<p>I want to transfer to a USA college for the fall semester of 2011. However, I'm in a troublesome predicament, and I need help!</p>
<p>I am an 18-year-old Filipino (turning 19 this December), and I am interested in a course relating to Biology. Last year, I had been wanting so badly to study in a USA college for fall this year. I applied to several schools, and I got accepted in Fordham, University of the Pacific, and Hofstra, among others. However, because I was not able to find scholarships and because I was afraid to risk taking a student loan, I had to settle for a local school, Ateneo de Manila University.</p>
<p>However, I still do want to transfer to a USA college, and I am applying to several schools. My high hopes are Harvard University and University of California, and I'm also applying to Fordham University and Clark University. The problem is, my grades aren't turning out the way I want them to be.</p>
<p>It was last July 18-29 that I took part in a People to People Leadership Summit. It was definitely a fruitful experience. I gained a lot of friends from all over the world, and learned many new things that I never would have learned back in the school where I am studying. However, Philippine classes begin in June. Hence, taking part in this seminar cost me almost two weeks of classes. This absence pulled my grades down immensely, and I ended up with an F and 3 D's out of my six classes with a total of 18 credits. Worse, I received an F in Bio 100.1 (2 credits), and a D in Bio 100 (3 credits), the two classes that are most relevant to my course of interest.</p>
<p>How should I go about with my transfer application, and how should I improve my predicament? I am already doing my best to pull my grades up, and I am desperately searching for monetary support.</p>
<p>To be a viable transfer student, I recommend retaking the classes you failed or got Ds in. You will need to have at least a year or two track record of succeeding at your classes to be taken seriously as a transfer to an elite institution. Even so, with such a rocky start, it sounds like places such as Harvard the UC system in California is very unlikely.</p>
<p>Also, as an international, I don’t believe there is much aid/scholarships out there for you. Sorry, if you need a lot of money, this plan doesn’t sound like it will work. You may need to figure out independent sources of money and try for lower tier colleges or community colleges instead.</p>
<p>Uh huh, I have been looking for independent sources. Although, you are right when you say that these are hard to find. As for my grades, I’m doing my best to catch up, as these were only midterm marks and not my final semestral grades. I still have a chance to bring them up, I just read that they aren’t the official grades yet.</p>
<p>Have you considered starting at community college? California has a great community college system that articulates with the CSU and UC systems, and is considerably cheaper. There are transfer agreement guarantees that have been established between campuses: completing and passing required classes and obtaining a required GPA of ~3.0 guarantees admission to specific UC campuses.</p>
<p>One of my friends came from the Philippines and went through this route. She was accepted into UCLA and other UCs and chose to attend UC Davis.</p>
<p>My problem, though, is that I’m already in college. I’m not sure if community colleges accept transfer applicants. Would there be any particular community colleges that you would recommend?</p>
<p>Community colleges generally accept anyone who has done any one of the following:
Graduated high school
Obtained a GED
Is at least 18 years old</p>
<p>Therefore, you are eligible to attend. I am only personally familiar with community colleges in the Northern California valley area. I would recommend any that are around large cities and around the UC where you are planning on transferring, such as Sacramento, SF, San Diego, etc. Smaller colleges might have fewer resources available.</p>
<p>Yes I do. Community colleges in California don’t really consider it “transferring” if you have previous university experience. You’re just a student who has credit from a university.</p>
<p>Community colleges charge much higher rates for intnls and offer no aid. To be realistic here, aid is extremely hard to get for any intnl, but for transfers it’s near impossible without an amazing set of stats/ECs. You may want to wait until grad school for the US.</p>
<p>Yey! I was able to bring my grades up! Brought my 3 D’s and 1 F to 3 C’s and 1 B! My GPA for the first semester is a 2.62! If I get straight A’s next semester, I’ll get a final GPA of least 3! ^_^</p>
My GPA for the first semester is a 2.62! If I get straight A’s next semester, I’ll get a final GPA of least 3! ^_^</p>