid from the majority of schools.
You should also look at the requirements for schools that you are interested in going to. Some schools take transfer credits from international students, but I do remember seeing several colleges that say that if you are an international student then you must enter as a freshman.</p>
<p>Right, I emailed Columbia and the guy was pretty unhelpful, basically answered in a line to each email. But, do you know of anyone who has done it? Because I’ve been out of school since December last year and to re-apply as a freshman I’d need up to date recommendations from my teachers which I obviously don’t have. I’m only starting in UK this fall, and to apply for freshman then, I doubt any of my professors/TAs would be able to write anything useful. Do you personally know anyone who has managed a transfer?</p>
<p>I haven’t heard of anyone who has managed to do it, although I’m one of just a few people that I know that ended up transferring to schools. I asked my high school guidance counselor that I was very close with about applying to the Ivies as a transfer, and she flat out told me that the Ivies are a crapshoot no matter which way you go.
As for transferring after just one year in school, that’s what I ended up doing. In fact, I left my first school, went to community college to save money, and was accepted at a good school for Fall of 2012. The key to getting good recommendation letters after so little time is to engage with your professors in a sincere manner. In my favorite classes, I visited my professors during their office hours when I didn’t need help with a paper, but just wanted to talk more about the class and what I had learned. I do not recommend pulling the “be very nice to a teacher to get a good rec letter and then never speak to them again” act. That’s just very rude. I still talk to professors from my old school, and some of them have been very helpful. It is possible to transfer whenever you want, with some restrictions. Again, I am not applying as an international student, but if you get good grades and have good recs you can do it.</p>
<p>That’s fantastic, congratulations! Thanks for your helpful replies. I emailed one school and told them about my situation and they have had students transfer from my university before so I guess it’s not totally impossible. I guess if I really am unhappy there I will try for the transfer. Last question, how did you break the news to your professors that you wanted to transfer?</p>
<p>I ended up thanking them for their letters and explaining that I was looking for a different environment. Part of the reason that I ended up having to transfer was for medical issues…I met with each of my professors and explained the situation to them and most of them were worried about me and supported my decisions. Academic wise, one of the reasons that I even started to transfer at the first place was after I met up with one of my professors after class one day. He openly told me that he didn’t see me at this school–he thought I could have gone elsewhere with a more learning based environment and done much better! That was a surprise, because normally I feel like professors are supposed to get you to stay at their school, but he was always one to speak his mind anyway. Telling my friends I wasn’t going to be staying was also hard, but a lot of them were seniors and we would have only had one year together anyway. The people that are very important to me I still talk to on a fairly regular basis. Another student on here wasn’t sure if he was going to transfer because he was worried about losing his friends. But if they are the kind of people you want to/should hang out with, they will understand your decision and keep in contact with you after you leave. If you need any help with school recommendations or other advice (you seem pretty intent on going to school in the US, so I would advise applying to somewhere else besides just Ivy League) feel free to PM me.</p>