Re-apply as freshman to American colleges after one year at Canadian college?

Transfer Students
1

Hi all,

I’m a Canadian student currently in 12th grade. I’d really like to attend a US college. I applied to some to enrol as a Freshman for next year (Fall 2017, c/o 2021), but I don’t think I’ll gain admission to any. Below are my stats/info, and results thus far. Thanks for taking the time to read, I really appreciate it. :slight_smile:

SAT : 1310 superscore (630 M 680 CR/W)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): ~90%
Weighted GPA: school does not weigh GPA
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): school does not rank (but somewhere in top 10%)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): local/provincial awards
ECs: competitive dance 20 hr/week, piano, volunteering, lifestyle blog, peer leadership, titleholder for pageant

Major: biochem
Country: Canada
School Type: private catholic
Ethnicity: white
Gender: female
Income Bracket: >$200,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none :’)

Accepted: UBC, Mt. Allison
Rejected: Colby, Northwestern, Middlebury, Colgate
Waiting for: Barnard, Duke, Penn, Dartmouth, U of T Trin, McGill

I will likely be attending UBC this fall. I have done some research, and have concluded that transferring will be extremely difficult/not possible from UBC to the schools listed above. This leaves me with two options:

  1. gap year, re-apply as freshman
  2. take freshman year at UBC, apply ED to a US school as a freshman

My parents are very against me taking a gap year. They have said that they will pay for the additional year of school if I choose to re-apply to schools while enrolled in a college this fall.

Finally my question: Is this even possible? I’d be re-taking the SAT and hopefully apply to Penn or Northwestern ED.

2

You cannot apply as a freshman to a US college.
Once you take a class beyond high school, you are considered a transfer student.

3

@“aunt bea” Forgot to mention: if I chose option 2, I would not attempt to transfer any credits.

4

You are not allowed to apply as a freshman if you take any classes beyond high school. It has nothing to do with credits.

5

@“aunt bea” :frowning: that’s what I thought, but my parents suggested it and thought I would double check. But just out of curiosity, how would they know if I had taken classes beyond high school? I’m technically taking four college courses right now but still applied everywhere as a freshman.

6

There is a national clearing house that is checked by the US universities.

If you applied to schools, this year, your name and transcript records are in the system.

If you apply again as a “Freshman”, to any university, then the universities will find out. Sooner or later they ALWAYS do.

Unfortunately, they are not nice about it. They flag your name, school and records, and report that to the clearing house that you are trying to get in as a freshman again. Your records will be highlighted and they wont offer any admissions anywhere. Reason? When you applied, you signed an electronic statement indicating that the information on the application was truthful. If you sign something like that, it’s a type of contract and if you break it, they will not admit you.

It did happen to my friend’s roommate when we were in college. She neglected to tell our uni that she had taken some CC classes and performed poorly, then took classes at another CC. She attended classes until she was informed that she needed to vacate the school immediately. They came to her room and took away her key.

7

UBC and Mount Allison are very different schools. However, they are both superb universities. Given your scores and SATs, I don’t see you getting into Colby or Middlebury or Dartmouth unless they are trying to diversify their student base by adding Canadians. If you did get into one of these, figure on paying full price (at least $250,000 in US dollars for four years, well over $300,000 Canadian).

Have you visited Mount Allison? We visited a couple of times (my younger daughter is a senior in high school, and we live in New England). It is in a very small town, and is a small university, but it is very attractive university and a very attractive location. UBC is of course very large, but is also a very attractive university. To me UBC might have the most beautiful campus anywhere. Many of my relatives went there, all were strong students, all loved it.

Given the quality of the Canadian universities that you have already been accepted to, you should not take on any debt to go to a US university instead.

One issue as a Canadian going to university in the US: After graduation it will be more difficult to get a job in Canada than if you had gone to university in Canada (I ran into this many years ago, which is why I stayed in the US), and gaining a visa to work in the US can in some cases be very difficult.

And, congratulations on being accepted to two great schools!! A lot of people would be thrilled to go to either, and a lot of Americans would be very jealous if they knew how good an education you will be getting and how reasonable the price will be.

8

Oops, two nits:

When I said “scores and SATs” I meant “grades and SATs”.

Also one other thing I should have mentioned: You might think about the option of attending university in Canada, but taking a semester abroad (for example in the US).

9

@DadTwoGirls thanks for your reply. I guess what I really like about the American schools is the quality of the institutions that provide a liberal arts education. I have not been to visit Mount Allison (applied there last min), and I am aware that they do provide a liberal arts education, however, my parents think I applied there as a joke and highly discourage me from even thinking about going there.

I think I’ll get into U of T (my grades surpass their requirements), and maybe even McGill (my average is higher there). If I do have the choice, which school would you recommend? I do love UBC, however I live close to it and want to move away from home.

Thank you for suggesting the semester abroad, I’ll take that into consideration!

10

If you get into McGill, it’s be significantly different from western Canada culturally.
Mount Allison is clearly the closest to what you want (small interactive classes, residential community).

11

Mt Allison is a very good university. It is however a long way from the west coast. Your parents might be concerned about the distance (I would be). We also visited a few US LAC’s and I didn’t see a noticeable difference in terms of education quality or feel of the campus. Of course there is a big difference in terms of cost of attendance and ability to get in based on grades (in the US they care a lot about other stuff). UNBC is another possibility. It has however passed its application deadline, and states: “Please note: Applications received after these dates will be processed on the basis of space availability once on-time applications have been allocated”.

Between UBC, McGill, and Toronto, it is a difficult choice. Based on what I have heard Toronto might be the toughest / most demanding of the three. I would be nervous about how tough the grading will be. McGill is right in downtown Montreal, which of course has a different feel partly due to it being a bilingual city.

There is something to be said for having family nearby (for example if something goes wrong and you need help, or if you just want a break from campus). If you live on-campus, even if your parents live only a few miles from UBC it is still going to feel like a different world. You will wake up in a dorm surrounded by other students. You will decide when to go to sleep and when to eat and when to study and when to goof off with friends. All of UBC, Toronto, and McGill have well deserved very strong reputations which extend into the US as well as Canada. Also, limiting yourself to a difficult challenge (UBC) rather than a very difficult challenge (McGill or Toronto) might open up a bit more time for extracurricular activities.

If it were me I would be inclined to go with UBC and think about taking a semester abroad. However, you clearly also have other very good choices.

12

Haha reading your story reminded me just of mine. I’m also from Canada and wanted to go to the USA since Canada doesn’t have many “well-known” liberal arts colleges. In the end I did end up going to a Liberal Arts College, but looking back I think I would’ve been fine at UBC/UFT/McGill. Talking to my friends, they seem to LOVE those schools and since there are small discussions in addition to the large lectures, it seems to balance it out. Not only that, but my family would’ve saved a ton of money.

13

Okay, I have some new questions: if I go to UBC/U of T/McGill this year, do I have a chance of transferring to the US (Penn, NU, Duke, etc., providing I maintain a good GPA and re-take the SAT)?

or

Would schools look down on me taking a gap year? Assuming that I did something notable during my gap year. I would be applying to one of the schools mentioned above ED, and I believe that I am a year younger than many US students applying for c/o 2021 (born at end of 1999). Also I have recently discovered the PG year, any more info on this/it’s benefits would be much appreciated.

14

You’d have to transfer and be full pay. So, if you need financial aid, you’d need to apply as a freshman.
Gap years (such as through EXPLORE or service experiences or WHV) are seen positively.
Since you’re young, a PG year would also make sense.

15

@MYOS1634 I would probably be full pay anyways based on my parents’ combined income. I was just wondering whether it is a possibility to transfer from Canada and whether people had successfully done it in the past.

16

Yes, people have transferred from Canadian universities in the past. Whether or not you would be able to do so is another thing entirely.

You don’t seem to be particularly committed to the notion of starting your studies this fall. Take a gap year. Think about your goals for your education. You might end up with a completely different application list.

17

PG, Explore, and WHV are all great options since you’re not committed to a college. You could even ask each of the colleges that admitted you Heather you can defer to take a gap year and do whv or explore :slight_smile: I’m sure you wouldn’t be the first one.

18

Thank you everyone for your responses! @MYOS1634 I’m unfamiliar with WHV, would you be able to tell me what that is? Also any tips on persuading parents that a gap year would be good? Mine don’t realize that they are now becoming positive and more common, and see it as a “cop-out”/waste of time. Finally, are there any PG-related threads/places where I can ask more questions about PG?

19

Type working holidays visa USA, whv Singapore, whv Australia… :slight_smile:
Explore is the same idea, but for you to know more about other provinces than your own; it’s less 'adventurous ', less ‘free form’ than whv (which would probably be more fun and safer with a friend).
Gapyears are looked at so positively that some colleges, such as Princeton, offer some…