<p>I disagree with denizen. Some STEM fields have far more graduate foreign students than domestic students. Also, 800s on the GRE aren’t difficult to achieve for many of those students. It is more likely that steelbacks’ rejections were due to inadequate research experience and/or letters of recommendation, the two most critical parts of an application to a STEM program. PhD programs in the U.S. have different expectations from applicants than PhD programs in the UK, and it sounds like steelbacks’ application materials were simply more geared to the expectations of non-U.S. schools.</p>