Will I be able to transfer to NYU from ASU after a year? Computer (Software) Eng. Read description.

Colleges and Universities A-Z New York University
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I’m an international prospective freshman planning to begin my undergraduate in Spring 2016 at ASU (Accepted to ASU, U of A, U of I, and waiting from Minnesota). Is it possible that if I work really hard my first year that I can transfer to NYU’s Computer (Software) Engineering? NYU says that most of their highly competitive transfer applicants have 32 credits at the end of their first year, and suggests that I should rather complete one full year rather than trying to transfer after one semester.

I’m unsure if this is possible or if I should rather go to community college and then transfer to NYU but community colleges don’t have great facilities for the software engineering major. While I won’t easily get recommendation letters from my teachers at ASU within just one year as I would at a community college, I feel that a good gpa from a software engineering program at a university would be more valued than one at a community college. (Please correct me if I’m wrong, I don’t know any community colleges offering software engineering in the first year do not worsen the already stressful time).

Also, as far as my research tells me, I think that I would get help at a community college for building my essay for NYU for transferring whereas it would be more difficult to manage this at a university.

This is the first time I’ve looked at transferring and have reasons to want to graduate from NYU (So please bear with the silliness if there is any) but my current high school gpa and sat scores do not allow me to do so. Hence attending college for a year and transferring has been my decision.

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All the universities you listed, and have been accepted to have very good engineering programs, and happen to be quite rigorous. You will need a competitive GPA from those programs to transfer to NYU, and those universities are not exactly known for handing out “A’s” to their freshmen engineering students. First year classes are huge and are generally regarded as weedout courses for engineers. If you get a degree in engrg. from any of those universities, you will do just fine.

Looks like you have somehow latched on to the name brand cachet of NYU. I am skeptical about transferring to NYU from a community college, especially for an international student. Those limited number of transfers from community colleges are usually prioritized for local students from under-served communities.

One more thing you should be aware - state universities in the US love international students because of the $$ they bring in. You mentioned your grades and sat scores were low for NYU. While they may have been good enough to get into the state universities, you need to realize the students who stay in their engineering programs usually tend to have extremely good stats.

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What about transferring to University of Washington (Seattle)? I love their curriculum of CS. Can’t go as a freshman though, due to insufficient high school gpa. Would my initial scenario (stated above in the question) apply to this? Community college to U of Washington (Seattle)? Or ASU to U of Washington?

All this is asked assuming that I study and get a strong first year gpa at my university/community college as a freshman. Rest of the criteria is same as in the beginning of this thread.

Just help answer the question initially asked, please.

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The questions you ask are dependent on the policies of the universities and whether they have space for transfers. You should probably contact the Uof W to find out the possibilities. Posters on CC can usually give general guidance and opinion - we cannot speculate on your specific transfer chances.

You need to ask yourself this question - if your HS GPA and SAT scores were not sufficient for U of W or NYU, what makes you think you will be a great fit as a transfer student? ASU and U of A are not as competitive as U of W or NYU for admissions, and that’s why you probably got in. Transferring is worth a try but I would not recommend starting at a university intending to simply transfer later on.

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NYU looks at the HS transcript for all transfers (and scores from some). https://www.nyu.edu/ir/pdf/cds/CDS_2013-2014%20UPDATED.pdf

UW is the same. http://opb.washington.edu/content/common-data-set That would indicate they probably won’t accept you in the first year.

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If you get your associate degree from a CC, you won’t have to send in your high school transcripts.

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How does going to UW fulfill your urgent need to graduate from NYU? I think you are being silly, yes. Do not bother to try to transferring into a highly competitive UW dept. UW severely limits the amount of grads in CSE related majors and there is far more demand than seats available. They only direct admit a very few and the rest of the hopefuls have to try to transfer once you are admitted and take classes at UW, and there are only room for about 1/3rd I believe. I can’t imagine they accept many direct transfers from outside the state.

I would not recommend that an international student start at a CC when they can go to a solid and respectable 4 year program, no matter how prestige obsessed they are. You could only take foundational math courses and other GE requirements. CS and SE for that matter is very university specific in the way they like to introduce students to the material and the department style and culture and I don’t think transferring in from CC is the best route.

No one can try to reassure you about transfer chances, no one know or can predict. I think you are better off doing well in the program you choose and get a MS from a somewhat more name school, but I think that is not even really necessary.

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@Erin%27s%20Dad http://www.nyu.edu/admissions/undergraduate-admissions/apply/transfer-applicants/instructions.html
They don’t. Not if I complete one full year at the least before trying to transfer.

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@crseven

This is from the third bullet point of Step One of your link:

I don’t know how it could be any clearer. Now I know there are some schools that don’t require it if you have two years at a cc or another college completed, but NYU does not appear to be one of them. I would suspect, though, and this is only based on general experience, that after two years of demonstrated success, especially at an accredited 4 year school like ASU and those others you mention, they pay little attention to the high school record.

So OK. Given your scenario of NYU or UW/Seattle as being the only two outcomes allowed in “the game”. BTW, I do understand your frustration that people insist on ignoring that stipulation, but they are just trying to be helpful. Obviously this is not a game to you, but I am sure you recognize that I am using a game theory approach to your issue. I think whether it is NYU or UW doesn’t matter, the decision parameters are the same.

The advantages of a cc are that the courses are likely to be easier, the cost is lower, and as you point out they are extremely familiar with helping people transfer and it is not a negative, as it might be transferring from ASU, etc. and asking for resume help there. A disadvantage is that it is not as likely that a 4.0 from a cc would carry the same weight as a 4.0 from those other schools. For the reverse scenario, just reverse the adjectives: courses will be harder, etc.

I would also point out that, now that you know that in fact the high school record is taken into account, one year might not be enough to get their attention, although a 4.0 in either scenario might and more so if from ASU et. al. But I suspect that if your high school record is too far off their norms, it will take 3-4 semesters of near perfect grades to convince them, assuming they even have openings. Usually they do for junior transfers, I think. UW should have more openings than NYU.

So if it were me, that last part would shift the weight to going to a 4 year school from the beginning. If you get lucky and transfer after one year, mazel tov for you. But if not, then you are better off with 2 years of a perfectly good research university under your belt when you try again. Does that make sense to you?

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@fallenchemist - What if I transfer to UW after two years of college (university/cc)? And please forget that I compared NYU and UW, forget that I even asked about NYU.

I don’t know anything about transferring after two years or if its even possible, so answer accordingly.

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@crseven

I am not sure I understand your question, but yes, people transfer after two years all the time. The biggest difference from transferring after one year is that your college record for those two years will far outweigh your high school record, especially if you were at a place like ASU or U of A. Assuming you did well for those two years, it would be obvious you were capable of college work at a level that would make them feel confident in bringing you to their school. But the process is identical, as far as I know.

You didn’t ask about finances and gave no indication if they are a factor, but keep in mind that UW OOS is expensive and there would almost certainly be no FA involved beyond big loans.

Interesting “game” you have created when the conditions on the board can change so easily. But it is your game.

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@fallenchemist - I expect you to understand my position as an international student who’s the first to leave home and totally on my own with college research, that these mistakes are forgivable. If not, please try to do so. Financially I’m okay. Parents are supporting me. That’s actually why I didn’t bring in that factor.

I should’ve just asked my queries about transferring without specifying which university I want to transfer to. I have no particular preferences other than ranking and my major quality.

From what I understand from the first para of your reply, would high school grades even be required if I transfer after two years at a university or an AA from a community college? I thought it was required only after one semester and first year?

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@crseven

First, try not to take everything so personally. Some things are just observations. I never said it was a mistake or that you needed forgiveness. I just noted that you change the parameters often and with no seeming reason or logic. No one will want to help you if they think you are going to react badly to every little comment and put them down. In fact despite your expectations of me, and you being international or not and first to college or not, I actually don’t understand making NYU sound like the only goal that is acceptable in your first post, then UW or NYU being OK, and then you say just forget NYU. It is rather confusing as to what your point is. I don’t really care why you change the goals, and your reasons are whatever they are, but you are the one that set it up that way. I will also point out that it was you that chose to place this in the NYU forum rather than the transfer student forum. We cannot read your mind. I just suggest that you try and be more appreciative of people trying to help you and not lash back to every comment you perceive as negative towards you. But let’s move past that.

As far as your new question, it varies with each school. You already know the part of your statement “I thought it was required only after one semester and first year?” is not true because I already showed you the NYU terms of transfer applications. And since you no longer have a small list of specific schools in mind, you will just have to carefully read the transfer instructions of each one you end up applying to. I already expressed my opinion that your high school record will have little weight compared to your high school record after 2 years at an institution of higher education. I will point out that is 2 years away, and a lot can change in the interim.