<p>I have a strange situation: my goal is to be accepte to MIT or Caltech, i havent passed the required exams yet, but im ready to do this. Im 16 years old and in 4 month I will probably become a student of one of the Russia's best universities, and I have 2 ways of apllying:
1) I can apply as a transfer student - but the operation of giving a financial aid is complicated then;
2) Or I can apply as a freshman, then its considered that I study in school, but by the time I will be a student of a university, and so this is complicated too.
What shall I do in this kind of situation?</p>
<p>Honestly, I don't know which is the best course of action here, but I can tell you what I did. Two years ago I was facing exactly the same dilemma, and decided to do neither of the alternatives you presented. I took one year off, a year during which I improved my credentials greatly, and now here I am, at Amherst. On the other hand, I know two persons who managed to transfer with aid, so that is also possible, but only if you are talking about Harvard, Yale, MIT, Caltech and a couple of top LACs. If you have something extraordinary, and when I say that I mean some really cutting-edge research or an IMO medal or something like that under your belt, then you might just transfer to MIT, as they would surely want you. If you are just an "average" over-achieving international, then you might want to consider other options.</p>
<p>I want to consider other options, but what ones?
There are differences between your situation and mine: if I do not enter any university until I am 18, I am taken to army =)
So I think its better to ener university, and then apply as a transfer student. The worst thing is that to make it I have to go to USA and to pass special exams in case of Caltech. quote:' Transfer applicants are NOT required to submit SAT or ACT scores.' The only thing I have to pass is TOEFL. in MIT it is also SAT II required, but there I can get a financial aid as a simple student. But the thing is if I go there and fail it would be at least $700 and 3 months lost =( The only thing that is good that our (Russian) school math and science course is MUCH bigger so I have more knowledges than their freshmen. But how can I fix the price of my knowledge in American scale before I decide to go to USA?</p>