International Applicant for Harvard

gibby
Thu, 29 May 2014 13:22:23 +0000

I just posted this on another thread and thought you should read it



Most private colleges have “soft, unspoken quotas” and will set aside anywhere from 10% to 12% of their incoming class for international students. That means that if you’re applying as an international student your chances ARE LESS than US students.

Real world example: Harvard College. About 1,660 students matriculate to Harvard every year. Of that total, about 180 to 200 students are internationals and about 1,460 to 1,480 are US students. To get an idea of how many students from your country are admitted to Harvard every year, look at this: http://www.hio.harvard.edu/abouthio/statistics/pdf/StudentsSchoolCountryRank13-14.pdf

PAY ATTENTION TO COLUMN B (College - which is the undergraduate school). Those are the total number of students from your country in the undergraduate program, so divide by 4 to get an idea of how many freshman from each country have been admitted in the past. That’s the reality for International students!

Can you get in? Sure, but as you can see, only 20 students from India are currently at Harvard College, meaning Harvard Admissions accepts about 5 students from India every year. Those are your odds.

I’m sure every college has a similar pdf that tracks their international students. It may not be as readily available and accessible as Harvard’s, but it’s something that Admissions Offices at every college keep track of. Bottom line: When applying to colleges as an international student, you have to throw a very large and wide net because your odds are NOT the same as those for US students.