Transferring from a european university, what to do ?

Greetings,

I’m planning on studying in a french university this next year and transfer after my freshman year to the US (can’t directly apply to the US du to personal reasons). Considering the credits differ, and the undergraduate models change (license in france -3 years- and bachelor in the US - 4years), is the transfer first off, doable, or should I just try transfering my credits after my freshman year in france to a Community College, then finish up by transferring to a us college : Meaning it would look like : 1year in france, 1 year in a community college, 2 years in a US college.
Any help or insight would be really appreciated !

What courses would you be taking at the French University, and what major do you plan to apply to in the US?

Why do you want or need to transfer to the US?

Would it make more sense to take a gap year, and wait to apply directly?

Would you need any financial aid? If so, wait and apply directly. Aid for transfers is not good, and aid for international transfers is almost nonexistent!

Thanks for the quick responses, i’m planning to study economics & management in France, mainly, macro and micro economics, mathematics, statistics, accounting, finance etc… and plan to apply to a US programme in finance mainly. Thing is, I already am going through a gap year as of right now, and could not apply right to college as i’m still waiting to get a contribution that should help me cover my expenses in colleges in 2020 which is way waiting another year. Also, as my family is already mainly in the US, going there is my #1 goal to finish my studies.

Who is in the US? What is their immigration status? Would you have a green card, or would you need a student visa?

Can you live with your family and attend a community college? Even if you need to do that on a student visa, that would make life less complicated for you as you would be able to transfer easily in the same state public university system.

I would apply for a green card a few years down the line, which is why transferring to a community college after my first uni year in france then apply for a transfer to a state public university is my game plan, what do you think about it ? Doable ?

Doable? Yes. Straight forward & easy to coordinate US Immigration matters with transfer to a US University/College? Absolutely not.

Among your immigration considerations: will you have status through Family Preference or will you depend on F-1 sponsoring through a future university, i.e. will you be on temporary or immigrant visa status? etc.
In respect to College Admission & Financial Aid and related to the above: will you be considered as International Applicant or possibly as In-State through family situation (you mentioned most of your family living in the US)?
These points are just the tip of the iceberg - dealing with College Admission and US Immigration matters at the same time will be complex, no doubt.

I’m a fan of going to as few institutions as possible. It usually means the least time and money to get a degree. Community college doesn’t really make any of the visa stuff easier. Community college is open admissions, so it’s a good fallback plan. But apply to four year schools, too. Many state schools have relatively uncomplicated admissions procedures and good business and economics programs. Where do your relatives live?

Figuring out how your credits will transfer is actually not something you need to figure out before you apply. While you are on your gap year is a good time to get testing such as SAT and TOEFL (for nonnative speakers of English) done if you think you might need them. (Not all transfers require testing.)

  1. Keep all the syllabuses from all the courses you take if you do take any. They will need to see those to determine if you can get any credit.
  2. Read Educationusa.state.gov for info on applying to US colleges

Community college now, then 4-year, is a better plan than transferring twice. Finishing your degree in Europe, then going to grad school in the US is a better idea than transferring from a European U to a US U.

Why do you need to move to the US a year from now rather than right now?

Who would be the green card sponsor? Has the paperwork been submitted already?

Paper work has already been submitted and everything should be done in a couple of years, which is why I cant waste another year without studying in france. At the end of the day, when i will have my green card in hands, I should be able to apply for in state tuitions (most of my family is in California) but what frightens me is the difficulty of applying as a transfer student from a european university to a US college, rather than a community college as chances are slimmer to get access to Berkeley, UCLA or USC that are the universities that interest me the most.

Sorry for the double post. Reason why I can’t apply right now to a community college is that I can’t apply for a F1 visa while my I130 is being processed as it shows dual intent of immigration which might jeopardize my chances of getting my green card or getting my f1 visa accepted.

Why cant you start at a CC now? All you need for a CA CC is a family member ready to house you and some sort of secondary school certificate (any bac, even pro, works.)
Or even wait for the NACAC list (a list of colleges that miscalculated yield, published in about 10 days) if you want a place Fall 2018?
Realize that as a transfer you won’t be eligible for financial aid, so if you have financial issues right now being a transfer would compound that.
Are you in France currently? Did you attend a lycée and if so, what bac did you get with what mention?
What’s your status (would you apply for an F1 visa)?

As I said, applying for a F1 visa is actually a bad idea as it might endanger my chances of receiving my green card and cause me to get refused to f1 visa altogether since it’s a visa with a non immigrant intent.

Also, I’m actually a moroccan student who went to a french lycée and got a mention très bien, meaning i would apply for a student visa in france.

I guess I don’t understand why you want to go to school in France (which has rigorous, respected universities) and then pretend the credits are worthless and start over at community college. The better plan is to go to university, do well, then when you immigrate, find a new university that will give you credit for your accomplishments. There are many educational options available in the USA, many of which a person from Morocco may never hear of.

But all of this thread is putting the cart before the horse. You don’t have a French transcript to try to transfer nor the green card. Everything about US immigration system takes longer than they say in the best of circumstances, and the current anti-immigration government is not the best of circumstances. Pick your school in France with the idea that you may need to finish there if the paperwork takes too long.

@AroundHere is giving you good advice. Prepare to complete your education in France in case the green card is delayed. Keep all of your textbooks, the course descriptions, course syllabi, and all graded assignments and exams that are returned to you. Get all of your academic records evaluated professionally (evaluations done by https://www.wes.org/ are accepted almost everywhere, and are the only ones accepted by some colleges and universities). When your green card comes through, apply to transfer to a 4-year college or university. You won’t need to go to a CC first unless you change your major drastically.

Yes, transferring into the universities that interest you right now can be challenging for an international transfer, but it is not absolutely impossible. Not to mention of course that by the time you get your green card and can move here, your target universities may well have changed. If you are close enough to graduating from your French university, you might find that you are best off doing the traveling to and from the US needed to maintain your green card while finishing your degree in France. I know students who have done that sort of thing.

Whether or not you will be considered a CA resident will depend on several factors. If you are not yet 24 years old, and you don’t otherwise qualify as an independent student for federal financial aid purposes, it isn’t likely at all that you will be a CA resident until your own parents have lived in CA for a full year. Again, that full year might be all the time needed to finish off a degree in France.

Actually, finishing my 3 years license in France was actually my plan from day 1 as I could just ask for a waiver to finish my studies while my green card would still be intact, but since the undergradute degree takes 3 years in France instead of 4 in the US, how would the equivalence work ?

Did you apply/get into a prepa?

Applied to the university of Bordeaux, Lyon, Toulouse Sorbonne and Grenoble as I’m not looking to join an école de commerce.