international transfer after sophomore

b_r_um
Thu, 03 Jun 2010 18:42:43 +0000

Yes, you could apply as a transfer student to other American universities during your exchange year. However, there are two issues that you need to be aware of:


American universities have general education requirements. College students have to take courses in English, history, foreign languages, math, science, etc in addition to their major in order to get a degree. As a transfer student from a European university, you are probably well-advanced in your major but have not taken any gen ed courses yet. If you transfered to an American university, you would spend a year just catching up on general education requirements which have nothing to do with your major at all.
College tuition can be pretty high and there is little financial aid for international transfer students. Do you have $30,000 to $50,000 available to pay for one year of tuition and living expenses at an American university? (Exchange students often get their tuition waived through a reciprocal agreement or a TA position. Regular undergraduate students don’t.)


It might indeed be better, academically as well as financially, to finish your undergraduate degree in Europe and then apply to American Master’s program. Or maybe even an American PhD program for that matter. Academically, the reason is that you would not have to complete the general education requirements for an American undergraduate degree. Financially, international graduate students have more options than undergraduate students.

PhDs are fully funded in most fields. Graduate students might get a Teaching or Research Assistantship that pays a modest salary in addition to a tuition waiver. (By the way, American PhD programs admit students with a Bachelor’s degree. Students can earn a Master’s degree while enrolled in a PhD program.)

Master’s programs typically provide less funding than PhD programs, but there is often some financial aid available as well, often in the form a (partial) tuition waiver.