I am a student studying at an international school in Japan and recently I’ve heard news that the American School in Japan’s counsellors have told their students to make their UCs automatic reaches unless they were American citizens. This statement was echoed by some teachers at a nearby prep school as well.
This was because apparently a new law is being passed to limit international student acceptances because Californians are tired of having too many international student in UC colleges and not enough opportunity for in-state applicants.
- Is this law true or will be true soon in any shape or form?
- When will this law come into effect? I am applying as a senior this Fall 2019/Winter 2019… will it affect me? I am an international student (not American citizen)
- Which UCs will still be the easiest for me to get in with this law?
However, my own international school has not made any discourages to moving UCs to reach in our applications nor have I seen any news of this law online… really confused?!
There is already a CAP in place for non-residents at the UC’s instituted for the 2018-2019 school year.
Regents voted to cap nonresident undergraduate enrollment to 18% at UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz, UC Riverside and UC Merced. Four campuses that already exceed that level — UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC San Diego and UC Irvine — will be allowed to keep but not increase the higher percentage they enroll in 2017-18.
In April of this year, a new revision was being voted on to limit OOS/International applicants to 10% but did not pass.
Which UC’s will be easier admits as an International applicant will be dependent upon your overall application and stats. The UC’s with the most room for OOS/International students are UC Merced, Riverside and Santa Cruz.
Basically UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz, UC Riverside and UC Merced are now reaches for international students?
And those are “okay” safety colleges usually right… but now since they’re even hard to get for internationals like whats the point of applying to them because they’re the ones that are usually backup?
Should I just give up on public universities if even the average ones due to international acceptance rate become reaches… and the point is that they’re supposed to be ‘backup safeties’ so why fight for them?
Basically UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz, UC Riverside and UC Merced are now reaches for international students?
And those are “okay” safety colleges usually right… but now since they’re even hard to get for internationals like whats the point of applying to them because they’re the ones that are usually backup?
Should I just give up on public universities if even the average ones due to international acceptance rate become reaches… and the point is that they’re supposed to be ‘backup safeties’ so why fight for them?
Are you able to pay full fees for the UC’s at $65K/year? If so, then UC Merced, Riverside and possibly Santa Cruz could be considered safety schools depending upon your application and stats.
Well I’m taking a loan, but im guessing that doesnt count.
But there must be tons of qualified international students especially asians (I’m japanese) still applying to UCs getting to that 18%. I’m pretty unconvinced.
What course of action do you suggest? It seems that they all are reach… what makes you say they can become safety again
The schools listed: Merced, Riverside and Santa Cruz usually to do not make their 18% Cap so they have more room to take International students that are willing to pay full fees. They are only Reaches if you do not have the stats to get admitted in the first place. Based on my experience, if a student and their parents are willing to pay $65K/year to attend a university, they want the most prestigious schools available being UCLA/UCB/UCSD vs. UCM/UCR/UCSC. There is nothing wrong with any of these schools (Merced, Riverside or Santa Cruz) but name recognition is important for many International and OOS applicants which these schools do not have.
Some 2018 statistical data for International applicants/admits the UC’s which is the first year that caps were in place.
UCB: 17064 applicants and 1453 admits
UCLA: 19419 applicants and 2213 admits
UCSD: 19749 applicants and 5687 admits
UCSB: 16051 applicants and 5472 admits
UCI: 17504 applicants and 6752 admits
UCD: 15507 applicants and 8646 admits
UCSC: 7027 applicants and 5209 admits
UCR: 3782 applicants and 1941 admits
UCM: 1208 applicants and 547 admits.
Although I think the UC’s are great schools, especially for in-state students which pay much less for a quality education, as an International full pay applicant, there are probably better options at there that would offer you possibly some need-based and merit aid.
Almost every state has a public university, so if you want to give up on those schools, that’s on you. As for California public universities, Merced, Santa Cruz, and Riverside would be considered “safeties” if you have the high grades, high test scores, required coursework, and EC’s.
The UC’s and CSU’s were created to provide for an “affordable” public university option for the California state students. California public universities are paid for by the State of California’s taxpayers, so it isn’t a lot of money to begin with as far as funding is concerned. They weren’t intended to be “public” safeties for non-residents. Your parents don’t pay yearly taxes to the state of California, so you cannot consider that a UC or CSU would be an automatic admission, or a safety for you, because you are not a resident.
If you want to apply, that’s your option. The schools, regardless of where you apply, will run non-residents at $65K per year. There is no financial aid at the UCs/CSU’s for non-residents-and that includes loans. If you choose to take out a loan, in your country, for more than a quarter of a million dollars to fund a US public school remember, that these are NOT lavish schools with lots of money. They are PUBLIC schools funded by limited tax dollars and non-residents, who pay a premium to attend a California public university.
It’s hard for me to find data on international admits for public and private universities…especially public… where do I find that?
I am only familiar with the UC’s and Cal States which does post application/admit data on their websites. I would start by using google and typing in International student admit data for insert Name of School. Which schools are of interest?
Georgia Tech, Tufts, Uni Michigan, Uni Illinois Urbana, Northeastern, NYU, Uni Washington, Case Western Reserve
You should start a new thread on those other places.
Half the schools in post #11 are private.
I know, but for the public ones basically any public targets are reaches for me… right?
for that other half of private unis… do they basically treat internationial student admissions harsher too?
You can only assume Public Universities are Reaches if you are unable to pay full price, since many do not offer financial aid to International students and if your stats are not above the averages. However, there are many Public/State universities that would welcome an International student for diversity and financial purposes. As stated above, I would start a new thread and ask CC posters for advice of which US public and private schools to target. You need to provide GPA, test scores, EC’s, college major and your college budget so you will get helpful answers.
Ok, but taking a full-out loan doesnt count as paying for the college, correct?
Taking a loan for full Undergrad costs is definitely something I would not recommend. If you cannot afford a US university without accruing a large amount of debt, then you should look at universities within your home country, but that is up to your parents whom will be taking that risk. No US university is worth $240K in debt. What can your family pay without taking out loans? Are the loans through your home country since you will not be eligible for loans here in the US?
My family can pay. So I probably will only need a major loan
How much can your parents pay without borrowing? Your posts aren’t very clear…