<p>So it came to me as a total surprise that the US has such strict policies when it comes to freshmen and transfer students. In my country you can apply as a freshman regardless of how many credits you have completed. The only exception would be that you can't reapply as a freshman to the same university once you've completed certain number of credits.</p>
<p>Being someone, who qualifies as a transfer student is a total bummer. Being an international transfer student even worse. So my question is, are there any higher education institutions in the USA at all, who'd accept internationals with previous post-secondary school record, as a freshman?</p>
<p>Why do you want to apply as a freshman? Your actual reasoning might help us help you more than searching for some random College of XYZ with the policy you are requesting.</p>
<p>The reason that US colleges require students to apply as transfer students is because some of the freshmen admission requirements are not relevant anymore (e.g. high school achievement tests) and because they want to see college transcripts instead. However, there are many colleges that will allow you to start over as a freshmen once you have been accepted - i.e., they will let you forgo or ignore your transfer credits. But you would have to apply as a transfer student initially anyway. Some colleges also only transfer credits but not grades, allowing you to start with a clean GPA in case that’s what you are concerned about.</p>
<p>Also just mentioning, transfer admission rates seem to be higher than freshmen admission rates at most colleges, excluding the very top colleges (Harvard, etc). That might be because there are fewer transfer applicants and because most transfer students have a much better sense of what they are looking for in a college. Your previous college transcript also gives your prospective transfer university a much better sense about the level of student you are than your high school transcript. If you did well, you should not have too much of a problem.</p>
<p>There are several reasons why I would like to apply as a freshman. </p>
<p>I would like to start with a clean slate. I want to complete all the degree requirements in the US. I want to make sure that I’m not leaving anything out. Transfering seems like a complicated process, from what I’ve read transfer students have had all kind of different problems. Some not being able to register for classes because of no vacant spots and having to wait for a year just to be able to do that etc. Being a freshman is so much simpler.</p>
<p>Also, being an international transfer student means that you most probably won’t be eligible for financial aid. That means even if I were accepted, I would never be able to pay considering the tuition fees in the US. Also, the chances being accepted as an international transfer are rather slim in most institutions.</p>
<p>My GPA probably worries me too, although I haven’t really thought about it. It’s 3.27 on a 5-point grading scale. It may seem as extremely low, but actually it isn’t that bad and if I hadn’t been such a slacker in the first year it would’ve been much higher. It was well above the average for the first year students from the same department though. I even received state scholarship. I can’t imagine how would I possibly explain that to the admission officers though. The grading and grading systems just vary so much from country to country, from university department to university department.</p>
<p>Another interesting fact about my university. I can’t imagine myself asking for a letter of recommendation from any of my professors. We had mostly huge classes and the relations were just so superficial. It’s like asking for a letter of recommendation from a complete stranger. That’s why my current university kind of reminds me of a conveyor belt. The professors don’t care much and the students are just products running through on the belt. In that sense my old high school teachers would know to tell much more about me. Also, I do think my high school grades and final examinations reflect much better my potential.</p>
<p>I’m not planning to study the same field anyway, which makes the necessity to apply as a transfer even odder. But I guess you are right about that high school results are not that important anymore, it’s college transcripts that matter. :|</p>
<p>Please don’t get the feeling that I’m just complaining here. I’m a bit desperate since the time of decisions is coming closer and closer by each day.</p>
<p>The colleges that give generous financial aid to internationals are the highly selective ones that take a hard look at what you’ve done with your life. How would you explain how you spent those years? Unfortunately, this is not possible. If you had spend under 1 full year in college, it might have been possible at some.</p>
<p>You are a transfer because you have completed a certain number of credits at the university level. Whether or not any of those credits actually can be counted toward your new degree program is another thing entirely. If you are changing fields, you may indeed end up spending four years studying at the new school. Don’t worry about leaving anything out! You will have to fulfill the degree requirements - you may even have to repeat a course you took somewhere else!</p>
<p>At many colleges and universities in the US students have to wait a semester or a year (or even more) to take a class that they need because the sections are filled, or the course is only offered every other year. This isn’t something that is a problem just for transfers, it is a problem for everyone.</p>
<p>Yes, it is very difficult for international transfers to receive financial aid. It is also very difficult for international students who apply as freshmen to receive financial aid. If you can’t pay for an education in the US, you need to think long and hard about where you can afford to study. Lots of US citizens have serious difficulties in paying for their educations here too.</p>
<p>I have no idea what a GPA of 3.27/5 at your university means. Fortunately, there are companies in the US that specialize in evaluating foreign transcripts. Ask the international admissions offices of the colleges/universities that you are interested in to give you the list of companies they recommend using.</p>
<p>If you apply as a transfer, or if you apply to graduate school later, you will need letters of recommendation. Ask the professors who taught the classes that you earned the best grades in.</p>
<p>Your HS grades and tests don’t count anymore unless you are changing fields in order to pursue studies in a subject that you did extremely well in during HS but completely neglected at your first university. What matters now is how well you have done at the university level.</p>