<p>Hi everyone,</p>
<p>I'm an international student studying Alevel in England. Just got an offer from imperial college recently. As I always want to work in America, finishing bachelor degree in the UK and then go to a top US graduate school has always been my first choice. But seeing all the comparison between imperial and US colleges such as CMU, Berkeley and UCLA I start thinking if this is the best college for me. I mean it's no doubt imperial is a fantastic college but it doesn't have as many resources as US colleges do and since I want to do graduate degree and start my carer in US, it seems a US undergraduate degree is better? I'm really not sure. Does it increase my chance for employment if I do undergraduate in America? I also heard people say if I graduate from imperial and then apply to US graduate school I would be put in the pool of international applicants, in which "graduating from imperial" is definitely very competitive. Is that true?</p>
<p>Another reason why I want to transfer is MONEY. With no scholarship and incredibly high living cost in London I really worry about my parents' wallet. So just want to make sure if I, an international transfer student, can apply for scholarship or any financial aid?</p>
<p>So anyone could give me a suggestion? Should I try to transfer or not? My targets would be Cornell, GIT, CMU, Berkeley, UCLA and USC (since I didn't and have no plan to take SAT/ACT) do I have any chance to get in?</p>
<p>Many thanks</p>
<p>If you are just completing your A levels, you would apply as a freshman (first year) student, not as a transfer. It would be a bit late to apply for the fall of 2014, so you might want to think about taking a gap year.</p>
<p>Imperial is well recognized at the international level. You can apply to post-graduate programs here after completing a degree there. Don’t worry about that.</p>
<p>Graduating from a college or university in the US does not mean you will be able to get a job here. You will be able to work here for about a year under the OPT rules with a visa extension, but after that you will have to leave if you haven’t found an employer that will sponsor you for an H1B (work) visa. Those visas are such a headache to arrange that many employers won’t even take on recent graduates for the OPT period. Truly, your best chance for getting a job here is to graduate from a good university in your own country, go to work for a large firm that has offices in the US as well as the UK, and then apply for a company transfer to one of the US offices after you have several years of work experience.</p>
<p>happymomof1, thanks for response.</p>
<p>Sorry I didn’t make it clear that I don’t think I can apply to US colleges directly as all the top unis I know require SAT/ACT score and I haven’t done it. I don’t want to take a gap year cuz I’m already 19 now and I have no idea what to do in a whole year without schooling. So my plan is to transfer after freshman in imperial (BTW it’s really pointless for me to transfer after sophomore cuz it only takes 3yrs to graduate in the UK) and start sophomore or junior, if that’s possible, in US. I hope to enrich my ECs in imperial since I don’t have many except for some volunteering work and two national-level awards for math and physics, if that counts.</p>
<p>Thanks for your advice on “getting work experience first and then go to US”. I believe it’s a better way. But the problem is personally I really don’t want to go back to my country (China). It’s not that I don’t love my country it’s just I hate the working environment. If I have another option I will definitely not go back. And students from my country tend to gain working experience in the US and then go back find a job, so you see the competition :/</p>
<p>If you don’t want to go back to China, then Australia and Canada would be better options than the US. Both have relatively generous work permission for students and have significantly more rational immigration schemes for recent graduates of universities in their country.</p>
<p>If you think that Imperial will be too expensive for your family, what makes you think that studying in the US will be cheaper? With only one year of college credits, your secondary school record will be very important in college admissions, and many places will require an ACT/SAT score. Take a look at the transfer admissions requirements of some of the colleges/universities here that you are interested in, and see what you think.</p>
<p>Maybe I am greedy cuz I want both job opportunities and top tier education. Colleges in Aus and Canada are not good enough imo. And it may sound silly but living and working in America is always my dream. So maybe I will end up going back to China but I don’t want to give it up before I even try.</p>
<p>My family can afford my education in any college. I just want to reduce my parents’ burden as much as I can. I’m not sure if I’m qualified for applying for scholarship as an international transfer student, but I believe the living cost would be much lower in the US.</p>
<p>We don’t have GPA in the UK but I’ve got very good results in AS Level (A2 Level will be taken in June 2014) so can I use it as my high school record? I’ve also got two national-wide awards in math and physics in high school, does that help much? The universities I listed above don’t require SAT/ACT score. So I reckon it’s not a disadvantage that I don’t have it. Please correct me if I’m wrong :P</p>
<p>bump. Need more suggestions, please…</p>
<p>“My family can afford my education in any college. I just want to reduce my parents’ burden as much as I can. I’m not sure if I’m qualified for applying for scholarship as an international transfer student, but I believe the living cost would be much lower in the US.”</p>
<p>Sit down and do the math. Three years at Imperial vs. four years at fill-in-name-here-in-the-US. The places that you mentioned above are roughly USD 60,000 each year for the full Cost of Attendance for an International Student. The costs can be expected to increase between 5% and 7% each year. Even if the cost of living in London is hideous it might make more sense to finish there in three years, and save the equivalent of the fourth year to put toward your eventual MBA.</p>