Why Smart International Students Start at Community College

I started at a community college in downtown Dallas and now today I actually have a master's degree from the University of Pennsylvania which is part of the Ivy League and one of the best schools in the world. And no, I'm not rich. I didn't have any connections. I just learned how to play the US college system like a pro. And in this video, I'll show you how you can do the same. [Music] Most international students think if they don't get into a top school then their dreams are over. And that could not be further from the truth. That is absolutely wrong. If you try and come to America at first and you fail to get into your dream school, you still have hope to get into your dream school. This is because the US has a transfer system and that transfer system is basically built for second chances and it allows you to go from one school to another. Now, I actually made a video about that and I'll put it somewhere up here so you can understand what the transfer system is. Now, in America, community college is the secret weapon that nobody really talks about. Again, community college is a two-year college, and I went to it at first, and it saved me over $100,000, and it also allowed me to later on transfer and go into these unique universities. So, I actually started at a community college called Al Centro College, and it's a small community college in downtown Dallas. So, when I first got to Al Central College, I had the goal of trying to transfer to the best school possible, but I knew that it was going to be tough because I'm now starting out at a community college. And what I had thought back then is that they would look down upon me. So, I had to do a lot in order to overcome that, which again, I'll be honest with you, is false. They don't really look down at community college students. But when I was there, I thought they did. And what I had done is I decided that I was going to work really really hard. I was going to get a great GPA and then I was also going to do some extracurricular activities. So what I did is I actually joined something called FTHEA Kappa and then later on I actually became the president of Fthea Kappa. Now FTHEA Kappa is an honor society that provides students with scholarships when they transfer. So it's a great society to join especially at community college. So, I became president of Al Centro's FTHEA Kappa chapter and then I also done other things on the side like tutoring and stuff like that in order to show that I was a well-rounded student. Now, the beautiful thing about all of this is when I was deciding that I wanted to transfer, I actually got a letter from a school called University of Rochester whereby they encouraged me to apply and the way they got in contact with me was actually through Fthea Kappa. So when I actually applied to University of Rochester, I got a full ride scholarship. So basically, I got a scholarship that paid for everything. And I basically had to just bring less than $10,000 for my living expenses, right? I had some things that I needed to buy and all of those type of things. Now, I went to University of Rochester and I actually graduated there with a bachelor's degree in economics and then I went out to work. So I went out to work for about 2 years before deciding to return back to school. Now when I returned back to school, I actually went first to Brown University. Now Brown University is another Ivy League school and I actually went there for about a semester where I was trying to get my master's degree in data science. But I didn't really like my experience at Brown University. So I decided that I wanted to transfer to another school. And that's when I came across University of Pennsylvania and absolutely love their program over there. So what I did is I transferred to their master's program in computer science and that's where I got my degree in computer science from the University of Pennsylvania. Now I tell you this whole story just to show you that I was able to get into two Ivy League schools despite going to a community college. In fact, I was able to get a full ride from the University of Rochester despite going to a community college. So, this is my point. They do not look down on community college students and you still have great opportunities when it comes to transferring and actually trying to get into some of the best programs in the world. So, if you basically liked this information that I've given you, what I want to do next is actually give you guys a blueprint. So, I'm giving you the same strategy that I used. Basically, what you want to do first is go to community college because if you go to a community college, it's going to save you 70% of the costs that you would experience if you just go to a college or a university in America. So, go to community college first. Then second, go to classes, study, work hard. Make sure that you get at least a 3.5 or higher GPA because once you get that 3.5 or higher GPA, you can join Fitheta Kapper, which is the next step. So join FTH theta Kappa because once you join them, you're going to gain access to a bunch of transfer scholarships. So once you get into FTHEA Kappa, start picking your target schools. So find schools which offer Fthea Kappa scholarships and target them. Make sure that these are the schools that are going to give you the most amount of money. Also take a look at needlind schools. And also take a look at schools that offer full funding to admitted students. I'm going to put a video up here so that you can watch a video that I made about that. So after you pick your school, tell your story. Schools don't just want perfect. they actually want real. So, I actually made a video on that whereby I talk about how you can write the perfect essay and I'll put it again somewhere up here, but basically write a really good essay and that's going to help you get in. So, most people actually think that community college makes you weak, but the truth is it actually shows your resourcefulness. It shows that you're willing to take a non-traditional path and still succeed. Another thing people get wrong is that they think IV leagues don't take transfer students. That is false. They do take transfer students, especially if your story stands out. I went for my masters, but there was lots of students that actually transferred to the Ivy League for their bachelors. The other thing many people get wrong is they think they need to be perfect. You don't need to be perfect. You just need to be persistent and strategic. Make sure that you're putting your best foot forward by being real and showing them that you're a gogetter. This is going to save you a bunch of time, a bunch of money, and also give you the highest likelihood of getting accepted to those schools. So, thank you so much for watching. If you like this video, then definitely like and subscribe and also leave a comment down below to let me know if this is some useful advice and also if you have any questions or any other topics that you want me to jump into in my next videos. So, definitely leave a comment down below. So, thank you so much again for watching and I will see you in the next video.