Should I transfer?

Student Lounge International Students
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<p>I'm currently a freshman at DePauw University in Indiana. I had a 2120 on SAT, a 3.84/4.0 high school GPA and a 4.0/4.0 GPA last semester. I am a Bonner Scholar and Honor Scholar and do 10 hours of community service every week. I had a decent amount of extracurricular activities in high school as well. I am having a pretty good time here but thinking about transferring to another school. Here are my concerns:</p>

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<li><p>I want to be a doctor. However, since I am from China and on F-1 visa, more and more public medical schools are closing their doors to me (e.g. this year Indiana U has a policy of only accepting U.S. residents). And even though I get into a private medical school, my family won't be able to afford the incredibly high tuition. Medical schools typically don't offer lots of scholarships, especially to international students. Also, because I am international, I can't get federal grants or take any federal loans. Other loans are also hard to get and have high interest rates. To make it worse, they come in tiny amounts which won't even cover room and board. So I am thinking about changing my major into chemical engineering and doing some pharmacy-related job in the future. Since DePauw is a small school and doesn't have engineering, I will probably have to transfer to another school. However, if I go on majoring in Biochem at DePauw, I can still do engineering in graduate school. I am wondering which option is better for me. Plus, I don't really like the party scene here, so maybe even without a engineering major, just a more academically focused and better known school.</p></li>
<li><p>My girlfriend is going to Bryn Mawr College in Philadelphia. If I stay at DePauw, we can only meet 3 times a year. Since she wants to study city planning which DePauw doesn't offer, she won't be able to transfer here. Also, if she transfers to schools near here, we still won't be able to meet because we don't have any public transportation and I can't get a car. But I really want to be able to see her more often. So all schools in/around northeastern major cities will do (my ideal situation is we can see each other, say, twice a month).</p></li>
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<p>I am aware that most schools' transfer deadlines have already passed, so I am thinking about transferring next year. I'm from China, so there might be some different restrictions here. Plus, my family can only afford below 20k a year, and I know it's extremely hard for international students to get scholarships and financial aids. So does anyone have any suggestions whether or not I should transfer and, if yes, which schools I could consider? Do I have a chance? Thanks sooooooooo much to whoever responds.</p>

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<p>Although its difficult for international to get funded for med school,its not even close to impossible,especially at the top schools.Do research! But if you do want to do engineering,consider University of Pennsylvania and Swathmore,both of which are very close to Bryn Mawr.But also look at Tufts,Trinity CT,Lehigh.good luck.</p>

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<p>Your biggest problem are finances. Most medical students don’t fund international students, and most colleges don’t fund international transfer students either. Villanova is the closest engineering university to Bryn Mawr and generous with scholarships for freshmen, but doesn’t have financial aid for international transfers. Swarthmore does not consider international transfer students for financial aid either. Penn does, but their actual financial aid awards for transfer students are so meager that most admitted students cannot afford to attend anyway.</p>

<p>You can do some research on transfer opportunities, but - at least financially - your best option might be to finish your undergraduate degree at DePaul. I think it’s an excellent idea to choose a major that doubles as a backup plan in case med school doesn’t work out. (Med school admission rates are so low that <em>all</em> med school applicants are advised to have a backup plan, and this is even more important for international applicants.)</p>

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<p>Playboy,</p>

<p>You were better off going to med school in China (maybe HK) and then sitting the equivalency exam to practice in the USA. My best friends mum did just this. Got her MBBS from Pakistan in the 70’s, sat the necessary exams and is now a senior registrar in a local hospital.</p>