<p>International admissions is very selective even if you do not need aid. Wesleyan has a comprehensive breakdown of specific cohorts of applicants available on its website to help understand the process (about 16% of full-pay internationals are admitted, vs the overall admission rate of 20%). This is especially useful because Wesleyan separates mostly southeast asian cohorts (freeman scholars) from the cohort of other internationals who need aid (<a href=“http://www.wesleyan.edu/admission/international_students/applying.html”>http://www.wesleyan.edu/admission/international_students/applying.html</a>). It is also possible to solicit these statistics from other institutions. Grinnell, for instance, will give you such data.</p>
<p>That said, it is important to account for what is causing such seemingly low acceptance rates for full pay internationals, and I’ll bet it’s full-pay Chinese applicants for the most part. A full-pay international from a country not so well-represented in the college will certainly have a much better chance. As for top LACs, you are going to have to have a solid transcript and test scores and other things before any other factors are considered.</p>