Should I give it a shot and apply?

Transfer Students
1

Please bear with me as this going to be a little bit long and tiring to read. I’m an international student who wants to study general mechanical engineering or aerospace engineering in the US. First of all, I finished my British patterned high school (A-Levels) a year and half ago. At that time I had the following an (A) in Math A-Level, an (A) in Arabic A-Level, and a bunch of (A) grades in O-Levels. This number of A-Levels that I have is not much, but I chose not to take more as I experienced personal problems that could have affected my academic performance. After graduating high school I chose to take a gap year in which I attended technical workshops, art courses, and language courses. I also did some charity work to fill my time. Then, I unwillingly due to pressure from family enrolled in an engineering undergraduate program at my home country which I am currently studying in as a freshman, I am in my second semester to be precise. I wanted to complete my A-Levels and apply to study abroad in (USA, UK, etc), but my family saw that I shouldn’t waste more time (I’m just 19 yo, so I don’t know what they’re talking about). and being raised by a single parent and not 21 yo yet, I can not do anything with the money I have in my name after my father’s passing, so no money to apply or take A-Levels. Consequently, I just went with it and entered this university I had no interest in.

This university does not appeal to me at all as it doesn’t provide any of the aforementioned programs (only mechatronics and material engineering programs). My current university follows the German grading system(1 to 5, 1 is the highest score and 5 is the lowest). My GPA is 2.3, that’s pretty average. and I failed two courses (Math and Intro to programming), these two subjects demand a lot of practice which I know I didn’t care to do. However, I entered the Math Makeup exam and passed with a C. I could’ve done the same with the programming course but I chose to repeat the full course this summer to have a GPA higher than 2.3 (could manage a 1.7 or 2 by the end of the summer session).

Now, I always considered USA undergraduate tuition due to be out of my reach due to the articles I read about american citizens suffering from student loans and such, but after doing serious research, I found that some universities in USA offer need based financial aid to international students and considering the fact that I would be 21 at enrollment in Fall 2018, I’ll have some cash to support me in addition to aid provided by the university. So, I came up with the idea to take more A-Levels this summer and other exams to apply for entry in Fall 2018. For starters, this a list of the qualifications I am going to apply with :
A-Levels:
1-Previous Math A-Level and Arabic A-Level
2-Further Math A-Level
3-Physics A-Level
4-Chemistry A-Level
5-Economics A-Level
6-Sociology A-Level

and I will also include the university transcript and a medical report that I have had some psychiatric help during my stint at this university which played a role in my average GPA.

AP exams:
1-Calculus AB
2-Calculus BC
3-Statistics
3-Physics C : Mechanics / Electricity and magnetism
4-Chemistry

and SAT I and II for some universities that require it.
I do have some extracurriculars too such as (charity, I am pretty much advanced in art so I will add a portfolio to my application, started piano courses recently), I play in a third division soccer team in my home country. Furthermore, I am trilingual and working towards being multilingual.

Kudos for you on making it this far! I’m taking all this exams to prove to admission committees that I can handle university effort and work ethic to be able to graduate. In the best case scenario where I score very good or excellent grades, would I have any chance or should I just forget about it?
Now, if anybody has any experience or knowledge of how this nontraditional combination of qualifications and age too(21 at time of enrollment) would be treated by any admission committee in the US or any other study abroad destination, please advise me on this topic and give your honest opinion as I am going to fully dedicate myself to this.
Moreover, what universities/colleges would you suggest that I apply to?

Finally, I am new here so if anybody feels this thread doesn’t belong to this section, share it to another section in college confidential where I could receive more advice. However, I believe I am considered a nontraditional applicant.

2

Since you’re already in college, you will be considered a transfer student at most American schools. I cannot tell from your post if you were aware of that already.

3

Why the US? There are of course some very good universities in the USA in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, and pretty nearly anything else you could mention. However, universities in the US are very expensive. Most of them give relatively little aid to international students, and those that do give aid tend to be the top ranked and most famous and therefore the most difficult to get into. I suppose that there is not much harm in applying and seeing what happens, although applying probably requires that you take the SAT or ACT.

I have heard that your parent’s income and assets will be considered for financial aid purposes until you turn 24, unless you are considered “independent” (ie, have been supporting yourself for a while). Also, pretty much assume that any money that is in your name will be gone over 4 years before you get support here.

Do you have a preference for location? East coast / west coast / south / north? Big city or outside of the city? Big university or small?

I think that you will need to get your GPA up, and see how you do on the SAT. That should give folks on CC some better clues regarding what to suggest. Note that many Americans take some SAT preparation before taking the test, and preparation does help significantly.

4

@bodangles : Yes I knew this from some university websites I’ve visited. I am hoping that my application will be evaluated as a whole though, even if I am a transfer student. Like if a senior high school student made these efforts and got the required grades, for instance A*s(A-Levels) and 5’s(AP exams). He/She would be considered ready to pursue an undergraduate degree and any admission committee would count him/her as a solid choice, at least academically. On the other hand, I won’t be like that high school student who didn’t have any stints at a university, but if I managed to fully explain my GPA and and had good grades in the mentioned exams to back my words (i.e introduce myself well in my application) then I think I could be slightly considered.

@DadTwoGirls : Well most universities in the US have summer or even winter sessions, so I could use that to graduate earlier(finish one semester or two earlier), this is not to cut back on living expenses, although it will, but to save me some time and be somewhat younger when I decide to enter the job market.
Yes, I am going to enter the SAT as it is required.
Well, my parent’s assets could not pay for tuition in the US, neither can the money in my name. So, I will have to make this clear in my applications.
No, I don’t have a preference for a certain location, I know all universities will help me if I decide to work part time so it won’t matter. However, I was considering the following universities:
-MIT, that’s the most unsafe choice on my list, but they’ll cover the majority of my fees and expenses.
-Cornell
-Princeton
-University of Texas at Austin
-Texas A&M University
-Columbia University
-Brown University
The list is longer and contains other safer choices and if I decide to apply, I will have to choose just a few. I am also considering other study abroad destinations like (Canada, UK, Australia, Germany, Netherlands, Korea, Hong Kong), but the transfer issue and the non-traditional combination of qualifications stays a hurdle in these too.