<p>Is it true that applicants from some countries where the college rarely ever receives applications from, could be favored? I know that colleges are flooded with applications from countries like China, India, and Korea, so the acceptance rates are very low for those. But what about countries that they rarely ever get applicants from, e.g. Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, etc?</p>
<p>I think they do get a lot of applications from Australia. It’s not as many as India but still a lot. But yes, being from an underrepresented country helps.</p>
<p>I think that the truth is that these kind of fully free scholarships at the best universities are a courtesy of America; its richness, vastness, and friendliness. For me, the admission process seems to be fair enough , and as long as we know the rules and processes of making applications, we can all play the game and some of us will win. </p>
<p>The essence of recruiting foreign students is producing great academics, entrepreneurs, scientists, professionals. </p>
<p>So, 5% or 1 % if you do your job the best, chances are good for everybody.</p>
<p>I think the biggest problem is that students who come to the US to study is that US students are not likely to enroll abroad (Maybe McGill, UBC, St. Andrews, Oxford, Cambridge, LSE, UCL etc.) We do not have the most accessible education in the US. While we do have an abundance of schools, not every student can get those opportunities. Also, I am not entirely sure about the price and quality of education abroad (ie. India). But several students I know from India and Nepalese highschools came to the US to attend what I would call, very mediocre universities. I am not saying that the education won’t benefit them, but without financial aid it turns into a very dodgy investment. I understand attending a well known or flagship university as an international applicant, because that investment will pay dividends.</p>
<p>How many application do you think they actually get from India, China, Korea/Japan and so on? I can estimate about 5000-6000 SAT takers in India per year. Only the top 2-3% will bother to apply to Harvard etc. so it can’t be more than 200-250 students. Though, I guess they may take in only 2-4 Indians, so it is pretty tough. </p>
<p>A number of people do not appear to understand the meaning of the word “quota”.<br>
I’d also note that some of those complaining loudest seem to have trouble stringing words together to form coherent thoughts. </p>
<p>They should definitely put the data out. It gives people a good feel for their chances of getting accepted. </p>
<p>“They should definitely put the data out. It gives people a good feel for their chances of getting accepted.”</p>
<p>Do you honestly think that when the practically ADVERTISED admit rate for internationals is 2-3% – that it will make a difference? You’re saying a person (likely who has faced strong praise his/her entire life – appears to be the best in every instructors’ eyes) who was planning on applying to a college with a known admit rate of 5.8% will magically STOP IN THEIR TRACKS because someone tells them that the chances are really only 2 or 3 percent? </p>
<p>The (needed) hubris and chutzpah to apply to H won’t evaporate if this number is made known. </p>
<p>" It gives people a good feel for their chances of getting accepted" which they’ll ignore completely and apply anyway.</p>
<p>This is dumb. If you get in, you get in. Doesn’t mean you are extemely special/talented/brilliant - you jus thappen to meet the needs of the school at the particular cycle. Is it harder to get in as a international student? Of course it is. Is it impossible? Def not. People here exageratte what is needed to get in. If you are an impressive applicant, with great potential, you have a shot.</p>
<ul>
<li>Kirkland '15, International Student</li>
</ul>
<p>Come to Norway! Uni is free here</p>
<p>I had a lot of spare time today, so I finally managed to find the approximate number of int’l applicants, if anyone is interested in knowing… </p>
<p>“As might be expected, there is a great deal of similarity between this year’s and last year’s applicant pools. One change worth noting, however, is the modest (5 percent) increase in the international pool, compared with a 20 percent increase last year (from 5,006 to 6,014).” <a href=“Applications to Harvard College stabilize – Harvard Gazette”>http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2012/01/applications-to-harvard-college-stabilize/</a></p>
<p>That article was from 2012, meaning that they for those who applied for fall 2012 the number was 6014*1.05= 6315. The following year, 2013, they reported that "geographical distribution is about the same, except for a slight decline in the number of applicants from Canada,” (<a href=“http://harvardmagazine.com/2012/12/harvard-college-early-admits-up-16-percent”>http://harvardmagazine.com/2012/12/harvard-college-early-admits-up-16-percent</a>), so let’s say that the international pool grew to 6400. </p>
<p>In 2014, however, they reported how “3.4 percent decline from international students,” (<a href=“34,295 Apply to Class of 2018, Marking Slight Decrease from Previous Year | News | The Harvard Crimson”>http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2014/2/3/class-2018-drop-slightly/</a>) so 6400*0.966= 6182. Now, those are data for the whole applicant pool, which last year numbered 34,295. The number of int’l applicants in the overall pool is therefore 6182/34,295=18%. </p>
<p>4,692 applied EA to the Class of 2018, and as H counts the number of incomplete/withdrawn apps in that number, which was at 119 and 18, respectively, there were in other words 137 applications less than the number they provided which were considered, which is 4555. </p>
<p>Assuming that 18% of the Early Action pool also is international, that means that 4555*0.18= 820 of those applicants were international ones. 83 international applicants were admitted, suggesting that the EA acceptance rate for internationals is at just around 10 percent- which isn’t too discouraging. </p>
<p>What about international students who are US Citizens and living in a foreign country because of their parents’ job postings? Are they viewed with the same lens as other international students? I understand all-around achievements need to be top-notch but wondering since some folks seemed to differentiate between International students and US citizens as International students.</p>
<p>You are US citizen and viewed as one during admission</p>
<p>@Spiritual - if you’re a US citizen (or dual national) or a permanent resident, you’re not an international. I would think being a US citizen living abroad could potential offer a significant admissions advantage. </p>
<p>In that case, would be interesting to find out if such a student counts towards international or the US bucket (quota, although those don’t exist)</p>
<p>@spiritual given the static nature of the no. of international students accepted into the freshman classes of many selective US colleges despite recent the huge increase of foreign applications, it’s extremely likely that de facto soft quotas do exist.</p>
<p>To your question: If a kid is qualified as a domestic and admitted, to what end would it serve Harvard to diminish one more slot allocated to an international? Why decrease one slot in the “international bucket”?</p>
<p>That is true and hopefully it ends up that way.</p>
<p>News flash to @Harvard2018: </p>
<p>Harvard is an AMERICAN school, with a primary mission to educate AMERICAN students, supported by subsidies provided by AMERICAN taxpayers. It’s not an international school. GET OVER IT. </p>
<p>gmt, harvard2018 hasn’t been on the site since Dec 2013…</p>