I just finished my freshman year as a Computer Science major in Pakistan with an average GPA of 2.6 It’s the best university in Pakistan and as far as Asian universities are concerned it’s pretty well renouned with plenty of research and students here regularly get accepted into graduate programs at ivy leagues. Obviously, my goal is to get into a top-level graduate school but with my current GPA it seems a stretch. So I’ve gotten admission as a transfer student in a college in the U.S. It’s ranked around 130 and I’ve heard it has a great CS program with plenty of research. Also, my GPA will not transfer so I’ll be starting from 0.0. Will my GPA not being transferred help my case in any way? What would be the right course of action here and where would I have a better chance of getting into a top-level graduate school in the U.S? (P.S I do have American citizenship if that makes any difference.)
Can you afford the US college? Of so, it would make total sense to transfer.
Tuition will be free since my dad is a faculty member. Also, could you explain why it would make total sense? Thanks.
Well, for one, considering that for a good grad school a 3.5 is expected and with a 2.6 freshman year that goal is virtually impossible, transferring makes sense if you want to go to grad school. You get a reset when you start at your US college and this time no redo so don’t waste your second chance, but if you manage to pull A’s and B’s those will be the grades that make up your GPA for grad school. The 2.6 will be “seen” but won’t “count”, especially since you did your first year in Pakistan not in the US.
Second, US grad schools “understand” US colleges and tend to look primarily at what you achieved at whatever college you attended, v. how famous your college is. A 3.9 from a directional university’s honors program (like UNC Wilmington or Grand Valley State or Sonoma State) beats a 2.6 from JHU. However they’re typically not that understanding with foreign universities.
Third, the university you’ll be at will teach you what the American system expects from students, which will give you a huge advantage compared to people in Pakistan when it comes to applying to grad school.
Fourth, it’s highly likely the resources and opportunities will be better.
Fifth… the “college experience”, which means participating in a college community and focusing not just on intellectual growth but whole-person growth, plus the incredible chance that is studying in the US with a full tuition scholarship.