I’m a Canadian Citizen, but I have lived in the U.S. for over six years. Even though I have lived in the US for so long, I have to apply to US schools as a Canadian international student. I’d like to attend an extremely selective college, such as MIT or Princeton, and I would favor a science-edged school, so MIT, Caltech, and Stanford are more appealing to me. I have the SAT score and grades to match theses schools, but my extracurriculars are somewhat lacking (not world-changing, but long-term commitment to science, orchestra, and French with some awards on the state level).
If you (or anyone you know) have lived in the US as a Canadian and applied and been accepted into an extremely competitive school in the US, could you please tell me about your application process? For instance:
Do you think it is harder or easier for Canadians to get into these schools compared to US students? Specifically, if two very similarly excellent students going to the same US high school apply to Harvard, but one is Canadian and the other is American, which has a better chance? If you could please explain why, that would be really helpful!
How did you distinguish yourself from the American applicants from your school?
In what ways did being Canadian help you, and in what ways did it hurt you?
Did you present yourself as an American kid with an unfortunate Canadian label, or as a Canadian who happens to be living in the US?
Which schools did you apply to, and which were you accepted into? Do you happen to have an idea why?
How did you tailor your application to specific schools?
Any other advice or thoughts on your experience?
Thank you so much! I realize that only a small niche of people will be able to answer these questions, so I appreciate your help!
You will be considered an international applicant at most US colleges, even though you go to a US high school. That means your probability of acceptance will generally be lower than that of your HS peers. MIT’s international acceptance rate was 2.4% for class of 2022 https://mitadmissions.org/apply/process/stats/
Colleges will certainly evaluate your academic accomplishments within the context of your high school, but you will still be considered in the pool of international candidates, not domestic. You GC should be able to help you best prepare your application.
If you are applying for financial aid, that will be a disadvantage at schools that are need-aware for internationals.
Are you also considering applying to Canadian colleges?
@Mwfan1921 I’m considering applying to the University of Toronto, since I used to live in Toronto, but I would prefer to attend school in the US simply because I’ve gotten used to the US.
Also, what do you mean by GC? If you mean counselor, I’m afraid they have virtually zero experience with international students.
Did you happen to go through something like I’m experiencing? If so, could you please tell me about what you did?
Yes, I meant your counselor. Even though they might not have had an international student at your school before, the mechanics of the application process isn’t all that different. Your counselor may have relationships with admissions officers at the schools on your list, and can discuss your application with them.
If help in that regard is not coming from your counselor, you can email the AOs directly, and ask them questions that aren’t easily answered by doing research on their websites. Hopefully some international students that are in US high schools will also comment and share their experience.
Not a Canadian, but an international who went to HS in the US and am attending a college often mentioned on this site.
@Mwfan1921 is correct. In cases where all else is equal (which is never the case), the American would be selected. Top US colleges have a hard or soft cap on the percentage of international undergraduates, typically in the 10-12% range. Along the same lines, the acceptance rate for international applicants is roughly half the overall rate.
See above. Additionally, geographic diversity, IMO, is not a consideration for internationals. Regardless, colleges have their pick of Canadian applicants.
It is what it is. The application asks your nationality, and colleges will process accordingly. Except for the fact that you application will be evaluated in the context of your US HS by the AO in charge of the region, the fact that you are in the US is irrelevant.
“3. In what ways did being Canadian help you, and in what ways did it hurt you?”
I was originally Canadian, and have been a dual citizen living in the US for a very long time. I attended selective universities in the US for my two degrees (BSc and MSc).
For admission to selective schools in the US, being a Canadian will not help you. You will be applying as an international student which makes admission very, very difficult. It has become a lot more difficult since I was attending university. Being an international student might or might not hurt you with respect to the cost of attendance. This will depend upon each school’s policy with respect to meeting full need for international students, and where applicable with respect to merit aid.
As an international student, if you have perfect grades and perfect SAT scores, MIT, Caltech, and Stanford will still be high reaches. You can apply to all three (they are great schools). But do not expect to be accepted to any of them. You definitely will want to apply to safeties and match schools. Perhaps more importantly, you will definitely want to spend a significant amount of time thinking about safeties and matches.
For admission to the top schools in Canada, being a Canadian citizen will of course help you a lot with respect to the cost of attendance. This might or might not be particularly strongly true of McGill, which gives “resident of Quebec” tuition to some Canadian citizens applying from outside of Canada. My kids do have experience applying to Canadian universities as dual (and therefore Canadian) citizens living and studying in the US. It is very straightforward and much easier than applying to US schools.
Given the huge difference in cost between US and Canadian schools, your family would need to be very wealthy to make it worth the cost of attending university in the US unless you qualify for a lot of financial aid. I do know multiple people who did their bachelor’s in Canada and their master’s and/or PhD in the US at very highly ranked schools (including Stanford and Princeton). The top US schools seem to know how strong the Canadian schools are for undergrad.
“7. Any other advice or thoughts on your experience?”
You should IMHO very seriously consider doing a bachelor’s in Canada and a master’s or PhD in the US.
Being an international is never an advantage and always a disadvantage.
Even colleges that are need blind/meet full need for Americans are need aware for internationals (except for 6), so that your parents’ ability to pay will factor in. So not only will an American be picked before you but another international who has more money will be picked before you.
The only college that will not treat you differently and will consider you a US applicant because you attend a US high school is Pomona college.
Any acceptance rate needs to be divided in two or even three (for colleges such as HYPMS), especially if you need financial aid. So, if a college as a 50% acceptance rate, your odds are 25% and the college is a high match to low reach.
If you want to stay in the US, your #1 goal should be to find universities with automatic scholarships for stats. If you have 1420+ then UAlabama Honors would provide you with a near-full tuition scholarship.
If you have 1500+ then UPitt, tOSU, UCincinnati, Appalachian State, UNC Asheville, UMN Twin Cities, Ole Miss… Are all worth a try. They are not automatic but if your profile makes you think top 25 universities/LACs are possible then you’d be competitive for a scholarship at one or a couple of them.
Your list needs 3 universities with automatic scholarships or where your scores place you in the top 5% admitted students.
Then about 5-6 where acceptance rate is 35-55%.
Once all these apps and the scholarships apps have been completed (in July- August) you can tackle the others.
Also definitely apply to more than UToronto, perhaps add 1 more Canadian university since they’re more predictable (but still not guaranteed if we’re talking ut or McGill or UBC).
It all depends on your status in the US. We’ve been here for 3 years but under our visa we are considered international for the application status and are not residents. If your on a student visa then yes your international. Seems to me being in the US for 6 years would mean you have a permanent visa
@skieurope So do you mean that they’ll put me in the pile of international applications, but the international admissions committee will also get an opinion from the AO for my region in the US?
@DadTwoGirls Thank you for your advice. I’ll look into more Canadian schools. I’m just concerned that living in Canada for four years might impede the process of me obtaining a green card in the US (since I’m currently in the middle of one of the many steps to get my green card) so I’ll have to ask Immigration Services about that.
@MYOS1634 Thanks for letting me know about all of the colleges with automatic scholarships. I will definitely visit their websites to check and see what I qualify for.
@HPuck35@airway1 Even though I’ve been here for six years, I don’t have my Green Card yet. My family is in the middle of the process of obtaining Green Cards, but I’ll be well into college by the time we get them, since the process has so many steps and waiting periods.
What type of visa do you have now? Student? If you have a non immigrant visa (student) then your international but if your parents are working and paying taxes then it’s a different story. Just double check with the state university. My son is an American but was not considered instate because of my visa status
^^Exactly. It would be unusual to have been living in the U.S. for six years without securing a green card.
Two of my Ds attended colleges in the U.S. and had no difficulty gaining admission. From what I understand, the number of international students at U.S. colleges is higher than it has ever been.
By the way, being labeled Canadian is never unfortunate.
Actually, no it’s not. It depends upon the parents’ reason for being in the US and their visa status.
There is one admissions committee, in general. I’m just saying the AO that handles the state of your HS will read/evaluate your application, but your international status will come into play.
You do not list yours stats etc. If you are admitted to the topmost US schools then go, several of those schools give financial aid to internationals. If you do not make it into that elite group then McGill/Toronto/UBC would be a less costly and interesting experience.
@DadTwoGirls Since the OP was born in Canada and lived there for about 12 years he would pay the out of province tuition at McGill.
Some state universities allow H4 students who live in these states to apply as residents and thus to benefit from instate tuition. However H4 students can’t work, unlike F1 students who can have internships during vacations/summer.
@skieurope Ah ok, I think I get what you mean now, thanks!
@TomSrOfBoston Like I mentioned in the original post, my numbers (SAT, grades, etc) are high and generally 99th percentile and up. My other activities, extracurriculars, and awards are all okay (some local-ish science contests, some national French contests). I have what it takes to be considered at these schools, but I know that there are a lot of kids out there with numbers like mine, plus they’re not international, so acceptance will still be extremely difficult for me.
@MYOS1634 I live in Texas, and I know I’m going to apply for the University of Texas at Austin, and I’ll probably qualify for in-state tuition even though I’m international. If I obtain my green card during my time at college, I will then be allowed to work and obtain internships.