I'm an American studying abroad in an IB school and I have foreign parents. Will I be judged like a domestic or international applicant?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I’m an American studying abroad in an IB school and I have foreign parents. Will I be judged like a domestic or international applicant?
Will my chances of acceptance be lowered since I’m living abroad?

2

You are considered a domestic applicant living abroad. You application will be viewed by the AO handling your region, and your transcript and ECs will be viewed in that context. But you are eligible for many FA that domestic applicants are eligible for and you are not subject to international quota’s or caps. So you are not disadvantaged

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3

You will be a domestic student (with international school records) for admission and financial aid purposes, but without any state residency for state universities (in-state residency tends to be favorable for admission, financial aid, and scholarships at state universities).

4

So if I live in Asia, will my chances decrease because other asian applicants are more competitive?

5

Thanks, so I will be compared to Americans living abroad or applicants from my own country?

6

Different colleges vary on how domestic students with international school records are evaluated.

For the most part, you will be compared to other domestic applicants*, but if the college evaluates applications regionally (some do, some do not), you may be in the “domestic applicants living abroad [or specific country or region]”. Evaluation of academic record from the place you are living can also depend on college policies and procedures.

*But as a non-resident of the state for state universities.

7

If I am compared to applicants living in my region, do you think I will be impacted by the heightened selectivity rate that international students face?

8

No, because you’re not an international.

(Universities like AU or NYU have many internationally educated Americans, called Third Culture Students, and even run a special orientation for them).

9

Thanks! Also, do you know if colleges are need blind to Americans studying abroad or are they need aware?

10

If they are need blind to domestic applicamts, they are need blind for you.

11

Beware that some universities are need blind and do not meet need. Meaning they don’t care about how much you can afford because they don’t offer financial aid to help you afford to attend.
“You’re in, it’s 45k, too bad your family can only afford 9k, not our problem.”
Some of these offer merit aid (scholarships for stats) and some don’t.

12

And meeting need is the college’s definition of “full need,” not yours. There may be a huge gap.

13

Do you have a list of which colleges compare me to domestic applicants and which evaluate me regionally?

14

It is what it is. Would your college list change if such a list exists? Which I doubt even exists.

15

Technically, as @skieurope and others have pointed out, your designation will be as a domestic student, so whatever hard or soft caps on internationals should not apply to you. However, the fact is that your first reader likely is reading for the region so his/her frame of reference will be against other applicants they are assessing. This could include both international as well as domestic abroad applicants. Who knows how the reader will evaluate you. It is nothing you can control once your app is in.

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