reality check

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hello all.
I'm an international student and sophomore at a small liberal college in Indiana and thinking of transferring out. I have definitely made a lot of mistakes in my life, having never thought about leaving my country, Singapore, to study in the past. I was very naive and was taking life slowly. Now I'm filled with regrets as I see a lot of my peers move to prominent schools in the states. I never felt like I was less intelligent than them by nature in the past, but whatever forte I had, I just did not capitalize and my lack of hard work has brought me my just desserts.</p>

<p>Now, I'm thinking of making all this change. Although I may never make it to great schools, I would like to achieve as much as I can.
I am seeking advice as to what schools are reasonable for me to apply as a transfer.</p>

<p>I took the British "A" Levels with the following grades
C. Mathematics - B
Economics - C
Physics - C</p>

<p>My SAT score was 560 CR and 750 MA (it was upon 1600). This was taken about 3 years ago (I spent 2 years in mandatory military service after that so I'm only in my second year in college now). I plan to retake it. I don't know what my SAT score would be. Would 1900-2000 (approx less than: 600 CR, 800 MA, 600 W) be too ambitious as a realistic estimation?</p>

<p>ECs are extremely bad, another huge mistake of mine. In school I never felt that way because so many people had no ECs at all. But just by reading the various threads in the forums here scares the living hell out of me. Most of these people would have been really famous overachievers if they were in my high-school equivalent. I was in the concert band as a percussionist. We had competitions but they aren't personal prizes attributed to me alone. </p>

<p>As far as I know, in my country these are the main elements of an application - "A" Level grades, SAT scores and ECs. We don't have class rankings.</p>

<p>Since this is not an application, I just want to be honest and get a good reality check as to which schools would be suitable for me to apply to. Whether or not I can cope with the workload would be a separate issue.</p>

<p>My preference is to go to a private college, not a public one. My parents who are supporting me financially feel that for the money spent, I should select a private institution since I cannot get the in-state fees.</p>

2

<p>Well, what do you want in a school?</p>

3

<p>Your SAT scores will not be as important as your current transcript since you are a transfer student.</p>

4

<p>your high school academic record is not important, and taking the SAT again would be pointless. it's your college record that matters now.</p>

5

<p>School ranking and reputation is very important. So I would rather go to school of rank 20 in general over a school of rank 60, even if the latter is better in the field I major in. I plan to major in Mathematics. If the latter is a LOT better and recognized in that field than the former, then that's an exception.</p>

<p>The school should also be a private one, not public.</p>

<p>I don't believe I can afford to be choosy, so I would sacrifice other benefits such as location for a school of higher ranking. Among almost similarly ranked schools, I would like the school to be recognized in Mathematics (of course), be within/near a big city such as Chicago, New York or the cities in California, have a friendly atmosphere, be fun but not havoc, and regularly have interesting and renowned speakers or professors on various topics, be it politics, science, art...etc.</p>

<p>Would taking SAT be totally useless? Mine does not have the Writing segment. My current college GPA after 2 sems is 3.65. I'm from Anderson University. I don't know what kind of GPA that translates to for these top 50 schools in America.</p>

6

<p>Go to a community college for a couple years and get your lower division courses out of the way. Ace the classes and get involved in some extra-cirriculars. Then, apply to a 4-year institution of your choice as a transfer student. I would not worry about retaking the SATs, your college record is all that matters now. I suggest a community college for 2 reasons: 1. it's cheaper and 2. I believe it's easier to transfer from a community college versus transferring from another 4-year institution.</p>