Help! Any recommendations for a transfer student?

College Search & Lists
1

<p>Hello Guys,</p>

<p>I am now selecting universities for next year/semester for the simple fact that I can’t even find a suitable major now… I wanna do something like AI, robotics(humanoid/cyborg) and cognitive science and my university has nothing like this.
So would you guys please help me with it? Just wanna have a list for myself and give it a shot.</p>

<p>Current: Valparaiso University(Ranked 5th, regional)
Major: Electrical engineering Minor: Mechanical Engineering
Current GPA: 3.8/4.0(weighted, 3 As, 2 A+s, and a B+, will make is better)
Last semester GPA: 2.3(injury and couldn’t attend all of the classes, great disadvantage)
High school GPA: 4.0/4.0(unweighted)</p>

<p>No SAT/ACT, skipped a year in high school and came here directly for college study because they provided me with the scholarship… so just 2 years in high school(come from China). But I am able to take the exams.</p>

<p>honors:</p>

<p>academics:
Valparaiso University International Presidential Scholarship (June 2010)
First Prize of Heng Yuan Xiang Literature Star of the Chinese Middle School Students Composition Contest in 2006 to 2007(March 2007)
5th Place in Robot Skills Competition at the VEX Robotics World Championship (April 2010)
Scholar Prize for Chinese in the Second Experimental School of Jilin Province(September 2007)
Scholar Prize for History in the Second Experimental School of Jilin Province(September 2007)
Obtained the Prize for the Best Learning Potential during the “Learning Training for talent people” Project（March 2006)
“Third Prize for the 5th grade of the City Division ” in the Mathematics Contest of Changchun Students(April 2004)
First Prize of the 5th Grade in Changchun in the Chinese Knowledge Contest of National Primary School(December 2003)</p>

<p>robotics:
Excellent Team Award at the VEX Robotics World Championship (April 2010)
First Prize of the BDS Robotics Basket-shot Arena for the Senior High School Group in the 2nd North Part VEX Robotics Engineering Challengers Contest & the 1st North Part BDS Robotics Basket-shot Arena(September 2009)
Third Prize of the VEX Robotics Engineering Challengers Contest for the Senior High School Group in the 2nd North Part VEX Robotics Engineering Challengers Contest & the 1st North Part BDS Robotics Basket-shot Arena(September 2009)
Third Prize in the 9th China Juvenile Robotics Contest for the Senior High School Group(August 2009)
First Prize of VEX Robotics Engineering Challengers Contest for Senior High School Group in Jilin provincial division of the 9th China Juvenile Robotics Contest(May 2009)
“Special Prize for Robot Making Award” in the 4th Science and Technology Festival, High school Attached to Northeast Normal University(May 2009)
“First Prize for Robot Making Award” in the 4th Science and Technology Festival, High school Attached to Northeast Normal University(May 2009)</p>

<p>Music:
The 9th Grade(Highest grade in China) in the Playing of Electronic Tone(September 2002)
The 1st Grade in the E.M. Knowldge(January 2000)</p>

<p>Others:</p>

<p>“Special Contribution Award for Major Events” during 2008 to 2009, High School Attached to Northeast Normal University(May 2009)
Obtained the Honor of “Civilized Students ” in the Selection Event held in the Second Experimental School of Jilin Province（January 2007）
Second Prize of the fifth grade in the Mathematics Small Doctor Gold Cup(June 2004)
Elected as School “Three Goods” Student(July 2004)
Elected as the Campus Star of Kuancheng District, Changchun City(2001)
Elected as School “Three Goods” Student(July 2000)</p>

<p>Activities:
Worked as a referee during robotics championships(VEX Robotics World Championship, Great Lakes Midwest Illinois VEX Championship)
Worked as a volunteer during the 4th Science and Technology Festival held in High school Attached to Northeast Normal University(helped with the preparation for the robotics area)
Worked as a freshman tutor in the robotics lab back to the second year in high school
Helped people as a translator at the VEX Robotics World Championship in 2010, worked as a translator in the meeting between the presidents from Nanning Pei Hong National Middle School and Marsteller Middle School
Admitted to the Harvard College AUSCR Summit for Young Leaders in China(300 students are selected from thousands of applicants)
Is working for the VEX Robotics Chinese Website as a leader</p>

<p>Thank you for your help and I am here looking for universities that have perfect Robotics programs. At the same time I don’t know how to get qualified. So I think a list of universities can be like really helpful for me.
I do like challenges and I just wanna do something to change the world. I stay up late for my work and interests and do experiments until 2 or 3 pm. I love reading and absorbing new things to change my mind. Updating knowledge is attractive to me and I’ m seeking for learners who can communicate with me so that we can make each other better. Hope to find a university for knowledge seekers!
Thank you again!</p>

2

<p>bump…
urgent…anyone help?
THX ;)</p>

3

<p>Are you a freshman? If so, your GPA is going to hurt you.</p>

<p>*Valparaiso University International Presidential Scholarship (June 2010)
*</p>

<p>Was this a scholarship to help pay for your education at Valpo? </p>

<p>If you transfer, how much will your parents pay for your new school? You’re an int’l, right? you’ll need to show funding for your new school to get next year’s VISA.</p>

<p>Does Purdue have those specialties?</p>

4

<p>@mom2collegekids,</p>

<p>Yeah unfortunately I am a freshman and the first semester… oh I know it is poor and due to the freaking injury. I will try to get a 3.9~4.0 by the end of this semester</p>

<p>the scholarship package worths 15000 usd per year. it helped(international). My parents need to pay 24000 per year and according to that I am looking for something like paid interns.</p>

<p>Purdue… maybe I need further information and I am gonna check online.</p>

<p>Thank you ;)</p>

5

<p>*and according to that I am looking for something like paid interns.</p>

<p>*</p>

<p>I don’t think that will work for you to get your visa. if you transfer, you’ll have to show that you have all funds this summer. You can’t say that you plan to earn the money while you’re here. That doesn’t work for int’l students. </p>

<p>If your parents won’t pay the $35k+ for you to go elsewhere, then you’ll have to stay where you are. </p>

<p>You might look at Univ of Minnesota…it’s rather inexpensive for nonresidents. </p>

<p>If you end up staying where you’re at, then get the best grades and then study your specialty in grad school.</p>

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<p>@mom2collegekids,</p>

<p>my parents would like to see if I can get in, they are willing to pay for my education if I am able to be qualified for a great chance.</p>

<p>As for my specialty, it tends to be really troubling. I would like to make humanlike robots, to learn how human’s brain works and to change the world(we have no majors like this at Valparaiso). The current workload doesn’t boost my studies coz we are still doing something like basic circuits(ECE) and at the same time students attending top-class universities—they get in touch with advanced techs in their sophomore year. That makes me wanna transfer so that I am able to increase my workload and work with great professors and fellows.
Maybe I need someone who can study and do experiments with me at 3 pm and we can make friends.
I’m gonna take the Fundamentals of engineering exams this year and see how it works. After that I would like to learn Robotics, cognitive science and AI.
I am here waiting for you advice!
Thank you! ;)</p>

7

<p>bump…
thank you guys</p>

8

<p>Even if Valpo doesn’t offer a major labeled Cognitive Science, this doesn’t mean that you can’t prepare yourself for a career in that field. Undergraduate programs in Psychology, Linguistics, Biology (with emphasis on Neurobiology), Chemistry (focusing on Biochemistry), and Computer Science (focusing on Artificial Intelligence) can all get you there. You need to sit down with the course catalogue for Valpo and see how much coursework that is offered would be meaningful for your long-term goals. While I certainly can understand your desire to transfer to a university that has a major more closely linked to your intended career, it is March already. If you can stay at Valpo for another year you will have more time to investigate your transfer options, and you will have more time to let your GPA recover.</p>

<p>For fun reading about brains, you might like to visit [THE</a> BRAIN FROM TOP TO BOTTOM](<a href=“http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/index_d.html]THE”>http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/index_d.html) Maybe you should consider that university as a transfer option, or for grad school!</p>

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<p>@happymomof1,</p>

<p>brilliant idea! Actually it is too late for transferring and maybe a better GPA is good for me. If I am allowed to redo the courses, I will recover my first semester GPA. something like 3.5 or more(got 80s or 90s in exams but couldn’t attend class, hurt a lot according to my absences.)</p>

<p>I am considering about transferring to phys department coz my phys is around 91~93% and it would be better by the end of the semester and I only get 87% in my engineering.
Another concern is that we have profs graduated from MIT and Cornell, maybe I have a chance to get further information from them. You are always staying with profs like them and willing to work with them. They are good ones.</p>

<p>“Biology (with emphasis on Neurobiology), Chemistry (focusing on Biochemistry), and Computer Science (focusing on Artificial Intelligence)”…? As a matter of fact I didn’t see people do neurosci, BCS and AI at Valpo. My experience is that the university is great if you would like to get a well-paid job. Doing things like researches? Keep searching, they hardly try to figure things out although they study hard. It is more like job-oriented institute. Yeah guys stay up late, just for exams and their future job—mostly.(my own opinion) It is good for hard workers to figure out a way to make money at Valpo, but I wanna be a scientific researcher…</p>

<p>Do you have some suggestions for suitable universities? Really wanna know which level is OK for me ;)</p>

<p>BTW, I’m gonna attend a robotics championship and help as a referee in April. Some great universities would be there(like Rice). Do you think it would be good for me to learn more during that time?</p>

<p>Thank you so much for your tips!</p>

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<p>P.S,
love “THE BRAIN FROM TOP TO BOTTOM” site, helped a lot.
;)</p>

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<p>^^^ Isn’t it a fantastic website? I found it several years ago while doing research for a graduate course in linguistics.</p>

<p>One thing to think about, is that if there aren’t very many science students at Valpo who are interested in going to grad school in the sciences, then the professors will be delighted to have you around. It should be much easier for you to get to know your professors well, and for you to participate in any research that they are doing.</p>

<p>Don’t worry so much about trying to re-take all of the classes that you had difficulty with last fall. Find out from your professors which of those courses should be repeated (for example, any that you actually got an F in). Lots of people have lousy first semesters, and you have a clear medical reason for your bad grades. You are on track to do much better this semester and in the future.</p>

<p>The robotics championship will be an excellent opportunity to find out about other universities. Even if you do decide to stay at Valpo for all four years, you should start thinking now about where you might want to go for your graduate studies, and what you will want to specialize in then.</p>

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<p>*my parents would like to see if I can get in, they are willing to pay for my education if I am able to be qualified for a great chance.</p>

<p>*</p>

<p>Good! If your parents are willing to pay, then you have options. </p>

<p>If you’re thinking of applying for Fall 2012, then you’ll have more options if you bring your grades up. :)</p>

<p>Look at…</p>

<p>UMich
Purdue
UMinn
Penn State
Colorado School of Mines
Santa Clara
Gonzaga
St. Louis U
Cal Poly Pomona or Cal Poly SLO</p>

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<p>@happymomof1,
Yeah it is great to stay with the phys professors coz they are always recruiting students to do researches with them. They lend books to me, share experiences and tell us more about the national labs in class. Good to have them!
One thing important is trying to deal with hard topics during freshman and sophomore years because I just found that students attending MIT, Caltech and Stanford are doing hard topics and going through updated information in class. It’s hard to find a clear clue at Valpo when they have no majors like AI or Robotics but I’ll try.
I have no Fs last semester but a D+ in fundamentals of engineering(3 cr). I got 9s or 10s out of 10 during the time that I was able to walk and 0s when I stayed in the health center. If I retake it next semester I will get an A(hopefully).
"you should start thinking now about where you might want to go for your graduate studies, and what you will want to specialize in then. "------ I am doing some reading according to Stanford’s book list for robotics.
Many thanks for your brilliant suggestions!</p>

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<p>@mom2collegekids,
Thank you for the list! One of my workmates during the robotics championship recommended UMich. He told me that they have perfect and developing robotics and AI.</p>

<p>Great universities in East Coast? Maybe MIT is hard for me but it is great… never stop thinking about MIT and my schoolmate there loves it. Besides that, I went to Worcester last year… WPI’s robotics lab is good(also expensive ;)).</p>

<p>Thanks for the recommendations and I will try to learn more!</p>

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<p>Besides, I got an offer from the University of Manchester(Ranked top 40 in the world) as a prospective AI student. So do you guys think it is better for me to study there?
Thanks!</p>

16

<p>bump!</p>

<p>Hope I can travel to Japan to help… trying to learn some first aid skills… so anyone who have some information please contact <a href="mailto:me...majormei1008@gmail.com">me…majormei1008@gmail.com</a></p>

<p>heard that experts try to get into the center of the nuclear radiation, I would like to do this instead of them. ;)</p>

<p>Thank you for your support and info!
thanks!!!</p>

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<p>BUMPBUMP… happy to learn from you guys ;)</p>