I’m planning on transferring from a community college after my freshman year. I was gonna go to UC Irvine for Fall 2017 but can’t anymore because my family can’t afford it.
I am also an international student. I moved to the U.S. a year ago. I can afford $20,000-$30,000/yr (Depends on the situation while applying)
Right now I’m considering these colleges but I want more universities which offer good financial aid.
NYU - Need aware for International applicants, I was waitlisted this year
Drexel University - Received $36,000 aid. But went for UCI. I know. Stupid decision
Temple University
Stats:
GPA - 3.875. Graduated with Magna Cum Laude (GPA was 4.5 after midterms. Dropped by a lot by the end of the year)
SAT I - 1260/1600 (Highest in Single Testing)
1300/1600 (Superscore) Retaking it in August
Classes in Senior year - AP Microeconomics
AP Macroeconomics (Concurrent community college course)
AP Calculus AB
Advanced Physics
US History
US Government
Senior Lit
AP exams: AP Calc AB
AP Microeconomics
AP Stats (Self Study)
AP US History (Self Study)
Extracurriculars - DECA - 3rd place in Principles of Business Management and Administration at an Invitational
FBLA - 1st place in Banking and Financial Systems at District Level and qualified for States. Received Varsity Letter.
Book Club (I don’t think I’m gonna mention this one)
Major: Computer Science. Hoping to double major in Business Administration if I can.
There is a section on this website dedicated to International Students, with several threads for students who need financial aid. Spend time looking at those threads.
One thing you will need to think about is that some 4-year schools will only take transfers who have had at least two years of community college (UCs, Penn State for example).
You may want to look at the SUNYs which have relatively low tuition, even for international students, and are looking to boost their enrollment. NYU is a private college and is notorious for giving poor financial aid. Even if you were eventually accepted there you probably could not afford it.
And finally, financial aid for transfers is trickier and may be more limited, so planning to go to one year of community college and then transferring may not end up being the best approach.
Re-apply to Drexel. Seattle U, Bryant U, Adelphi U, Hofstra U, and Suffolk U all offer pretty competitive transfer merit scholarships based upon your GPA
Also - Cuny Baruch, SUNY system are both good. Also, state schools that are in less desirable places will be less expensive. For example, Minnesota State-Bemidji was one that was discussed recently
@philbegas Thank you so much. What do you think about Temple University? I know some people who got really good aid. They all applied as freshman though
I had a 3.7 GPA and an EFC of $291 and they gave me $6,000 a year… The other schools I listed for you all gave me more MERIT aid personally, and as an international transfer student you are very unlikely to receive need-based aid.
I would also add New Jersey Institute of Technology, TCNJ, University of Delaware, University of Rhode Island, Rutgers New Brunswick, and Rowan University to the list of schools worth checking out. With some merit aid, some of these might meet your $30,000 limit, but I’m unsure and I’m leaving that up to you to research! I don’t know that much about computer science specifically, but I know UDel, TCNJ, and Rutgers had business programs I found interesting.
Are you and your parents international (F1?) or are you waiting for a Green Card?
Why did you pick UCI, do you live in California? Did your parents have the money then lost it, or did you assume they’d pay and they said no? Or did you thik you’d count as “instate” for CA?
International transfers are in a very, very tough situation. It’s MUCH better to apply as a freshman, generally speaking. In any case, most universities won’t let you apply with just one semester under your belt. A few of them do (Gettysburg, St Olaf) but odds are that it’ll be very expensive (impossible to know, you must apply and keep your fingers crossed). If you live in CA, CC-> CSU may be a solution.
What “major” (premajors) are you registered for at your CC?
based on the list of schools, you must have an unlimited budget at your disposal.
UCs and CSUs will only look at transfer applicants with 60 units. They can include AP credits so, it is possible - if you plan your schedule carefully and make a high enough GPA.
@NCalRent It sounds like either the student and his parents did not have a proper financial aid discussion OR a situation occurred where there parents lost some money.
@philbegas sorry, mis-read that part of the post. I agree with you - from that perspective, take a gap year and reapply as a freshman - especially to the schools that gave you lots of aid this year.
I think you’ll have trouble finding a CC in CA that you can attend for $20k all in.
@NCalRent We were gonna take a loan but my cosigner backed out at the last moment. And my dad stayed in another state and me in another, so that increased the living costs. We weren’t expecting that initially. And we just moved so it just got expensive. This year it’s gonna be a bit different. Hence more savings.
I’ve decided to go for a WA CC for 2 years and transfer to University of Washington after that or any other college which gives me good aid.