<p>Hi,
I am planning to apply to Harvard this fall but currently, I do not have either Citizenship or Green Card.
I am just here with the visa thru my mom's student status.</p>
<p>Therefore, even if I have lived here for more than four years,
I am still classified as an "international."</p>
<p>How are chances to get in as an international who has resided here for 5 yrs?
Would it better to try to get at least Green Card to better my chance?</p>
<p>as far as i know, even if you decided to apply for the green card today, you won't get it in time for applying to harvard, or any other college for that matter.</p>
<p>Doesn't matter. Harvard is need-blind for international students and will give you the money to attend if you are admitted.</p>
<p>hhahaha you know college admissions is competitive when people are basing their residential status in a country based on which would look better on an app :)</p>
<p>well, i do have a very reliable chance of getting Green Card soon ..
but,, i heard that if you are an "international" you are classified differently in a separate stack and evaluated differently to fill the int'l people quota or that sort..</p>
<p>if there is anyone knowledgable about green cards here..here is a qestion for you...</p>
<p>I have an uncle who is a green card holder (my mothers brother) now somewhere i read that real siblings are allowed to apply for the others green card...so is this true...my mother does not live in USA though</p>
<p>OK i dont REALLY know what im talking about, but id definitely advocate for getting your green card. my friend, who's lived here for 9 years or something, only has her visa and her international status made it WAY more competitive and difficult for her to get into college. the way i understand it, internationals are compared against other international applicants, whether or not the kid has been living in the US. And a lot of the international applicants are super strong.</p>
<p>Oh wow.. I thought of the opposite.
I thought since there are so many SUPER students abounding in the US itself, maybe competing agst Int'l would be easier.... . .<br>
This is very depressing.. :(</p>
<p>the valedictorian of my high school was canadian and thus international. she applied to 19 schools but only got into 3. this is with near perfect test scores, a slew of science competition wins, and a perfect GPA. i can't vouch for her essays or recommendations, but i think her international status had a lot to do with her numerous rejections.</p>
<p>vampiro: Yes your uncle can apply for your mother. However, siblings of a citizen have higher priority than Green Card holder. For citizen's sibling it may take more than 10 years (There is a yearly limit + country quota). You will not get any benefit as you will be older than 21.</p>
<p>hotpiece101 ,
what kind of schools did that Canadian get rejected and accepted..?
I heard that certain universities like int'l and some don't.</p>
<p>I did not think my residential status will affect my chance of gettin in this much..,,
THis is so frustrating b.c this is not something I have control over at all.
Not like SAT socres or something that I can at least try to do better....</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>well, i know she got into duke, washu, and the state school (OSU). she applied to all the ivies and every top science school, like MIT, caltech, etc...</p>
<p>Green card holders and citizens are treated the same. If you don't have a green card or are not a US citizen, you are tossed into the international pool, which, as a rule of thumb, is more difficult than the domestic pool, largely because Harvard likes to keep its incoming undergraduate class approximately 10% international (if I remember correctly). </p>
<p>Officially, Harvard denies the existence of any quotas for international students, but it's quite likely not the whole truth. Depending on what global region you're applying from and how many students Harvard is looking to admit from that region, selectivity among regions may vary (and may do so significantly).</p>
<p>thanks for the reply simba.
If i take a lawyers services can those guys speed the process up or is the process sort of self timed in that the things progress at their own pace and no one really has any chance of doing anything.</p>
<p>the process is self timmed due to the annual numbers.</p>
<p>Applying as an international or as a citizen? My daughter became a citizen just months before she applied RD to Harvard. She was living and applying from overseas but was accepted as an American. She had no counselor advising her, nor AP classes, honor classes, honor societies etc, not a typical American student but was in the same pool as students with all those options. She was accepted; each candidate is judged on the information provided by the student, teachers, and schools, the courses offered, choices made, the ability to expand on those options, a passion to learn, of course SAT results and all those other extra curricular interests that one can purse anywhere in the world. Having a green card or being educated in America, applying as an international, becoming American, applying from a foreign country as a US citizen, however you want to frame it, did not played a role in acceptance, (was told such by admissions) show passion and commitment to all you undertake, this is what gets you places for the rest of your life. To become an American to get into college should not be the reason to take on a citizenship.</p>
<p>I think that it really depends on what region you're from. An applicant from a competitive Asian country would most definitely be in an entirely different pool than a student from an African or Latin American country (blanket scenario, leave my generalizations alone.) Then again, they'll take into consideration what country you've been taught in, and how you succeeded in your pool and in comparison to other applicants. I really don't know how different your competitive pool would be if you were considered if you were international. During the application process, I was considered an international but I don't think it hurt or helped in any way. Who knows...if you wish to become a citizen, you might as well get the Green Card now. Those plans should be separate from college admissions.</p>
<p>Aussirca: Firstly, are you an Australian native?</p>
<p>Secondly, your argument is fine in principle but in practice it clearly falls down. Harvard does care about national background, because it wants to increase its diversity stats. How that works in practice is an interesting question - if you're a citizen of a country with very few applicants, it could make it easier for you to get in. But if you're from a country with a lot of applicants (UK/Canada etc) it could make it harder - they only need one person from your nation for their diversity stats, they can use the other places for students from US states with few applicants or something.</p>
<p>Is it better to apply as a green card holder,be here on visa, or be a citizen? If you are educated in the US then you will be held to the same standards as every other US applicant, unless you fall into the categories of URM, legacy etc. I believe that those standards are used for internationally educated dual citizen applicants. (This is what we were told by the Admissions staff). If your school (national or international) does not offer AP/honor classes it will not count against you, but they are looking for commitment to education and making the best of available opportunities. So while people believe that there is a need to fill a quota of German, Canadian, Moroccan or (fill in the blank) students, none are taken if they are not qualified. Having citizenship or green card should make no difference.</p>
<p>"Depending on what global region you're applying from and how many students Harvard is looking to admit from that region, selectivity among regions may vary (and may do so significantly)."</p>
<p>That counts even when I am from the US continent..?</p>