So to the OP: if no suitable transfer came up would you have drop out of Pomona? If the only transfer available to a significantly lower cost college with engineering was for a significantly lower-ranked college, would your parents consider that a suitable transfer?
I note again those are not the only dual degree programs available at Pomona, there are actually three:
All applicants are admitted as long as the candidate:
is currently attending one of our affiliations schools
completes all of the course requirements for admission and achieves a 3.25 GPA or above (overall and math/science)
is endorsed by their current institution certifying aptitude for engineering study and the completion of a bachelorâs level, non-engineering degree at the current institution no later than receipt of the engineering degree from WashU
The only reason a student would not be accepted after meeting the above requirements is if they had an anomaly on their record such as a felony or a severe academic integrity violation, for example.
Again, you are quite right this is not going to solve your cost issues and will take another year. But, it is not as uncertain as one of the other two dual degree programs or trying to transfer to a highly selective college.
Admission may not be uncertain, but affordability isâŚWashU does not meet full need for these dual degree students, although they do get some aid. We just donât know if that would be affordable for OP, not to mention a 5th year of undergrad for little/no benefit (which OP mentioned above)
All students who enter the Engineering Dual Degree undergraduate and graduate degrees (Graduate 3-year Option) are awarded the Graduate Affiliation Scholarship, which guarantees a 50 percent tuition discount for the first year, a 55 percent discount the second year and a 60 percent discount the third year. International and domestic students are eligible.
Plus we have no idea if OP qualifies for need and if so, how much.
Given they said - it is just for the year after that they want to me to potentially get something else so that itâs comfortable for them but even in that case, they will be able to manage my college.
That may portend the fact that no aid is coming.
Thereâs no way to know - til they apply somewhere that provides aid - but often if you donât apply the first year, you canât in subsequent years - so theyâll never know via Pomona.
Thatâs right, to be very clear, this in no way will necessarily solve the OPâs cost problems.
In part, though, I am just trying to make it clear to the OP how this sort of situation is normally handled. People who apply to Pomona without requesting financial aid normally know that is something they can actually safely do. If they belatedly discover an interest in getting an engineering degree, it is probably going to cost them an extra year, but it is doable as long as they take the right courses and get good enough grades. They can try to transfer and get it done in four years, but that is a complex proposition and it usually will mean going to a significantly lower-ranked/less-famous college than Pomona.
But then if you ALSO need a lot less cost AND an engineering degree AND you want to do all that in four years (ruling out a gap year as well)?
Thatâs asking a lot, and again your best bet to save at least somewhat on cost is probably to be very open to going to a much lower ranked/less famous public, and even then you have to make sure it will actually be possible to do it in four years.
If you then say you want to do all this AND do it at an equally ranked/famous college? It is theoretically possible but really lottery ticket odds at that point.
It sure sounds as if transferring out of Pomona means an extra year to complete the engineering prereqs will be looming in the future. This is where one wonders whether Harvey Mudd would not be of greater help as a resource and if not, why not?
The beauty with engineering (at least MechE) is this doesnât necessarily mean a worse outcome.
Of course, Iâll assume the OP is going home to work - and we know from international students that prestige means everything to them - Iâll assume the same here.
But if this were a US student, prestige attending kids and non-prestige attending kids work side by side - especially in engineering. But what they share is ABET accreditation - for the majors where that matters (MechE for example).
My understanding is Harvey Mudd only takes transfers from other Claremont Colleges under extraordinary circumstances, and part of the reason why is they do not want to have people try to treat the other colleges as backdoors.
What you can do instead, though, is take engineering classes at Harvey Mudd without getting an engineering degree. Indeed, that is something Pomona specifically mentions as an option for 3-2 students:
3-2 Program students must satisfy the General Education requirements of Pomona College. In addition, the following lower-division courses must be completed:
CHEM 001A PO, CHEM 001B PO or CHEM 051 PO. Further courses in the relevant scientific discipline, and possibly courses in engineering at Harvey Mudd, are recommended.
Again, my main purpose in pointing this out is that Pomona does have a plan available for students who decide they want an Engineering degree, and in fact Mudd is a resource in cases like that. But that plan does not involve transferring to Mudd so you can get that degree in four years, let alone also getting a reset on a decision not to apply for aid to Pomona.
Yep. Again, not to beat the OP up about this situation, but it is helpful to understand why highly selective US colleges would not want to create a backdoor path where an International can apply full pay to a need aware college like Pomona, then easily transfer to some other highly selective US college where they ask for a lot of need aid.
But if you take out that particular issue, if you find yourself at a Pomona and discover belatedly you want an Engineering degree, this is a solvable problem. Indeed, it is likely a solvable problem if you are full pay at Pomona and want a less expensive Engineering degree.
But if you will only consider a very highly ranked, famous, highly selective US college? Not so easily solved.
My point is that there ought to be a way the OP can satisfy all their first-year engineering prereqs at H-M while still transferring to another college (not necessarily H-M) with no loss of sequencing. It sounds like, from what youâre saying, that there is a way. In fact, it sounds like a recipe for transferring to a larger university after a year at a Claremont College.
Thatâs the only part I am personally not sure about. Pomona is normally going to be expecting you to spend your first couple years also filling their own Gen Ed requirements (see quote above). You can just barely do that AND also do Engineering prereqs and be on track to do a 3-2 dual degree (even then, they caution you will probably need to do a science major for your Pomona degree).
Iâm not sure what would happen if you walked into your first advisory meeting at Pomona and told them, âForget Pomonaâs Gen Ed requirements, I am going to focus solely on Engineering prereqs so I can transfer to an Engineering program and still graduate in four years.â Like, I literally have no idea. Maybe they would say sure. Maybe they would not allow that. Or something in between.
It seems like taking a gap year may help in this case. You can have a meeting with your family to understand exactly what they can afford. You can consider options in your home country and abroad. And you could intern or explore engineering more to make sure that is in fact the major for you. Since you applied without engineering in your scope of priorities, researching and reapplying may be helpful.
There is no point in trying to figure out scenarios for Transferring if you can not cover the tuition and room and board bills that are pending.
Your acceptance was need aware - which you indicated you had no financial need and would be full pay. They did not accept other similarly well-meaning international students who checked off they needed aid.
THIS. Plus to get a student visa to study here, your family will need to demonstrate that they have ALL the funds to support your studies for all four years here. This money needs to be at the ready.
This isnât a given in terms of admission. Which top schools are you considering? Some are need aware for admissions for international students. This wonât help your transfer application if you need significant need based aid.
What options are there for you in your home country? Iâd suggest looking at those as they might be affordable.
@thumper1 see post 14. It seems the OP is set to attend freshman year as far as Pomona is concerned. Whether that is wise, in lieu of the new financial information, is what is being discussed. As well as what to do for years 2-4.
Many many colleges in the U.S. do not permit international students to apply for need based aid in subsequent years if they donât do so as incoming freshmen. This poster is in this situation.
The OP needs to check very carefully that colleges they wish to apply to as a transfer will be need blind (many are not) and will provide full need based to a transfer student (many do not).
If the OP attends Pomona and applies to transfer, these are the schools they need to target (edit: meets need for INTERNATIONAL transfer students). IMO they need to apply widely and include schools that are need aware, knowing need will be considered in admission decisions. There are too few need blind schools to limit to that groupâŚand they have extraordinarily low acceptance rates.
I agree with everything else you stated. Iâm sorry OP is in this position at a time that should be exciting.
I agreeâŚapply widely to transferâŚincluding affordable options in their home country.
But if they need aidâŚthey need to apply for aid. Period. They have learned that not applying as an incoming freshman at a need aware school might have helped them get accepted, but it isnât paying the college bills.
