My two cents is a general problem that international applicants face is that even though many highly selective US colleges would love more international students, they have concerns about whether all their international applicants–who are often coming out of very different educational systems–will really thrive at their colleges. This is particularly an issue for highly selective private liberal arts colleges, because that is a form of college that is extremely rare outside the US.
Of course academic and personal fit is a big deal with US applicants too. But I think it is even more an issue for internationals, including because their pre-college curriculums are quite different in many cases, they don’t necessarily do similar sorts of activities, they can have different norms for what even counts as a good college experience, and so on.
But obviously some international applicants succeed, and indeed these colleges want some to succeed. I just think there is some truth to the fact that international applicants can face a lot of challenges when it comes to assuring a Bowdoin they are actually going to really contribute to and benefit from being at such a college in the ways that Bowdoin is hoping.