I found the following quote from that same page and tab to be illuminating:
2 Likes
In my opinion, this system is too generalized to be useful. Colgate, for example, recently accepted just 5% of its international applicants. This suggests that Colgate would be no more accessible to international students than other colleges. Actually, it may be less accessible than most. The same may be true for the other colleges with which it has been grouped above.
1 Like
I’d be the first to admit that there’s no easy route for internationals to get admitted to an LAC with substantial financial aid. I started following LAC admissions about 20 years ago when my son was a junior at a large international school in Asia. At that time LACs were pretty much unknown in the international community, but that is no longer the case. (We are US citizens so my son wasn’t directly impacted, but many of his classmates chose LACs.)
Since that time, LAC admissions have skyrocketed, both for US applicants and internationals, and admission statistics are still hard to come by. (Wesleyan used to post a detailed breakdown of applicants and acceptances including numbers accepted that requested aid. I wasn’t able to find that chart today. Anyone remember it?)
For those international applicants who need aid and are interested in an LAC education, I would still give this advise: FOLLOW THE MONEY. To me, the key metric is the school’s international aid budget, which reflects the school’s commitment to funding international students.
Here are a few examples from the schools’ CDSs, both high and low. With international acceptance rates as low as they are I wouldn’t predict admission in any case, but for applicants that need substantial aid, I would gravitate toward the top of the list.
“H6 Total dollar amount of institutional financial aid awarded to undergraduate degree seeking nonresident aliens”
$14.3 St. Olaf
10.3 Macalester
10.6 Trinity (CT)
9.9 Smith
9.1 Amherst
9.0 Middlebury
8.9 Colgate
8.1 Grinnell
7.6 Dickinson
7.1 Williams
7.0 Mt. Holyoke
3.9 Swarthmore
3.7 Carleton
3.6 Bowdoin
3.3 Haverford
3.2 Davidson
2.5 Hamilton
1.8 Reed
1 Like
As one aspect of note, Wesleyan accepted full pay international students at a rate greater than its overall acceptance rate.
Though this thread is about International Applicants, what caught my eye on that link was this:
You may want to double check with your family’s immigration attorney whether leaving the country while in the green card process could create any issues for your process, and whether there are any restrictions on leaving the country for an extended period of time after getting green card status. I’m a Canadian who moved to the U.S. as an adult, eventually got a green card, and now have dual citizenship, and I recall there being rules about travel during my process (but can’t remember the rules, and in any case they may have changed). I raise this only with respect to the idea of going to school in Canada or elsewhere outside the U.S… I do second the notion of Queen’s providing a smaller university environment in a charming town (I’m from the area and went there). It is well-regarded by U.S. grad schools, and is much less overwhelming than U of T or UBC (both wonderful schools). Good luck to you! I’m sure you will have many options to choose from.
5 Likes
Is this considered a high or low ratio?
There’s pretty much no doubt that if I were to leave the country for 3-4 years while not a citizen, I would not be allowed to return to the US. Basically, going to school abroad would mean that I would have to either get a FB green card after graduation or try for a visa through a future employer. My parents are okay with this however. 
Thanks… hoping for the best 
1 Like
H1B-> green card is a literal lottery.
I wouldn’t jeopaedize your green card status unless you’re certain you’ll be fine in Canada and can stay there for work.
1 Like
True, and I would certainly choose a US college if I were to get into a match/reach option. I don’t think my parents would approve if I chose MSU over UToronto for instance (immigrant parents love their prestige). We shall see - hopefully it doesn’t come to that.
But there comes a time when you have to make the adult decision. Your parents might be okay with your giving up your place in line for a green card, but are you? That’s a big decision, one that is a career and life changer. You might be fine with just having Canadian citizenship, but I wouldn’t be.
I stood in line and paid for my daughter to become a US citizen and it would crush me if she were to give it up for the prestige of one college over another. She wasn’t into prestige at all and gave up a T-20 LAC for the program she wanted (and the money) at a much lower ranked school. Ah, she is my daughter after all (looking for a bargain!)
Look at what would have happened this year if you’d been in college in Canada and your parents in the US. You’d have had to visit them in the US and quarantined every time you crossed the border. My niece is going to Canada this weekend for the first time in almost 2 years to visit her inlaws (her husband is Canadian). The inlaws only live about 2 hours away and they used to go about once a month, but they didn’t have the 14 days to quarantine each time they crossed the border.
It also took her husband about 2 years to get through the paperwork for him to get a green card to work in the US. For those 2 years (way pre-covid) he worked in Canada, she worked in Montana and Washington State, and they visited each other about once a month. Hard way to start a marriage.
7 Likes
You make great points, it’s absolutely a life changing decision and giving up my shot at a green card does sort of feel like giving up on a 10-year+ dream. I’ll certainly take more time to think about it.
In the meantime, I’ve noticed that UChicago recently updated their admissions page to say that tey are now need blind for US and Canadian citizens 
. I really liked the school when I visited, so this is a pretty nice change…
1 Like
Not new.
well, here’s your ED… 
2 Likes
When was it changed? I remember looking at their page a few months ago ago and it was only for US citizens & PR. Or maybe I’m just remembering wrong.
E: This PDF https://financialaid.uchicago.edu/files/documents/no-barriers-overview.pdf from some time ago only says US too; this packet I received when I visited also shows US only.
I know this cycle will be at least the fourth. It may have been more, but I don’t remember for certain.
1 Like
Just wanted to return here and post my results.
- Michigan State University: EA Accepted + full tuition (ADS scholarship)
- Arizona State University: EA Accepted
- University of Michigan: EA Accepted
- London School of Economics: Accepted
- University of Manchester: Accepted
- University College London: Accepted
- Kings College London: Accepted
- University of Southern California: RD Accepted + half tuition (presidential scholarship)
- UPenn: RD Waitlisted
- Wesleyan University: RD Waitlisted → Rejected
- Occidental College: RD Waitlisted → Withdrawn
- University of Chicago: RD Waitlisted → Rejected
- Case Western Reserve University: EA Deferred → RD Waitlisted → Withdrawn
- Stanford: RD Rejected
- Princeton: RD Rejected
- Brown: RD Rejected
- Yale: RD Rejected
- Harvard: RD Rejected
- Columbia: RD Rejected
- Vanderbilt: RD Rejected
- Tufts: RD Rejected
- Northwestern: RD Rejected
- Amherst College: RD Rejected
- Colorado College: EA Deferred → RD Rejected
- Williams College: RD Rejected
- Swarthmore College: RD Rejected
- University of Cambridge, Sidney Sussex College: Interview → Rejected
- Pomona College: ED1 Deferred → RD Rejected
In general, the outcome isn’t quite what I wanted but it was also much better than I expected. In hindsight I probably should’ve spent more time on essays and perhaps applied to 1 school ED2 instead of waiting for RD.
Happy to say that I committed to USC. Fight on! 
13 Likes
Congratulations! You had some fabulous acceptances. Enjoy USC!
3 Likes
Cambridge actually sent me my referee some feedback which I found interesting:
It’s pretty clear that it came down to the interview in this case… I’d love to get this kind of feedback from US unis 
1 Like
Thanks so much for sharing this, even though it wasn’t the news you were hoping for. The detail really is great. I wonder how many applicants there were total to the program and if they do it for all applicants or just those who reach the interview stage. I’m wondering because I’d love to know for how many students they do this for and thus the likelihood of being replicated by any universities in the U.S.
But you have been accepted to USC which is incredibly selective, and with a half scholarship to boot! You should be very proud of yourself!
Thanks 
To answer a few of your questions: Oxford/Cambridge are actually relatively transparent with their admissions processes. For Cambridge specifically, there is this page which contains a wealth of numbers about their process. For HSPS in Sidney Sussex it looks like there are usually 30-50 applicants with 3-7 acceptances each year.
I believe the feedback is given only to students who reach the interview stage. About a week after I got the rejection letter from UCAS in January, someone in Sidney Sussex’s admissions office blasted out a form that referees could fill out to receive feedback. I would assume that a sizeable number of referees do this (especially those actually in the UK and familiar with the process).
As an aside, I certainly hope that (elite) US unis will adopt a level of transparency similar to what the best UK unis offer. Although I can understand how opaqueness benefits admissions offices in furthering their goal of building diverse and capable classes for their respective institutions, I don’t think publishing statistics and providing comprehensive, individualized feedback has harmed Oxford and Cambridge - they’re still world-class institutions without a doubt, with classes that are plenty diverse and capable. On the other hand, the greater availability of information means there’s less frustration with “inexplicable”, “confusing”, or even “mistaken” decisions that seems to plague admissions to elite US unis. I think you’d be pretty hard-pressed to find frustration-, disillusionment- and disappointment-filled threads on a certain UK site similar to CC.
Hope that helps
2 Likes