Hello everyone.
One of my friends is thinking of taking two gap years. That is, she wants to enroll in a local university here, and then after finishing the first year there she wants to apply to US colleges as a freshman applicant. however, she is confused about the advantages and disadvantages of applying this way. Besides, we can’t really find a lot of materials about it on the internet.
Could anyone please help her by pointing out the advantages and disadvantages of it or by providing helpful materials?
Thanks in advance!
Enrolling in a university after high school graduation is very likely to disqualify her from applying as frosh to many or most universities.
She would be a transfer student if she completes her freshman year of college. A gap year is when you take a year off between high school and college but do not enroll in coll
Transfer acceptance rates can be significantly lower than freshman acceptance rates. Make sure your friend understands how her application would be reviewed if she went forward with her plan.
She would have to be a transfer student then- if you go to college for a semester or more, you can’t be a freshman.
Whether she is considered a transfer or a freshman applicant will depend entirely on the place she applies to. She needs to contact each of them separately, and ask what category she will fall into. Normally, a full year of university-level studies would make her a transfer applicant. However, she may find exceptions.
If she needs financial aid, she’ll probably want to apply directly instead of starting in your home country. Internationals don’t get much aid, and most transfers get very litte.