Applying from different countries

Hey guys! I was wondering this about applying to top unis. Would I be more successful applying from a very under represented country with stellar grades, top of my class and lots of ECs and awards or from a top boarding school (unis know my school for consistently producing top graduates) in the US as middle of my graduating class, with not so good grades and less achievements. Thanks!

As an international student you will be considered in both contexts: the AOs will know your ‘very under-represented country’ and your high-end boarding school.

The long and the short of it is that your home country being under-represented is not an important selection metric, and won’t make up for a less than stellar application to the top schools.

So would it be better to apply from home with a top notch CV or from the boarding school with not so good of a CV?

If you are not a US citizen or permanent resident, no matter where you apply from you will be evaluated as an international student. For the tippy-top colleges you have to be a tippy top student no matter where you apply from, and for international students that means not just in your school bur in your region- broadly defined. You have to have the stats, the story and standout in that group.

If you are already in boarding school in the US, there will be some pluses and some minuses. On the plus side, if it’s one of the top boarding schools you will be well prepped for applications, with lots of the US-style ‘extras’. Being in the middle of the class means that - unless there is something particular to your story- sets you at the level of school the middle of the class gets into.

Are you deciding whether to go to the boarding school? If so, why would you assume that you can shine at home but not at the boarding school?

I came to boarding achool this year and I’m now debating whether to go back or not since I shine way more at home and I’m also much more happier there, I’m hating my time at b.s. Would u advise going back even if its for junior year? I would prefer doing that I just dont know how much that hinders my college apps

For the very top universities (Harvard, MIT, Stanford,…) you need to excel at whichever high school you are at. If you hate it and don’t do very well, then as an international student you are not going to be attending Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Caltech, or similar schools for your bachelor’s degree.

If it were me, I would go back to a school where you are happy. At a minimum I do not think that it will be bad for your chances of getting into a top US university.

I did my undergrad at a highly ranked school. There was one person who was only 7th in their high school graduating class. This was a bit of a shock to me at the time (other students were almost all in the top 2 or 3) but he was from a VERY highly ranked school that is very well known for science and math and technology. Being from a highly ranked high school might help if you are only 7th in a graduating class of 700 students. If you are 300th in a class of 700 students, this will not get you into MIT or Harvard or Stanford. If you are near the top of your class at any high school in the world, then your chances are pretty good at UNH or U.Mass or Rutgers or any of other universities that are ranked between 50 and 200 in the US.

Thanks so much! Perhaps I’ll share a bit more with you. At the school I’m currently at, I’m not doing horrible (I have a 3.75 gpa) and am taking several honors and APs which is unusual for sophomores at my school. But currently, I’m not really in any club and do not have any leadership positions. I’m also not on any varsity team for sports. If I go back to my old school, I’d most likely have a 4.0 gpa, be top of my class, have 3 varsity sports, lead a club, be head girl of the school, start my own charity at school and etc… of course this is all possible at my boarding school as well, but I’m definitely not as motivated to do this all here. I would love to go back to my old school, but I’m worried that unis will be a bit put off by the fact that my grades significantly dropped at this boarding school. I really dont know what to do, as this is a very good school. What would u suggest doing?

First, a few questions: are you at a top tier boarding school (BS)? how long have you been there? will you be asking for financial aid from colleges?

If you are in your first term at a new school of course you don’t have any ‘leadership positions’ - and if your BS is anywhere close to a top tier one, there are very few if any other sophomores who have leadership positions either. Don’t forget the reason that people say you need ‘leadership’ for college apps: it is an indicator that you have committed to something over a long enough time and at sufficient depth that you have been accepted by your peers (and often faculty) as a leader. Iow, it’s not about the title, but what it shows about you. Also, please do NOT start a charity. Colleges are burnt out on students starting charities that last as long as their college application season. Associate yourself with an existing charitable organization and show commitment and growth in responsibility over time.

Re: grades being lower at your new school is not necessarily a problem, as your US grades will be evaluated in context of your US school (we had this happen with some of our collegekids who moved countries in the middle of secondary school).

Also, be aware that, as much as you want to go home and back to your old school, there is a real chance that you could get back to your old school and find that it is not as perfect an experience as you are imagining. Being away for a year can make a very big difference (something our collegekids have also experienced), and the social dynamics on re-entering can be tricky. You may have been the Queen Bee of your class, but somebody else is now. At least work through the thinking as realistically as you can.

You are 16? and far from home. If you want to go home, that is entirely reasonable. If the reason you are in BS in the US is to increase the odds of your getting into a super top-tier school, remember this: whether you stay in the US or go home, your chances of getting into the famous name schools are teeny-tiny. They are teeny-tiny for everybody, and extra-teeny tiny for international students. If, as is most likely, you don’t get into HYPetc, would it still be worth it to be here? What if you got into a really good school, but one that nobody at home has heard of (say, Wake Forest or Pomona?) would that be “good enough” for you / your parents?

Thanks for the answer! Yes im at a top tier school and Ive been here for just a term, and no, i wont be asking for financial aid. The reason I came was to increase my odds of getting into a good college, but im really really unhappy here (I cry myself to sleep everyday) I also like the classes my old school offers more. But i dont know if, college wise, its worth it to go back, but i know ill be so much happier there and will construct a better CV. But this is such a good BS that i dont know if its worth leaving even though I hate it with all my heary.

What do you consider a “good” college?

If it’s a super-famous name, and you don’t get in, will this be worth it?

Definetely not, if I do stay, that would be only reason to. By a good college I mean something like in the top 30???

Sounds to me like you definitely need to be at a place where you’ll be happy. Going to a posh boarding school in the US to help your college chances seems to be the worst reason ever to go away to school when you’re so young. Go home, be happy, and shine. THAT is how you’ll get into a great college for you.

Thanks! Im just worried that if I go back and dont get into the college of my dreams, I’ll forever regret it. I really dont know how college will see my relocation for junior year, I’m worried they might think I found it too challenging in the US or something else. But other than that, I was also way more motivated at home and inspired to do way more things.

Ok, I see #13 now.

The number 1 MOST helpful thing you must do, regardless of if you stay or leave, is to let go, right now, of the idea of a dream college. Dreams are not reality. Being ho hum at a prestigious boarding school is not going to help you get into a tippy top college. They will know your school and you will be compared to the kids in the top 10% or so of applicants. The unhappy kid with average grades is not going to be a reason to admit you, regardless of your boarding school name. And yes, they may indeed think you found it too challenging.

You can’t forever regret something you have no control over. You can’t make a college accept you. If you don’t get in, you will never be told why. You need a balanced list of colleges that you can get into based on YOUR stats, not based on the name of your boarding school.

Look at it this way: what will you regret more? Staying in a place that makes you miserable, or going home and being happy, and letting the college chips fall where they may. Go home.

Talk to your college counselor at your boarding school. The counselor won’t want to say anything too definitive- admissions for international students to T30 schools are a crap shoot at the best of times, and they won’t want to mislead you- but ask for examples of schools that they could imagine putting as targets for you, based on what they know so far. Look at what those schools are: if that’s where you ended up, would it be worth it?

Fwiw, remember that the first term in a new school and country is simply exhausting, so it is not surprising that you felt more motivated and inspired at home. Don’t discount the possibility that once you have found your feet you will have the energy and enthusiasm to do more things.

I was just thinking that if I go home, colleges will see that my grades were way worse at my hoarding school and they might think I wasnt up for the challenge or something.

argh. You need to stop stewing. Seriously. Trying to read tea leaves is a waste of time and energy.

Fact 1: No matter where you apply from, your chances at a “T30” (whatever you consider that to be) are minuscule, because you are an international applicant.

Fact 2: The college counselor at your BS will have the best possible guidance on your what your options are likely to be and how colleges will view your story.

and fwiw, a 3.75 GPA from Exeter is not the same as a 3.75 from my local public HS. AdComms consider your marks relative to your cohort & school.

Thanks so much for the help! So if I apply from the US, am I still considered as an international applicant?

Yup. Unless you are a US citizen or Permanent Resident (ie, Green Card holder) you are an international applicant. Just as a US citizen who is in boarding school in Switzerland or whose family is posted to Brazil is still a domestic applicant.

If you are not a US citizen and are not a US permanent resident, then you are an international student at all universities in the US. If you go to high school in the US, then you are still an international student as @collegemom3717 has correctly said.

As an international student, your chances of getting into a top 30 university are very small. If you were in the top 1% of the students at an elite famous private high school in the US your chances of getting in anywhere might go from 1% to 10%, but they would still be low. It sounds like you are not going to be one of the top 5 or 10 students out of several hundred at your current high school.

To me it looks as if you are at an expensive high school that you hate in an attempt to get into a university that you are not likely to get into.

However, there are hundreds of very good universities in the US. You do not need to attend a “top 30” university to do well in life. There are also very good universities in other countries. If you want to get accepted to somewhere such as McGill or Toronto you need a high GPA and reasonably high test scores. You can get these at an “okay” public high school in your home country.

I think that you should do as well as you can for the rest of the current semester, and talk to a counselor at your current high school. However, I don’t think that you are gaining anything by attending a high school that you do not like.