I got 1430/1600 (630, 800) on SAT, all 5s on five subjects of AP, and all 800s on SAT subjects (Physics Chemistry Math2). I am now thinking whether going to university by rolling admission(I failed for regular admission…:() and then prepare for transfer for better universities after a freshman year or just retake SAT for the next year… Which one is more better for me? Also, if I plan to transfer to an university for a sophomore year, when should I apply for transfer? Fall in 2020 or Spring in 2021??
There is a lot to unpack here.
Where did you apply this year? How did those places end up on your list?
Were you rejected everywhere, or were you admitted to some with unaffordable aid packages?
Which places are currently on your list for rolling admissions? Would you be happy to stay at any of those for all four years if your transfer applications prove unsuccessful?
Would your transfer targets be an entirely new list, or would you be applying to places that rejected you (or were unaffordable) this year?
Are you a US applicant or an international applicant?
What can you and your family afford to pay?
Oh sorry I didn’t realize that I missed such things.
I applied to Harvard Stanford Yale Duke Northwestern Washington in St Louis UCLA UC Berkeley Georgia tech JHU and Columbia for biological engineering, and I didn’t receive any admission from them, so now I applied to Penn state Michigan state and Indiana bloomington.
I will apply to some of those that I was rejected for a sophomore and I am a US applicant, but my first language is not English because I have lived abroad for 18yrs. Also I didn’t apply with aid package.
Your problem is that you were badly advised. You had no safeties and no matches on that list. For Biological Engineering, there are scads of perfectly fine public universities that would have been happy to admit you, and that might even have tossed some merit-based aid your way. Some have automatic admission for certain stats. There also are a number of good private universities that would have been match-range for you.
Except for the UCs that you can transfer into from a California Community College after completing the required coursework, and perhaps Georgia Tech if you transfer in from a Georgia Community College, the places on your list are even harder to get into as transfers than for freshman admission. The likelihood of you being able to gain admission at Harvard/Stanford/Yale/Duke/etc. as a transfer is very nearly zero. You are much better off focusing on places that will admit you as a freshman.
So, do you need to go to college this fall, or can you take a year off, regroup, and apply to a better list next year?
If you need to be in college this fall, check out all of the rolling admissions institutions that offer your major. Apply to the ones that you believe you could be happy at for all four years. Check the transfer policies for the UC system and for Georgia Tech, then look at the community colleges in those states to see if you think you could be happy in those locations for the first two years of your studies.
If you don’t need to be in college this fall, plan for a gap year. Do more deliberate research on the places that offer your major, and look for at least one where you would be guaranteed admission on stats that you think you would like (your safety), and several more where your stats land you safely in the upper half of the admitted student range (your matches). Some you could start with to find safeties and matches are: University of Alabama, University of Alabama at Huntsville, University of New Mexico, Iowa State University, Colorado School of Mines.
And wherever you do go, make certain to take advantage of support services for students who aren’t confident about their command of Academic English. The Writing Center is there on your campus to help you out.
Thank you for your specific response. I think I should prepare for transfer if I get an acceptance from schools that I applied as a rolling admission(Penn state Michigan state and Indiana Bloomington) because I want to go to college this fall.
If I get high GPA, with using my AP scores, do you think it is possible to transfer to UCs, Georgia tech, Johns hopkins, or Rice university? Do you think I have to retake SAT if I try to transfer after a freshman year??
Also, I heard that retaking SAT and waiting for next year is worse than transfer. Is it true?? Most people around me told me that it is too risky to spend a year only for better SAT score…
If you want to go to a UC, then start at one of the community colleges in California. For ideas about which community college to choose, read through the UC Transfers subforum that is linked at the top of this forum.
If you want to go to Georgia Tech, start at one of the community colleges in Georgia that have articulation agreements with Georgia Tech. You can find out which ones they are by reading about guaranteed transfers and articulation agreements at the Georgia Tech website.
Did you submit a TOEFL score when you applied, or was that requirement waived at all the places you applied to because of your other scores?
Do not take a year of solely to re-take the SAT. Take a year off to de-tox from the pressures of high school, do some paid and/or volunteer work to help clarify your educational and career goals, improve your skills in Academic English you, master the use of the definite and indefinite articles in written English, make up an entirely new application list that is focused on serving your personal goal rather than being focused on some notion of “prestige”, learn to cook, or something not even on this list. But please know that even if you hit 1600 on the SAT, that will not guarantee you admissions at any of the places you weren’t admitted at this year.
Penn State, Michigan State, and IU-Bloomington have terrific engineering programs. There is no need to transfer out. JHU and all the others can wait for grad school.
Your AP scores do not get recorded on your college transcript as grades. If the place awards credit, that just means it will be considered that you passed the equivalent course elsewhere, and you won’t need to take it. You can take the next course in a series, or any courses that require it as a pre-requisite, or you can just be done forever with whatever distribution requirement it happens to fulfill. If you have many exams accepted for credit, you can finish college faster.
I really appreciate your response.
I got 106 in TOEFL, and I submitted it to colleges. I didn’t realize that universities that I applied as a rolling admission have such a great engineering programs. I just wanted those “high” university maybe because they were on the top when I searched “top universities in biotech.”
Can I ask more questions? If I get over 3.5 GPA, do you think my past SAT I score will matter? Is there big advantage for starting at in-state community college? (Just as you said for UCs and Georgia tech) If, just in case, I decided to transfer after a freshman year, and if I need 60 credits to apply for UC, can I satisfy 60 credits if I receive 60 credits within my first three semesters, including my AP credits? (from fall 2019 to fall 2020, and I will apply in 2020 Nov)
Plus, now I am taking class in ESL program. I started in this January, and it will end in this May.
What were your high school grades, and more importantly how did your high school grades compare with others in your high school and in your country?
I don’t see your current SAT score as the problem. 1430 is a relatively good SAT score, and you have 800’s on subject tests. I see the problem as not applying to match and safety schools. You schools that you applied to are very good, but they are very hard to get into. I think that you would need significantly higher than a 3.5 GPA to expect to be able to transfer into any of them.
106 on the TOEFL is very good, and makes the point that you English is fine. This means that universities in the US will not worry about your English ability. That is pretty much all that it means.
If you get into any of “Penn state Michigan state and Indiana bloomington”, then these are all very good universities and well worth spending 4 years at and graduating from. Let us know how your applications to these schools works out. Good luck.
Where are you studying ESL? Are you here in the US? If so, go talk to the college placement person and get some help with your list.
Yes I am now in San Jose, CA. I will try to find someone who I can talk with. I really appreciate you guys’ specific and kind response.
There are lots of fine engineering programs that don’t have the crazy low admission rates. The ones you have applied to are good examples and if you look at the members of the Association of Independent Technical Universities (http://theaitu.org) you will find some that have rolling admissions and have very strong engineering programs.
What matters most for engineering is ABET accreditation for the programs. That guarantees a certain level of rigor in the program.