I am an American studying at the university of st andrews in Scotland and I kind of hate it here. For a while it was my dream school and I wouldn’t want to go anywhere else, but now that I am here I no longer feel that way. I hate the course structure and degree structure, I hate how remote and isolated it feels, and I honestly just could not do another year here. I am planning on applying as a transfer to a couple schools in America (I am an American citizen) that are comparable to St Andrews, and I was wondering if anyone had any advice or has been in a similar situation as me. For reference (if necessary) I had a 3.41 UW GPA in high school, 1430 sat and 34 (super score) act, I took 9 AP Classes and will be submitting four 5s and 2 4s. I have what I would consider very good activities that would relate to my prospective major (Econ) including an internship on Wall Street.
That seems like a very reachy list given your HS GPA. I assume you are a freshman with no course grades to report from St Andrews? The US gives far more weight to GPA and much less to AP scores compared to the U.K. which will likely be a problem for you in transferring back.
Where did you get into in the US? I’d start there and approach those colleges to see if they’d honor your original offer. Did you pick St Andrews because it was more prestigious than any college you got into in the US? That is quite common unfortunately, and not a great recipe for success in a very different educational system.
If it’s a choice between St Andrews and a lower ranking US school, are you prepared to stick it out and make the best of things in Scotland, or are you sure you want to come back regardless? Because if you aren’t certain you are going to come back to the US, don’t give up on trying to fit in and enjoy yourself at St Andrews.
I got into Boston College and I got waitlisted at Columbia, got rejected at Notre Dame and Vanderbilt. But most of the other schools on my list I added because they have fairly high transfer acceptance rates, for example UNC has a 47% compared to their 19% first year admin rate. I don’t think my parents would let me come back (and pay for) a school that’s “worse.”
Boston College allows freshman spring transfers for students who were previously admitted but went somewhere else. Unfortunately the deadline to apply for a spring transfer was last week. Still I would call them first thing tomorrow and ask.
UNC has a high transfer admit rate because they accept a lot of in-state students transferring from community college. It is a high reach for you and I would leave apps that are high reaches for last.
I would call BC whether for spring or fall admit.
All the schools on your list are reaches, because of low admit rates and because your HS record will be important in the admission process at this point. Notre Dame, Columbia, and Vandy are unlikely to change their minds with an additional six months of data.
If you are certain you want to transfer, you have to have more likely admits on your list. Do you have any budget constraints?
What other schools were you accepted to last year? You might consider William and Mary, your state flagship, Fordham, Bentley, IU Kelley. If you give us more parameters of what you want in a school, posters will have more suggestions.
Lastly, you are going to have to answer why you want to transfer and why the new school is better for you. Make sure you position that as positively as possible including why the new school is a better fit. Good luck.
The challenge in transferring as a freshman in college is that they will look primarily at your HS grades. Your HS gpa is probably too low for the schools you have listed here - especially without having any grades available from St. Andrews. BC is your best bet since you were accepted before - do you have a connection there?
Take off Notre Dame and Vanderbilt- you weren’t admitted before and there doesn’t seem to be anything materially different about your application now. Maybe add Villanova instead? Bentley/Babson?
I have a sophomore at Colgate and it’s a great school with a really strong Econ program and alumni network. That said it’s pretty remote - a beatiful little town and community but not much going on if you want access to culture and food and outside of school activities. It is also a pretty Greek school socially. My son joined a house and has enjoyed it but that’s not for everyone.
Something about the way the OP writes makes me think they didn’t go to h.s. in the U.S. (even though they are a U.S. citizen). A 3.4 in another country could be a phenomenal GPA depending on the country and may explain their qualified success with applications the first time around since AO’s know that many other countries don’t have grade inflation like the U.S. OP, in what country did you attend h.s.?