<p>Hi all, </p>
<p>I am new here and I am so glad to have found this great website! Hopefully kind souls like you can help me out here! ok, I am from Singapore and have a place in CMU doing economics. However it is unfortunate that I could not get a scholarship to study in the States (CMU does not give intl aid) and I think I may have to give the place up. </p>
<p>After reading so many threads, I realised that getting a scholarships and financial aid from both the university and corporate organizations is not an easy task. Even more so for international transfer. So I've a plan to do my econs degree in a local university (Singapore Management University) and plan to transfer over to reduce the financial burden. I have a few questions:</p>
<p>1) May I know when is the best time to transfer? ie after the 1st year or 2nd year? </p>
<p>2) Do international transfer students have any problems fitting into the school? I mean after 1 or 2 years, cliques would have formed and I am a little worried if it may affect like group/project work. </p>
<p>3) I'd like to do consulting work next time (eg Mckinsey, Boston consulting etc). Would the university and major I choose affect my career prospects? In my opinion Economics is a general degree and may not be outstanding enough to secure that coveted job. I also understand that there will be some job fairs so is it true that only top firms go head-hunting in top colleges?? That will certainly help determine which college I choose.</p>
<p>Please kindly advise/comment, any replies are greatly appreciated! :)</p>
<p>Thank you so much for taking time off to read and help me on these issues, I really appreciate it!! :)</p>
<p>I hope that others will be able to specifically answer your questions as I am neither an economics major nor have I transfered yet so I wouldn't know the transfer experience.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, as an international transfer student myself from a community college in california, here is some advice I can offer to you. When they say that international transfer is difficult, those concerns are not unfounded. There is the problem of credits transferring, and the biggest issue is financial aid. I applied for transfer myself for Fall 2007, and I have been fortunate to be accepted to the UCBerkeley and UCLA. However, that was only possible because I first begun studying at a California Community College and they give priority to us, even international students.</p>
<p>Do not discount that option because two years spent at a community college can be financially rewarded when you eventually transfer to a top university. Most, if not all the credits transfer. Also, I have found it easier to apply for scholarshps once I got here and established good grades.</p>
<p>Also some of my A'Level credits transferred so I did not have to retake some core classes. Every admissions officer at universities I have spoken to have not recommended the international transfer route. Of course, it is not impossible but remember those spots, especially if you need financial aid, are limited to the top students from foreign countries. </p>
<p>Another option is taking a gap year and reapplying as a freshman. When reapplying, apply to a good range of schools, and do your research to see which ones are more generous to international students. I hope this helps.</p>
<p>Hi I am an international transfer applicant too.. well we have a lot in common since i have completed the GCE O LEVEL in Singapore through ACS(I).
1) May I know when is the best time to transfer? ie after the 1st year or 2nd year?
Well i can tell you that this depends largely on your high school finishing year results... If you did well in your high school and want the admission committee to place a stronger emphasis on your high school record, year 1 would be the best. transferring after year 1, i.e. year 2, is good for individuals who are good in their specialized areas.. For example, I am a year 1 student in Canada and since i have to take quite a few retarded and unrelated pre-requisite courses, that pulled down my scores by a little bit ( but i am still at 4.0 GPA). If you are good at economics, transferring second year means you have done the prerequisites of most of your second year economics classes, so that puts you in better spot light if you are applying as a economics major.</p>
<p>2) Do international transfer students have any problems fitting into the school? I mean after 1 or 2 years, cliques would have formed and I am a little worried if it may affect like group/project work.
Dude ok i m not gonna diss you or something but like it all depends on the person. A loner will remain a loner regardless of the environment around him (** Don't take this the wrong way i m not calling you one i m just quoting this as an example). And you know what, there will ALWAYS be cliques formed because most schools in America consist of people from the States itself so you will find quite a few people who know each other before attending their universities. Dun worry about projects and stuff.. year 1 is mostly a waste of time and for most schools, they won't have projects that prolong for more than one semester so that students like you can fit in well...</p>
<p>3) ok to be frank, Top schools poses a HUGE ADVANTAGE for their graduates because of the network and people these students meet during their college years. Investment banks nowadays will and ONLY hire people from Ivy leagues or equivalents especially if you are in ASIA. In Hong Kong's JPMorgan, everyone there graduated from an IVY or equivalent here.... (i know this is true for most investment banks in Asia)...
If you wanna do consultation work, i suggest you doing a CFA... a CFA involves some accounting, some finances, and some economics.. I am an economics major too and you know what, i know there are very few jobs directly related to economics out there... economics is like a science.. it's not a profession, and it doesn't train you in any specialized areas except if you are doing econometrics.. Actuarial Science might be helpful to you if you are interested in doing derivatives, building models, and making statistical analysis on risk management etc. in fact, most firms in the financial world hire people who have some degree of knowledge in Actuarial Science, Accounting and Finance..
Being a professional, i.e. accountant lawyer engineer etc, gaurentees certain positions in the working world because these associations generally plays the role of a monopoly.. they limit the supply of labor in these markets and this benefits its members.. So my advice to you is that if you wanna be a consultant, get a professional license, i.e. CMA, CGA, CFA, Ac Sci, or wadever to ensure the value of your knowledge in tomorrow's world.</p>
<p>Hope this might help..</p>
<p>To answer your first question, you will need to research your top schools. Determine wheter or not they have a rolling admission. If they do, apply as erly as possible because you will have a greater chance of getting in.</p>