Hi there - would appreciate some thoughts on college selection re: my situation outlined below.
I’m an international student with high school IB score of 39/45 and SAT around 1900/2400 (took 3-4 yrs ago). I attended a top UK university to attain a BS in Physics but was not able to finish it after the designated 3-year timeline, and ended up with a ~2.3 GPA. Am looking to transfer to a US college so that I can get a degree, and with the benefit of hindsight, believe I’m never really into Physics and would like to major in Computer Science.
The issue is I don’t know which decent CS programs would admit me as a Spring 2018 transfer with my dismal college GPA … I’m looking for a college with a somewhat strong CS program, ideally with a more geeky student community with a focus on STEM… and perhaps relatively more internship opportunities.
Here is my current selection and would appreciate the CC community’s help:
Reach:
UI at Urbana-Champaign
U of Texas - Austin
Indiana U at Bloomington
Arizona State University
Target:
Rochester Institute of Technology
Virginia Tech
U of Utah
Safety:
California State Polytechnic University
Kansas State University
Texas Tech University
Thank you very much in advance!
Not all schools do spring admits - VT is in that category. If that’s a deal breaker, you might want to check your list for other schools that are fall only starts.
Are you eligible to be a transfer for CS? Have these schools agreed to take you? What year would you be transferring into? Or do you mean you are looking at starting CS from scratch?
Seriously none of the schools you listed are safty schools for a 2.3 Gpa transfer. CS major is very hot and it is an impacted major even in SLO, many 3.8+ students cannot even get in and you put it in the Safety category.
Try some schools in the us news 200 range.
Cal Poly SLO does not accept Spring transfers and as stated above, a 2.3 GPA will not get you in.
I’m planning to start CS from scratch but since I majored in Physics, have done some advanced math and physics classes which may help. Right now I’m trying to gather opinions on which sort of schools will take me in as a prospective CS major. Thanks!
Someone can correct me if I’m wrong but since you are planning on starting from scratch you might be able to apply as a freshman and not as a transfer?..
^ Not usually. At my school you’re a transfer if you’ve taken more than 18 college credits. Some consider you a transfer if you’ve attended any college at all. You may be starting with freshman material, but you can’t hide your previous college performance.
Yeah, I’m not sure how many of your UK courses would transfer over anyway.
Maybe RIT?
How much can you pay?
Maybe Harvard Extension School and schools like that.
Affordability will unlikely be an issue.
RIT = Rochester Institute of Technology?
Really, you are going to have to approach school by school to see what classes might be considered transferable.If any, as per above. I would take off any top schools though, like UT. I assume you are fully funded? I would budget for 3 yrs though.
Yes, RIT=Rochester Institute of Technology.
Right now going through my list again, it seems the only options that may work are Kansas State and Texas Tech … So I should approach the schools directly to see if my courses can be transferred?
Also, if you went to a ‘top UK uni’, you do not have a 2.3 GPA, b/c they don’t do GPAs. What are your actual marks & how did you do your conversion?
Have you compared your coursework in relevant classes to the requirements at any of the schools you are applying to?
I barely passed my exams in my first and second year but did not pass in my third, hence I did not receive a degree and my overall grade is no where close to a 2:2, with most classes probably getting a C/C+/D in the US system.
I looked at the requirements … quite a few unis want some classes in English writing or in the arts, which I don’t have since in UK We take classes in our major straight from the start, which means I only have math and physics classes under my belt. This proves to be quite an issue as well as I looked through different colleges.
Really appreciate everyone’s input and time btw.
How much can you pay? I’d look into expensive colleges with under-enrollment that would be willing to give you a chance as long as you make a case for yourself. Maybe something like Ursinus? Big schools would just be hard in terms of getting into the major and other nonsense; a more collegiate environment would make things easier.
Maybe Northeastern as a transfer?
What? Northeastern has a well respected CS program, for a student barely pass the class from UK, they have better choices.
Try Univ. of the Dakotas or Montana for state schools or some private school like Elizabathtown.
The ohio state univ
Purdue
Univ of Massachusetts, Amherst
Univ of Maryland, CP
Univ of Colorado
@bodangles wrote: “^ Not usually. At my school you’re a transfer if you’ve taken more than 18 college credits. Some consider you a transfer if you’ve attended any college at all. You may be starting with freshman material, but you can’t hide your previous college performance.”
Gotcha. I googled it up for more and what I innocently thought was a possibility was actually a very bad idea… : http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/903494-apply-as-freshman-to-another-university-after-credits-already-earned.html