<p>Months of applying to American schools as an international student (and countless hours spent on CC) compelled me to think about the "actual" differences between a domestic and an international applicant.</p>
<p>Most international students simultaneously prepare for colleges in their home country and that affects them adversely in a BIG way. At least Asians know what I'm talking about, thanks to our colleges which are notorious for admitting students on the basis of academics only. I am from India and I've seen my friends try to juggle applications to American schools and IIT prep and trust me, most of their efforts crumbled like a house of thin rejection envelopes (that was the best I could come up with four days before my finals).</p>
<p>They spend 6+4 hours a day in class, which means that they lose out on a number of activities that would render them far more competitive at American schools; especially at the Ivys and the likes. </p>
<p>Don't internationals bite off a bit more than they can chew by trying to juggle two entirely different college admission processes?</p>
<p>^i had to convince my father about that. i am from bangladesh and applying to the top schools in bangladesh requires long hours of prep work for admission tests. i made it clear that it was almost impossibly difficult to juggle the two at the same time and do it successfully at either one of the options. its either study wholeheartedly for admission tests where you will compete against god knows how many thousands of applicants or focus wholeheartedly on SATs, essays etc.</p>
<p>carrying on though most of the people i know from bangladesh who are applying to unis in the US have not really tried applying for the local unis. some them have sat for admission tests but they did not spend any time really prepping for them.</p>
<p>Very true. I think the main “problem” is that there are very few (Indians) who decide during say, 9th and 10th itself, that they want to go abroad for their studies.. In most cases, students merely start EXPLORING the option of going abroad during 11th (sometimes even 12th), and only then start working on their apps and stuff.. And since they have been accustomed to the fact that they will be in India itself for the last say 5-6 years atleast, that idea is still stuck in their head till the end.</p>
<p>Still, I think the #1 reason internationals lose out on possible acceptances is LACK OF CONFIDENCE. Zzz, I guess that applies to all students, not just internationals.</p>
<p>Yeah.. lack of guidance.. lack of knowledge about the admissions process etc.. In my case I didn’t know not applying for finaid as an intl would increase your chances a lot at several top schools :(</p>
<p>I never bothered myself with IIT prep. I focussed primarily on my school and on my ECs, and as a result of which, many of my ECs are at the National level. </p>
<p>As for FinAid, you don’t really have a choice. It may well decrease your chances, but there is little use of a pile of acceptances but no place to go to.</p>
<p>There is another, cultural, issue that affects acceptances, and that is selling yourself short. I have met multiple candidates who were uncomfortable touting their accomplishments on the application as they felt it was somehow rude to brag. This is not a cultural problem for most American applicants. Indeed, I met one candidate who left some quite impressive accomplishments off of their application for just this reason.</p>
<p>I agree with what all of you have said (and I don’t even live in Asia!).
We have lack of guidance, different systems than the US - schools in my country offer ECs only for competitions. And most of ECs and comps start in January and last until like April. Basically, there are no in-school ECs in the first semester! And course load could be more overwhelming than in US high schools because we have to juggle 15 subjects at the same time. As a result, not many kids do ECs in my country, nor they are encouraged to do so in high school. (I was fortunate enough to have interests in out-of-school areas so I have some decent ECs)
Another problem that many in my country face is that too many people
a) don’t know about the option of going abroad and don’t even try thinking there is no way they could afford it (existence of finaid - our colleges are 90% public)
b) there is that general idea that our country’s college education is really great (it is not) and people take so much pride in whatever is from our country…
c) as already stated, lack of confidence. If I hadn’t gone to USA on an exchange year, I’d never even dare to apply to top schools thinking they’re only for super-super geniuses that are top 0,0001% of students in the world. But when I went to USA, I met people like me who got into really great schools so I thought “heck, why not at least try?!”</p>
<p>Also, if student’s in USA, they get all those recruits or “propaganda” (? I don’t know how to call those) letters from colleges that each advertise themselves as “the best place ever for you!” If I hadn’t gotten one of those, I’d never even looked at some schools that I deeply love right now.</p>
<p>At this exact time last year I found it almost impossible to do everything- organizations, SAT subject tests, applications, final exams and all the schoolwork I missed out on just for being sick and stressed out.</p>
<p>Sometimes I still regret concentrating more on local university entrance exams than on the apps and other reqs for US universities. But at least the US educational system isn’t as difficult to manage so I can hopefully fare better with transfer apps. =P</p>
<p>It’s not impossible, if you are smart about it. At least I think I successfully managed to juggle all the things you mentioned above, while getting into a top 10 school in the US and also securing admission at an NIT in India (not IIT, though still pretty hard). I spent most of time in grade 11, working on US admission stuff (like SAT’s and basic app framework). Also I had safeties lines up pretty early like UIUC and Rice, to make things less stressful.</p>
<p>
This is very true. I’ve seen two extremes bragging too much, and not mentioning stuff at all. Usually balancing the two extremes is the safest way to go.</p>
<p>I have to agree with whats been said. Personally, preparation for IIT was something that took most of my time away from me. I used to have classes every alternate week day for 4 hours straight after school, and on weekends right in the morning at 6.30 But then, thats what made me realize the importance of time to such an extent that I made use of all opportunities available at school and also started conciously devoting time to my extra curricular pursuits which I was passionate about… It was tough, but I managed</p>
<p>Also, esp in India, there is this notion that only the people who fear the vigourous system of the IIT’s, AIEEE etc take up American colleges as an easy way out.. I have felt that many a time when I talked with my peers. Thats also one major pressure you have… But then, I feel I’ve really enjoyed my application process a lot! Irrespective of differences, and difficulty</p>
<p>^me too! (i think EECS@JHU applied a few years back when the competition was not as intense as it is now. and it certainly seems as though he is a very good student.)</p>
But then, thats what made me realize the importance of time to such an extent that I made use of all opportunities available at school and also started conciously devoting time to my extra curricular pursuits which I was passionate about… It was tough, but I managed</p>