<p>I am a UK student studying for A levels and I hold a conditional offer to read Physics at Imperial. Last year, I applied to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, Stanford, Caltech and Columbia for freshman admission. I thought I had a reasonable chance of getting myself admitted at at least one or two of those schools: I had got A's in Physics, Chemistry, Maths and Further Maths; I completed A level Chemistry and Maths in a single year; many of the modules were self-taught; 2400 in SAT PHY, CH and MATHS II; SAT Math-800, SAT Writing - 700, SAT CR - 600; and I had eight grade A's from my O levels. So, it came as a complete shock when I learned that I had been rejections from all the schools. </p>
<p>I am not very accomplished in extra-curricular activities and my essay-writing skills are rusty. I am not sure at which universities I have a reasonable chance of getting an offer for transfer admissions. Could you please help me with my problem ?</p>
<p>Also, can I submit my high school SAT scores for transfer admission into the sophomore class? </p>
<p>Please reply.</p>
<p>Have you had a year of a year at Imperial yet? If you haven’t spent any time at college before you apply to schools, you wouldn’t be a transfer student. </p>
<p>What are your grades and your class rank? American schools expect you to be more well rounded than British ones. According to the college board profile for Columbia, Columbia considers the following “very important” for admissions:
* Character/Personal Qualities
* Class Rank
* Application Essay
* Extracurricular Activities
* Recommendations
* Rigor of secondary school record
* Standardized Test Scores
* Academic GPA</p>
<p>Did you apply for financial aid? There are only 8 schools in the US that are need blind for internationals. They are:
- MIT, Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Massachusetts
- Harvard University in Massachusetts
- Princeton University in New Jersey
- Yale University in Connecticut
- Williams College in Massachusetts
- Middlebury College in Vermont
- Dartmouth College in New Hampshire
- Amherst College in Massachusetts</p>
<p>You certainly do not have to retake the SAT.</p>
<p>There are independent college counselors for US schools that offer various packages to help students with the application process. College confidential has such counselors.</p>
<p>I haven’t begun my course at Imperial yet, but I still want to apply after my first year at university. I knew that I can only apply as a transfer applicant after I begin my course.</p>
<p>I have always been a A-grade student, and I have consistently been ranked at the very top of my class. But I am not very well-rounded: I have participated in very few extra-curricular activities, and I haven’t excelled in any one of them. I also believe that my writing skills are not very strong. Does that mean I shall be rejected by any American university if I apply for transfer admission? Could you please suggest a couple of universities which, based on my current academic and extra-curricular credentials, surely accept my application?</p>
<p>As for financial aid, Columbia and Stanford, as far as I know, are also need-blind.</p>
<p>I do not want to retake the SAT or work harder for tranfer admission, because I don’t want to spend lesser time on my course work at Imperial. Please suggest some universities for me.</p>