Circumstances of the location where the applicant hails from.

International Students
1

Hi guys! While deciding whether to admit a student or not in prestigious colleges and universities like Princeton, Yale, Harvard, Williams, Stanford etc, do the colleges consider the circumstances of the location of the applicant where he hails from? For example, an applicant might have lived under remote circumstances, not accessible to enough resources that could build his CV. Or the applicant might have not gone to a good school due to economic reasons and hence, might have not had the chance to garner various skills. If I’ve made my point clear, I’d like to ask whether the college admission officers weigh all these factors while making admissions decision? And will the applicant stand out if he succeeds to make aware the admissions officer that despite the lack of resources and opportunities, he made use of all the resources that were available, although mere?

The question has been daunting me for a long time. I, as an international applicant from Nepal, have not had enough access to various resources but grasped every opportunity that came forth. Also, I aspire to attend a really good college in the US. I am also well aware that it is really tough to get in as an international as it is really really competitive. Overall, I’ve been able to gather enough and stellar EC’s. My scores are pretty good. Do you guys think me including another applicants like me stand a chance of getting in into those prestigious colleges?

Also, what suggestions would you like to give to applicants from opportunity deficient places like Nepal?

2

In theory, the answer is “yes”. In practice, it appears to be “no, not really”.

The most prestigious universities like to admit interesting applicants with a track record of excellence. Why take a chance on a bright but underachieving applicant (who may do great things if given more resources, or maybe just continue to do well in class) when you could admit an IMO participant from the same country?

This is actually a common criticism against the top universities. They say they’d like to admit more students from underprivileged backgrounds and cannot find enough qualified applicants; but it appears that they are really looking for poor students with the same achievements as their wealthy applicants (e.g. poor students who lived in a well-off community, attended a good school and have essentially the same list of achievements as their wealthy classmates, except for the expensive summer programs or piano lessons).

3

^^^can’t agree enough.

I think expecting students from poor background to have as same credentials as non-poor or well off students ruins the basis of “holistic admission”. Really, how could they expect a poor kid to have stellar club activities, awards, SAT and whatnot when s/he is already struggling with craps in his/her life?

4

thanks for the response peeps