Can I transfer credits from a Brazilian University to the US?

Can a student who has studied a year or two at Ashoka apply for a transfer to a US university or liberal arts college? What about a transfer of credits? On the other hand, would Ashoka encourage transfer applications from other colleges?

• Answer:

  A2A Yes. Having completed a few years Ashoka, a student should find it possible to transfer to a Liberal Arts college. I say this because I have acquaintances at Ashoka who were indeed accepted to Liberal Arts programs in the US. The foundation courses at Ashoka that all freshmen are required to take contribute to Ashoka's positive reception abroad. A strict curriculum yardstick that all students measure themselves against helps simplify matters for an admissions committee that has to count for variables such as cultural influences, pedagogy differences, and grade inflation. Nonetheless, do not in any way relegate this to be an easy task. Ashoka is still young with literally zero graduated alumni from the undergraduate program building a good case for the college. YIF is building a respectable track record, which might help; however, graduate and undergraduate admissions are treated quite disparately for anything substantial to be said on the matter. A great idea would be to apply to colleges that your professors (the ones writing your recommendations) have previous taught in, or gotten their PhDs from. Student credibility will be the number one issue for admissions committees, and a known figure rooting for you will go a long way helping your application. Priority 2 should be applying to schools Ashoka has official partnerships with. Do not be fooled into thinking an official partnership means high application visibility. To beat a dead horse, graduate schools/departments that Ashoka might be coordinating with are not the same as the Admissions Offices. The partnerships will help, but not to the extent that you count on it to get you in. Now, this is a personal opinion, but I see no reason for how it may be inaccurate. You are much better suited applying to smaller schools than you are to large universities. The primary reason I will give you is that smaller schools are extremely flexible with applications and credit transfer. They will look at you more closely, study the courses you took at Ashoka, probably give your professors a call, and eventually, make a decision that truly reflects your application potential. Once accepted, getting credit for courses you took will be smooth and efficient. One reason is that the people at the registrar you will coordinate with will probably be a single or two position levels away from the person/people making the big decisions. It is not uncommon for colleges to break very strict regulations to accommodate something idiosyncratic a student may bring. Larger places, in general, may not give you the same kind of accommodation. There might (and probably are) many exceptions to this. Feel free to apply to Berkeley or UMD - you never know unless you try. But to the best of my knowledge, it will take at least a decade longer for transfers to large universities becoming seamless and unproblematic. All the best! All arguments presented in this answer are my personal opinions and do not in any way reflect the voice of the administration at any college/university - Ashoka or otherwise.