<p>In September, I will be doing my final year of high school in the UK. I'm studying for my A levels in English Literature, French, History and Classical Civilization. Grades permitting, I'm hoping to go to Oxford to study English. However, I feel as though I want to explore different subjects (e.g. Biology and Chemistry) before I set my heart on a specific career. This is a problem, as in the UK, you have to specialize in 4 subjects at the age of 16, and I didn't feel ready to make a secure choice at such a young age! </p>
<p>If I go to university (maybe Oxford, maybe elsewhere) to study English, will I be able to apply to transfer to Harvard for my second year? Would I need to take the SAT exams? </p>
<p>Also, if I decided that I really wanted to pursue a career path in Chemistry/medical school/a PHD in Biochemistry/teach Spanish at middle school (pick any example!), would I receive any financial aid to go to graduate school in America (specifically Harvard, but any other university too...) such as law school or medical school?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance... and if I have any other questions, I'll post them on here later :)</p>
<p>As far as I am concerned, you could apply as a freshman during your first year - in fall. You could apply as a transfer as well, but the average intake is about 20 students a year, so the chances are really slim. Other schools have strict policies, for example, MIT only allows you to apply as a freshmen only if you have not finished more than two semester somewhere else, Princeton doesn’t accept transfers at all and Yale wants you to apply as a transfer even if you have been on an another university for a day.</p>
<p>I suggest not to care about graduate school right now, but be aware that both law school and med school require some work experience, so you would need to get some after finishing college. You get full need based financial aid on Harvard college, though graduate school is somehow different. Afaik you do not have to pay college financial aid back (99% sure), but graduate schools are mostly about loans. Though, if you get accepted to Harvard, they will make sure you can afford it.</p>
<p>@T26E4: Don’t want to question your answer, though, I found this on HMS site:</p>
<p>Are international students eligible for financial aid?
International Students are eligible to apply for need-based financial institutional scholarships and loans</p>
<p>@killparis. your statement, “but be aware that both law school and med school require some work experience, so you would need to get some after finishing college” is incorrect and misleading…having been around medicine for many years and knowing attorneys and law students personally…I can tell you emphatically most of the top students from college go DIRECTLY into medical school or law school after graduation without taking on a “job” after college…it is NOT a “prerequisite”…</p>
<p>…most prelaw/premed students may do research, summer study abroad programs, or just get involved with very passionate extracurricular activities during their college years before applying to law school or med school in the Fall of their senior year…and they find out if they got accepted usually around early spring…just like college admissions…except at a different level.</p>
<p>…to be frank, the students who just did not have the “best GPAs/MCAT/LSAT scores” to apply during their senior years were the ones who NEEDED to graduate and then try to pad their application with possible work-related research/internships, increase their LSAT/MCAT scores, or improve whatever was deficient, etc…before having a legitimate shot at gaining admission to law or med school…</p>
<p>…don’t confuse applying to top business schools with med/law schools (they are DIFFERENT)…yes, most elite business schools require some work-related experience after college before applying (but not med or law schools)…hope this clarifies any misunderstanding.</p>
<p>Why can’t you apply as a freshman in the fall? Sure, you’ll need to take the SATs and SATIIs quite promptly, but there should still be more than enough time to do that.</p>
<p>Also, if you’d like more flexibility, why don’t you apply to more US universities than just Harvard? There are about 8 colleges that are need-blind for internationals, but many others may still be within your price range if you get admitted, either with need or merit. If you want to come over here for our university system’s greater flexibility, your chances of getting admitted to one that would be a good fit for you are actually pretty good. You’d need to apply to more than just Harvard and its acceptance-rate peers, since your chances of getting admitted to Harvard in the fall, like anybody’s, are slim. But there are many, many schools with higher acceptance rates than Harvard’s where you can still achieve as much from the opportunities available to you as you would at Harvard.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, while your chances of getting into an American school as a transfer, if you decide to go that route, are still pretty high, your chances of getting into one as good as one that would take you as a freshman aren’t that good. Transfer admissions in general are more difficult. And your chances of getting into Harvard, Yale, an equivalent college, as an international transfer student? Vanishingly slim–should our 1% transfer acceptance rate seem high, being international will make your chances even slimmer.</p>
<p>In general, and I say this knowing a couple, it seems that the only transfer students from four-year universities who get in are ones who did not enter their college planning to transfer. They started somewhere, but after enrolling, realized their first institution wasn’t a great fit. Then they applied for a transfer on the off chance it came through, but with every intention of doing their best at their first institution if they were in the 99% rejected. Students with half a foot out the door don’t seem to engage with their first institution as well as they need to to put together a remarkably compelling case for what they would bring to their new one.</p>
<p>My bad. I was sure it works that way for business school, and somehow, I assumed it does for law school as well. Medical school was just a guess. Though, in my defense, Harvey Specter, J.D., fictional character from TV series Suits worked before enrolling in Harvard law that’s why I assumed it is the same for law school.</p>
<p>Ah thanks guys - I was only using Harvard as an example as I haven’t done much research in regards to US colleges. Could someone give me a list of those that are needs-blind? I only know that Harvard, Yale and Princeton are, any more? </p>
<p>The only thing that’s stopping me from applying as a freshman is that, in the UK, there is no need for extra-curricular activities when applying for university. It is all about your grades and passion for your subject. However, the more I think about it, the more I think that, actually, I do have some really relevant ECs.</p>
<p>Ah, 6. The others are MIT, Amherst, and Dartmouth. In general, though, that’s the sort of question about American universities there are a lot of resources on the internet devoted to answering, so Google will be faster and more efficient than asking here.</p>
<p>Since you have the ECs, go for it. I don’t know how far down in the college rankings an international student with need would need to dip for a safety even given need-aware admissions. (I don’t need to know, but it may also depend on how much need we’re talking–I’d bet that whether your parents can contribute $1000 or $20,000/year for college will be quite different, even though neither covers more than half tuition at many private and even some of the best public colleges for applicants who don’t reside in state.) Anybody have more information on this?</p>
that’s why I assumed it is the same for law school.</p>