Would I manage a transfer?

Transfer Students
1

<p>Sorry to ask this, but my stats are really quite complicated. I'm about to enter St Andrews, to read English, Latin and either International Relations or Italian. I'm actually an international student - from England. I went to school in the UK, but got a scholarship through the English Speaking Union to an American school for six months. I attended Peddie, and took some lessons there.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, my entire stats got screwed up. I have GCSES, AS levels and A levels, and an Advanced Extension Award, which is a qualification that goes beyond AP/A-level. Plus APs, SATs, SATIIs - but I took classes for an AP I couldn't take, and so on.</p>

<p>I run thus: </p>

<p>GCSES: English literature, language, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, French, Latin, History - grade A, Art, grade B. (taken at the age of fifteen, after four years of high school, out of six) highest grade possible, an A*, then A</p>

<p>AS levels: English literature, History, Classics - grade A, Latin - grade B. (taken at age sixteen, highest grade possible, an A) </p>

<p>A levels: English lit, History - grade A, Classics - grade B (taken at seventeen , highest grade possible, A) I was supposed to re-take one of my classics exams, to bring my grade up to an A, but because I was in the US, the government refused to let me. No joke. There's actually an argument between my MP and the Minister for Education...</p>

<p>AEA Award: English, Distinction (taken at seventeen. Highest possible academic award in Britain, Distinction is the highest grade)</p>

<p>SAT: Old SAT - 790 verbal, 530 maths (yes, I know) - taken at age seventeen, ie, two years after I'd finished with maths.</p>

<p>SATII - writing, 720, literature 740, latin, 560</p>

<p>SAT: New SAT - 800 verbal, 690 crit reading, 560 maths. </p>

<p>I intend to retake the SAT, and the SATII Latin, to improve those scores. Currently, I'm averaging about a 2100, my intention is to raise that to a 2200-2300.</p>

<p>I took the AP English Lit and Lang exams without preparation - both fives. </p>

<p>However- here's where it gets complicated. The ESU scholarship put me at Peddie halfway through the year. I took AP Latin, English, History, drama the first term, and AP Latin, English, History, Algebra II and Drama the second term. I wasn't able to join a science class because the only one that wasn't synoptic for the year, didn't fit my maths and Latin schedule. I didn't sit the AP exam in Latin because I hadn't covered all the material. It was hard enough to catch up.</p>

<p>I also got summa cum laude in the National Latin Exam, at VI/V/VI level, and topped my AP class. </p>

<p>At St Andrews, I'm only able to take humanities subjects as that's the 'college' I'm in - honours English. I'm taking Advanced Latin, having been 'skipped' ahead, as I don't hold the full A-level standard that everyone else will, so I have in fact, been accelerated. </p>

<p>I have a string of extracurriculars, but no real 'main' one, unless you count the fact that I've been working solidly since I was fourteen; childcare til I was sixteen, then working twelve hours a week during term time, twenty four at Christmas during term, and full-time at holidays, and I worked full time for nine months this past year. I will be paying for college myself.</p>

<p>I want to go to a US college to get the liberal arts education; I'm not sure I want to study English, but have the possibility of trying other things. However, I am currently at St Andrews, and it has a certain amount of prestige. That, combined with a need for international financial aid means I'm looking at</p>

<p>Georgetown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Yale, Dickinson, and Amherst. </p>

<p>Any information you could give me would be fantastic.</p>

2

<p>First of all, I find it really common in some intel's who are strong in humanities to not do well in SAT maths. I don't think is necessarily true of India/Asia schooled intl's but I find it in a lot of cdn and english educated people. One of my good friends who I took the SAT had the exact same math score as you. It's usually just because our system teaches math differently. </p>

<p>You will not get financial aid from Georgetown as a transfer. They only offer limited aid packages to incoming freshman intl. I'm not sure of the rest.</p>

<p>I think you have the stats and everything to get into these uni's (not sure about cornell or yale as they seem to have quite difficult transfer rates) </p>

<p>That said, I think St.Andrews is probably one of the most comparable university's to a LAC. It has a small community feel, core education (I think?), and all that. Have you given it a try yet?</p>

3

<p>Actually, St Andrews <em>doesn't</em> have a core education. It's similar to a LAC, because it's based upon a module education - taking more than one subject for two years, then focusing for the final two years. However, because I haven't taken mathematics, science or another language to A-level, I'm not allowed to take them there. I want to take the broadest curriculum possible, and not be confined by silly rules and regulations. If I take English, for example, in second year, I cannot take International Relations. There's a schedule conflict, and no other classes available. To me, this seems ridiculous. I'd like to take as much as possible. </p>

<p>As for Yale - I'm hoping my writing might add some strength to my application. I've written creatively for a very long while, and am actually working on a project I'm hoping to get published within the next two years. I might try and include a sample of my writing for their perusal.</p>

4

<p>yes no I understand Alice, it was the same with me except my uni was in Canada. I was just saying, St.Andrews is prob. the most american style uni in the UK. Plus lots of americans go there. </p>

<p>Definately include a writing sample and talk about the project in your essays and things. I'm no expert on these things obviously, going through the transfer process myself. Are you in the UK now? we seem to be in the same timezone :p</p>

5

<p>Well, for me, it's five pm. Long day at work - I was at Gap at seven am this morning, and seven again tomorrow. Shipment. Haaate. -_- Yeah, I'm on English time. </p>

<p>As for essays - I had trouble with them last time. I'm intending to write about why I'm so ambiguous in what I want to do; about reading the Latin in thirteenth century books in the Vatican museum in Rome and translating aloud, and how that's made me question what I was 'made for', whether I ought to experiment with what choices I make. </p>

<p>Writing might be a good topic, but I'm not sure what the US wants, <em>content</em> wise.</p>

6

<p>you might want to try to develop your activites....figure out what you want to study and find an activity that fits that...just to show that you're like interested in something. i'd say that was the weakest on your app. and aim for a higher math SAT.
good luck!</p>

7

<p>Alice CC I PM-ed you, for I feel you are batty:)</p>

<p>I would give my ovaries to go where you are at.</p>