Are an international student's chances actually higher than an American's at getting into a US schoo

<p>From my research I've found that international students who speak English as well as any American student and have completed HS education in the united states actually have a better shot at most colleges than American students. A new data report from California school system indicates that 55% out of state were accepted to at least one school. 60% internationals were accepted into at least one and 63% in state were accepted to at least one. Ultimately a vast majority of international students don't have good English and come from china/India.</p>

<p>Does anyone have any actual data that it is harder for me, an Eastern European born (from a relatively small country and therefore help colleges reach their diversity quota), us educated student to get into top schools?</p>

<p>Thank you guys for all of your help. I just want to find an actual source that proves me wrong rather than the usual "oh it's harder for internationals" that most people instinctively thibk.</p>

<p>Ps sorry for grammar I'm on my phone</p>

<p>If you are a US educated student, you’re going to have an easier time than if you were educated out of the country. Period. If you are a permanent resident, you aren’t even considered international when applying to schools in the US.</p>

<p>However, if you live outside of the US and did not go to high school in the US, you are going to have a difficult time getting into any US school.</p>

<p>But I don’t have a source…sorry!</p>

<p>No matter how well you speak English, colleges limit the number of international students in an admitted class. So, US students have a much easier time of being admitted. </p>

<p>To give you a concrete example, look at Harvard, which admits about 1660 students per year. Now consult this pdf: <a href=“http://www.hio.harvard.edu/abouthio/statistics/pdf/StudentsSchoolCountryRank13-14.pdf”>http://www.hio.harvard.edu/abouthio/statistics/pdf/StudentsSchoolCountryRank13-14.pdf&lt;/a&gt; and pay attention to COLUMN 2 (College - which is the undergraduate school). How many students from your country are at Harvard? Those are totals, so divide by 4 to get an idea of how many freshman from each country have been admitted in the past. That’s the reality International students face at the top US schools – whether they attended US high schools or high schools in their own country.</p>

<p>Gibby perfectly painted the picture here. That is indeed the reality.</p>

<p>So answering your question, ABSOLUTELY NOT. Even for International students willing to foot 110% of their bills, their chances are still not set in stone compared to other internationals, let alone Americans.
You have to remember that these schools do have quotas for international students, otherwise internationals would flock over their campuses. International applications and acceptance are processed separately than US citizens, within their targeted quota.
So, it is safe to say that the competition is even stiffer for an international student (completed high school in the US, or not), than an American citizen or Permanent resident, because he or she is competing with the rest of the world for a spot, while an American only competes with other Americans for a spot.
Best of luck to you.</p>

<p>4500 total students in your spreadsheet. 4500/4=1125 out of the 1660 admitted. More internationals accepted than Americans?? Look at your spreadsheet and use your logic on total number @gibby</p>

<p>@YeezyHov 1660 is the number of freshman matriculants to Harvard College. Gibby’s spreadsheet has all students, regardless of year of study, in all schools. @Gibby did direct you to column B in the post above. 729/4/1660=11%</p>

<p>^^ Thank you skieurope. </p>

<p>Another way of looking at it: Harvard College has approximately 6,640 total students in the undergraduate program – that’s Column #2 or Column B (whichever you prefer) – and of that 6,640 total students, only 51 are from China. @YeezyHov: I’m guessing there are far fewer students represented at Harvard from your country.</p>

<p>Generally, state/ public universities or private colleges that have no financial aid or financial responsibility for international students, have higher admission rate for them. But how much?! It really depends on the school.
Some school like UCLA, have almost the same admission rate for US students and international. And some schools like UC Santa Cruz, have a 20% gap between these admission rates.</p>

<p>Some factors like: how many internationals apply, difference between out-of-state tuition and in-state tuition, how rich the school is etc. have impact on these gaps. But, as I said, generally, it is easier to get into a state university paying international tuition. (with the exception of some really elite colleges.)</p>

<p>In case of the schools which give away aid to internationals. Getting in them as an international is a LOT harder that US students. Especially if they are need-blind.
For instance: Some schools like MIT, have about 2.5% admission rate for internationals! Thats 1 student out of 39!!! Its admission rate for domestic students (9.7%) seems pretty high compared to this number.</p>

<p>The UC system is a bit different right now as they seem to be seeking more full pay out of area students than they used to. That is very much not representative of all colleges or private colleges. </p>

<p>"Friday morning, UC Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas B. Dirks announced that the university would be enrolling more out-of-state and international students with a goal of growing their portion of their undergraduate population from 20 percent to 23 percent over the next three years.</p>

<p>Nonresident students pay about $23,000 more annually in tuition and fees than Californians, which would bring in $2.2 million from an additional 100 out-of-state and international freshman UC Berkeley expects to enroll in fall 2014."</p>

<p>Read more here: <a href=“http://www.sacbee.com/2014/04/18/6336387/admission-rates-fall-at-uc-campuses.html#storylink=cpy”>http://www.sacbee.com/2014/04/18/6336387/admission-rates-fall-at-uc-campuses.html#storylink=cpy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>No one seems to have mentioned that the out-of-state and international applicant pools are likely to be stronger than the in-state applicant pools at state universities. That likely accounts for the higher admission rate in some of the examples.</p>

<p>You are correct. Sorry for my confusion. Right now they’res one undergrad student at Harvard from my country. Would representing this country give me a boost in the sense that just having me there let’s Harvard boast one extra represented country?</p>

<p>As a Canadian, would my chances be better than that of other international students?</p>

<p>No. They’re not trying to increase that number, although they may. It means that, at best, Harvard will admit one student from your country (ie., the best applicant from your entire country). And sometimes, it will admit none.</p>

<p>@arceuz: If you look at the numbers, it would appear that, yes, your chances as a Canadian are better than YeezHov’s (146 vs 1). However, I imagine there are more students applying from Canada than from YeezHov’s country, so it’s difficult to say how much better your chances would be.</p>