Dear American parents, Could you answer me a question about selecting a college?

[tk21769]

The Williams map is showing the countries that are represented, not the number of students per country. I don’t believe for a nanosecond, as the single map pin per country might imply, that Williams has only one int’l student from China.

But if it truly the case that there is only one student per country, then that makes it even harder for applicants from china.

I thought that map represented several students from China (comparable to the number at Kenyon). But on second look I think you’re right, it is only showing one pin per represented country. So we really don’t know how many Chinese students are at Williams. We also don’t know their admission rate or average stats.

Nor do we know the qualifications of the OP’s kid. I don’t doubt that it is challenging for almost any Chinese student to get an admission and acceptable aid offer from a selective American college. I think the question is where to look for good schools where the odds are at least a little higher than the Ivies and other relatively well-known, top colleges. That’s the question the OP is asking, isn’t it?

Skidmore College is much less selective overall than Williams. For 2014-15 it awarded financial aid to 96 undergraduates, averaging $56,600 per award. If anyone knows how many Chinese students are at Skidmore, I’d be interested in those numbers.

[tk21769]

The following article on the Macalester College site may provide some useful perspective:
http://www.macalester.edu/news/macalestertoday/2011fall/thechinaconnection/

Fueled by a booming economy, a growing middle class, and demand for higher education that far outstrips their country’s available opportunities, Chinese students are now the largest contingent of international students at American colleges or universities, sending about 130,000 students to U.S. colleges last year. With relationships at leading high schools in cities such as Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Beijing, Macalester has welcomed students from China for decades. But over the last five years, the admissions office has seen a new surge in applicants, many from the mainland. in 2006, just 76 Chinese students applied; in 2011, 271 students with Chinese citizenship sent applications—a new record for Macalester. This fall there are 57 students from China enrolled at Macalester, or approximately a quarter of the total [4 year] international student enrollment.

Macalester’s overall admission yield is ~24%.
If ~15 Chinese students are enrolled per class, and if the Chinese yield rate is about the same as the overall yield rate, then Mac must be accepting about 60 of the ~300 Chinese students who apply. So the Chinese student admission rate would appear to be about 20%, or about half the overall admission rate. That’s very competitive, but not hopeless. USNWR ranks Macalester #23 among National LACs. For 2014-15, Macalester awarded financial aid to 215 international students, with an average dollar amount of $42,377 per award.