international students

Answered

International students in general have worse acceptance rates than Americans. This is a verified fact across the board and some colleges like MIT even publish the data. The admit rate for MIT Int'l students was about 1.3% vs 4.1% for overall acceptance rate or 3 times worse.

These are the some reasons colleges are reluctant to accept Int'l students:

-International students require more financial aid. Domestic students who are low income get direct assistance from the US Govt, sometimes State Govts and qualify for more scholarships. So a top school might be able to give a full ride to an American for $65,000 since the rest comes from other direct sources. Since Int'l student have no direct sources of aid, the college would have to budget say $75,000 or $80,000 to fun the international student on a full ride.

-International students require more resources on campus to accommodate them. When an international student shows up on campus, they might only have 2 suitcases and a backpack, no health insurance, no technology that works in the US, and no one to help them settle in. An American might be low income, but they will still have health insurance, a laptop, friends and family to help them furnish and decorate their rooms and some resources to help them make the transition smoother. Some wealthy schools also kick in technology, health insurance and other expenses but not always.

-Some of the poorer International students really have no place to go during the winter, spring and summer breaks, so often this is a challenging time for them if they are not well funded. The college dorms close at the end of Spring term and start up in Sept, so some college are concerned for the welfare of these students yet have no add'l funding to keep them around campus year around. They know these kids can't travel back to Asia or Africa during breaks and are concerned whether they will finish their education on time. Since Int'l student have more inherent problems, some colleges don't want to accept them since they might take 5-6 years to finish a degree program.

-Lastly, some Int'l students that apply have much less schooling than Americans. In some countries, a formal education is only 9 or 10 years maximum, then you go to college. In America, 99% of applications are K-12 students who have been in school for 13 years. They are mostly 18 when then start college versus 15, 16 or 17. They have more rigorous coursework completed so it's less risky to admit them in top colleges. You can have perfect grades from a developing nation but you might not fare well at a top American college because you can't keep up with the course work. So it's clear to me that kids that have completed 10 APs or have an IB diploma have an admissions advantage over someone that has never taken a college level course through no fault of their own.

I do not agree with the previous answer given because Top college are clearly harder to get into for Int'l students and financial aid at 90% of the remaining college is very thin or non-existent for Int'l students.

International students usually have around the same chances as a domestic student when applying for universities, however, there will be more tests to take if you are from a foreign country, regarding your language and meeting the criteria of the specific college or university you are interested in attending.

It is decided by the applicant as well as the colleges. If a child inherits a parent's legacy but does not get financial aid, they will have a greater chance than other full-ride and non-legacy students. It also depends on the college, as the top 10 colleges frequently do not attract international students because it is impossible to get into as an international student.