<p>Seriously? More than 4,000? I just thought that because we only know about the cases of brazilian students who got admitted to Harvard, MIT, Standford etc.
Brazilian government is funding study abroad opportunities, but it’s mainly for science-technology courses and it is not a full undergraduation: what they do is to give you opportunities to study for one or two years in an american college after you’ve completed at least 40% (20% for this science program I mentioned) of your major in an brazilian college. It’s true that lots of colleges do have their own study abroad programs, but only a few students get the chance to do it as a consequence of the low number of waves.</p>
<p>Not many students go to an U.S. college during the 4 years. Now, it is getting more popular - I’ve heard of some agencies that help you during the process of choosing and applying to colleges - but I don’t believe that it will ever be as it is in China, for example, since our best colleges are totally for FREE (although it is very hard to get accepted) and most families can’t afford paying for an U.S. college.</p>
<p>I may be wrong, but that is what I believe.</p>
Sounds like you have many high-achieving friends? Good for you! </p>
<p>I often recommend LACs to international students who do not have the resources to pay for an American education on their own and not the profile to get accepted to the top private universities. LACs give financial aid to somewhat “weaker” international applicants than the top universities, but LACs have other disadvantages: they enjoy zero name recognition outside of the US, rather little within the US and you aren’t getting any “practical/marketable” education either. If, next April, you are in the lucky position to choose between LACs and universities, do keep in mind that you might have more options coming out of a prestigious university than coming out a LAC. </p>
<p>(I went to Bryn Mawr, one of the better LACs. Most of my international friends went to grad school because they were unable to find a job in the US or at home or anywhere else in the world. I also had some international friends at the University of Pennsylvania, and they each had several well-paying job offers to choose from. One of the most frustrating moment in my LAC career happened when I went to a “how to interview for a job in consulting” workshop hosted by our career development office. At the end of the workshop, a student asked the presenter if his company offered internships or entry-level positions. His response: “Yes, but we hire exclusively from Princeton and Wharton.” Now that I have an @stanford.edu email address, I am being recruited by companies who would have not even read my application before…)</p>
I am almost in the exact situation as u. My ethnicity is Chinese but have Canadian citizenship, had Canadian education since grade six. It is pretty depressing that we come from relatively or should I say very over represented racial groups. So, even though many colleges deny that they are racist, but the every institute all wants a diverse student body coming from different cultures (which is perfectly understandable) I guess we just have to accept and adapt, but some Asians (not offence to any race whatsoever) are very competitive and I feel pretty pressured since I am not such an outrageously outstanding student. Btw, where do u live in canada?
I read in a reliable admission book(forgot the title) that international students coming directly from their country are compared with their peers in their country, while the ones who studied in USA are still compared with internationals who studied in the US. So, these two international categories are different, apparently.
As far as I know if you attend a US high school your application will be read by the regional officer who has certain knowledge about the education system there, so you’ll be compared to other US applicants from that region. It sounds a bit illogical if the officer who reads your file is the one who specializes in Chinese school system and has no idea how different the schools in New Jersey and New Mexico are, how competitive the students, which activities are offerred, etc. The applicant who has 8 years experience with horse riding for ex would probably stand out in the NJ pile and the Chinese student pile and not the NM pile…
I think you’ll compete with other internationals only at the committee and when finaid, etc. are taken into account. The admission officers will try to understand you as best as they can first (which is the purpose of the regional reading) before trying to compare you with somebody else (well, I hope)
Nonetheless I think it also depends on each school’s way of processing materials. The one which has large applicant pool will be more likely to read files according to high school locations.
There are two levels: international for evaluation purpose (which depends on where you attend school) and international for financial aid purpose (which depends on citizenship status). F2 students living in the US are evalated alongside students from their region. Then they are evaluated alongside internationals for financial aid purpose. Internationals who don’t need financial aid have one less hurdle to pass.
Depending on the university, the student will either be offered admission even if there’s no financial aid, or denied if there’s no financial aid (the most common case for internationals, since they can’t get a visa without the proper finances; the exception are the need blind/do not meet need universities.)
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