Will be interesting to see how International student registrations are affected this year…
Visas may be more difficult to get, opening up opportunities for US applicants.
Could be significant openings across the board, especially research universities.
If so, OOS applicants will likely benefit the most, as schools replace lost high-paying International revenue.
Anyone get their CS results? Seems like they should’ve dropped by now.
Good points. I mean, I was just talking to a parent about study abroad for US students. Not the most ideal environment for it. Our junior did a rotary exchange to France as a high school student and while it’s overall safe, I would not feel great about sending my kid abroad either right now.
It’s difficult to tell on this site where the borderline is between legitimate factors affecting universities and “politics”.
But a whole host of positive and negative factors seem likely to have a net negative effect on universities and general US economy in the foreseeable future.
And, a sizable chunk of people have just had to reconsider their whole financial outlook in the past 5 days….
As always, though, some people will find opportunities that they otherwise wouldn’t have had.
For OOS waitlisters who think they can afford an economic downturn, this may be your year.
So true. It’s going to be very interesting.
We are international. Spoken to Admissions at multiple US schools (Babson, BC, U Miami and U Mich) re Visas. Everyone we’ve spoken with seems to be positive and don’t foresee any issues/delays so long as we start the application process by mid-May. Having said that, we have heard from friends with kids at US schools that crossing the border has become slightly more challenging and kids need to have all their documentation in order.
Wishing you all the best getting timely approval.
But, with all due respect, unless you have assurances from the US government, it means very little.
These are not normal times.
Not a fan of the current administration, and by no means trying to defend them, but I believe a vast majority of internationals will not have any problems.
Students (and workers) from certain countries and backgrounds (especially those with even the slightest hint of supporting certain groups) will have problems. That’s a small number in comparison to the overall international student pool.
The current administration is in principle supportive of foreign students getting priority work visas.
So while we may dislike what’s happening around us, it’s not going to be statistically significant.
Not touching “certain countries and backgrounds” or the current focus on international student activists… Other than to say, the by-country distribution appears to support my stance.
Rather, I guess we’ll see whether visas move in tandem with tariffs. I see no reason to believe they won’t.
Furthermore, undergraduate visas (~38% of total international students) are easy targets, since it is easier to rationalize that these undergrad J-/F- visa holders are not contributing to the US economy like H- visa holders and, perhaps, graduate student visa holders.
I also hear your rationale supporting past justification for providing international worker visas. Imo, this has all changed, too, though it might not yet be evident.
Data:
[https://internationalcenter.umich.edu/sites/default/files/Annual_Report.pdf#page4]
I guess we will see in another 3 months how enrollments line up for Fall 2025.
I’d wager we would not see more than 5% drop in international enrollments for top schools. It’s more sentiments than real impacts to a vast majority of students.
Yep, we’ll see…
At the top schools that’s a $350K+ wager.
[What to know about international student visas being revoked | AP News]
[Deportation crackdown targets foreign college students in Michigan]
It’s going to be interesting. Some families may still have a comfort level for the uncertainty associated with these recent developments. Most are unaffected but the idea that something could happen to your child is not easy to digest. I also think people are becoming aware that universities and even individual states cannot necessarily intervene. I sent my teenager to live in another country alone (granted under 18) and there were risks. It was not easy. I don’t think I’d be able to do it in this climate. When it’s 3am and your kid is 6 hours ahead texting you that they are sad or homesick that’s brutal enough. We have also hosted an exchange student and not everyone views the U.S. the way we do. I do think there are still plenty of independent international students that would line up to study here. But there is going to be a drop.
For sure, family concerns will affect whether a student applies/accepts.
But, visa approval affects whether a student attends.
The focus at the moment is on visa cancellations & expulsions. But as my last link shows, the foundations are being set for visa slowdowns and increased rejections.
Now that US-China tariffs have reached a level virtually shutting down bilateral trade, we are likely to see pressure increasing in other areas, which increases the likelihood of severely affecting the visa approval process for Chinese citizens (2nd largest pool, barely, after Indian students).
And, due to immigration concerns of US government, the visa approval process will likely slow and further restrict applications of other countries affected by the tariff chaos.
Finally, the 90-day tariff negotiation period is a joke. It is reported that 75 countries are in line to renegotiate trade with the US. Generally, it takes months/years to do bilateral trade deals…
Add this on top of the global economic uncertainty and likelihood of a significant global economic downturn.
My guess is that many 1st-year foreign students won’t be attending Fall semester/quarter 2025, at least, in the US.
ps: There are a number of other, more important & dire, consequences related to recent US tariff policy changes, but I restrict myself to those effects related to waitlist opportunities for OOS college applicants.
Great points.
So, the speculation is that there might be a slightly greater than typical chance for OOS domestic full pay on the waitlist?
As another matter, I wonder if level of stats (e.g. high stats) plays any role in acceptances from the waitlist or whether the decision is primarily based on other factors at that point.
They still do their holistic reviews. It’s not the highest Stat kid’s are accepted off the wait lists. This is dicsussed yearly. Their wait list stat wise could challenge most colleges EA list.
It’s this. The academic bar has been cleared for all by the time they’re on the WL. The one exception for academics might be something like if the person who didn’t yield is an IMO champion likely to pursue a PhD in Math and Applied Physics. They’re probably not going to pull e.g. an actor from the WL.
But more broadly speaking it’ll be the big buckets first (which college, IS/OOS, FA/FP, M/F) then drilling down further.
I think there’s merit to this thought. It seems while not all schools may be saying it right now, they are actively thinking. From Swarthmore - “Potential visa delays for incoming international students could lead to students being accepted from the waitlist as well. Dean of Admissions Jim Bock ’90 pointed to the waitlist as crucial this year due to uncertain immigration policy”, Swarthmore Admits Class of 2029 - The Phoenix