Should I take a gap year or apply as a transfer student?

Transfer Students
1

I’m an international highschool senior and I already got denied from most of my colleges so I have to consider some other options. I cant decide whether I should take a gap year or go to an international uni in my country and try to apply next year. I don’t want to waste a whole year not making any progress but I heard that transfer students don’t get a lot of financial aid and my family can’t afford more than 12-15k per year.
Also I would like to ask what should I do in the mean time to prepare for my application next year considering my financial situation above?

2

International students are less likely to get FA generally. What schools are you targeting?

3

I’m not targetting any specific school, since my stats are not great :frowning: I would go for any school if its possible actually.

4

“since my stats are not great”
“international student”
“12-15k per year”

This is a very tough combination for any university in North America.

Do you have a good option in your own country? I am not super confident of your finding anything here even if you were to take a gap year.

Can you be more specific regarding what you mean by “not great”? Some students mean B’s and C’s. Some students mean that they once got a single B+ to go with their lifetime of A’s and A+'s. Also, if your stats are from a high school outside of North America, you might want to tell us how your stats compare with others in your high school and your country (top 10%, top 50%, …) since we might not all be familiar with your country’s grading scales. Admissions at universities however probably will be familiar with your country’s grading scales.

5

I got 1400 on SAT, I can shoot for higher if I take a gap year and I also plan to take subject tests, My GPA is 9.4/10 ~ top 10 % in my class, a weak point of mine is EC since I’m just a member at my club and a volunteer.

6

A gap year will give you time to

  1. Identify places where your GPA and SAT score would guarantee you admission at a price you can afford.
  2. Raise your SAT score and/or apply to places that don’t require test scores.
  3. Work or participate in volunteer activities that would serve as ECs you can include in your application.