does being an international student hurt my chances or help more?
esp since i am studying in a foreign country…
like i am from Taiwan, but I have been studying as an international student in Thailand…
<p>are u serious?
i know about the lack of financial aid.. but the admission thing..
hmm if there are limited spaces for international students.. usually how limited?
and i thought universities usually like to increase their diversity?</p>
<p>and i read somewhere.. that studying at a foreign country is kind of a plus.. since it is harder to adapt etc?</p>
<p>Admissions rates at Ivies for internationals are under 3%. Doesn't mean they don't like 'em - just that they are swamped with applicants, most of whom can pay their own way. Williams has international needblind admissions and financial aid, but fewer than 8% of applicants were admitted, with much lower aid offers than for non-internationals. There are a very few colleges that a specifically interested in attracting international students - Macalester and Mount Holyoke likely being the best known.</p>
<p>Mini's facts are right. The admissions rate for international students is FAR lower than for regular admits. This doesn't mean "Don't apply;" after all, international students are accepted every year. It just means be realistic. If you see in USNWR that a college's admissions rate is "X" percent, it does NOT apply to internationals.</p>
<p>ouch...
so how hard will it be for me to get into a school like the UC's?
how hard is an out-of-state admission?</p>
<p>btw.. i duno but i think i am a bit different from other internationals...
i go to an international school.. meaning i learn all the same stuff US kids do..
i have AP classes, same scale GPA etc..
the last class had students who made it into cornell(2), pepperdine, UCSD etc</p>
<p>California residents are given priority for admission to the UCs. Other US residents have a very hard time getting admitted to a UC; the admission rate for internationals is very low. Also, that may get even lower. A stated objective of UCs is to attempt to admit as many California residents as they can in the top 12.5% of their high school class. There have been reports, regent's meetings, etc., which have discussed that budget cuts and the increase in applicants is making that goal impossible to reach and that the UCs will likely have to admit even fewer out-of-state and internationals in the future. </p>
<p>As to colleges in general, be aware that most public universities favor their own state's residents and, in fact, many of them are required by state law to do so. Nevertheless, there are many of those that admit decent percentages of internationals who apply but have the condition that the international must provide evidence to show he can pay the full amount of the cost of attending because the university will not provide financial aid to the international. Those colleges look at internationals as a way to get more tuition money into their coffers.</p>
<p>There are actually large numbers of private schools (most with high admission rates to begin with) that are also fairly friendly to the admission of internationals on the same condition. At highly ranked schools that may provide aid to internationals, the situation is different. That aid is coming from the school's funds (whereas much of the need based-aid provided for US residents is government funded) and the college is going to be quite selective choosing the internationals on which it is going to spend that money. Moreover, they all simply naturally favor US residents and admit a low percentage of internationals. Finally, if you apply to top schools, you are going to be in a pool of internationals who are doing the same and that pool (a) is very large and (b) consists almost exclusively of top students from their various countries, and you will be competing with that group for 5% or so of the total seats the college will be alotting for internationals. Also, when colleges speak of having "diversity," the international student is really not the one they are referring to; instead their focus is underrepresented minorities from the US.</p>
<p>In other words, you should not assume that your being an international, regardless of what your high school program is, is going to provide any favorable factor for your admission and that you actually start at a severe disadvantage to US residents. But if you are a top student you should still apply, and that is particularly true if you can pay your own way which at many colleges will help you get admitted.</p>