I am an American citizen applying to top 20 schools from Pakistan. Would the admission selectivity for me be similar to that of international students or domestic applicants?
I am aware that in terms of financial aid I am considered domestic.
Your application will be noticed, a potential advantage. Assuming you are at a high school that offers some kind of degree, there is little difference in terms of selectivity.
Without knowing what schools you are applying to, haed to tell. There’s a wide variety of schools in US higher ed.
@PurpleTitan I mentioned top 20 schools (a few ivies, duke, emory, Notre Dame, etc.)
@alcibiade There is definitely a difference in selectivity among domestic and international applicants. This is a given since there are fewer seats available for international students. I am curious to know which of the two more closely represents the admission selectivity I would be facing.
D16 was a US citizen applying from Canada. She applied to about 7 top 40 universities, 2 top 30 LACs and one regional university. She had very good EC’s and 99th percentile scores. She only got into the regional university. Of her classmates who applied to the US and had similar scores, only one person, who had won international awards, was admitted to a top 20. They applied early action to the school where they were admitted. D16’s cousin applied from a US private school, with few extracurriculars and worse scores, and was admitted to a top 10 school.
IMO, the absence of US college counseling including help with essays, experienced college counselors, the different grading system, and the fact that some universities lump US citizens living abroad with the regular international pool really hurt D16’s admission chances.
I would advise you to apply broadly to lots of schools. Make sure your essay(s) is(are) fantastic.
@bouders wow… this is very troubling and worrying.
Only if you blindly apply to the top 20.
You have to ask yourself what your goals are and why you aim for what you do.
International acceptance rates are rough.
Here’s a quote from Georgia Tech, a top 40 school to give you the drastic variation of acceptances international students can receive:
http://www.news.gatech.edu/2016/03/12/tech-admit-rate-drops-25-percent
I’m confused. How can a US citizen apply as an international applicant? Does that mean you have dual citizenship?
They’re domestic applicants but their curriculum is reviewed in light of similar (national) curricula then, for financial aid review, they’re in the US applicant pool.
There are three EducationUSA Advising Centers in Pakistan: https://educationusa.state.gov/find-advising-center?field_region_target_id=&field_country_target_id=316&field_center_level_value=All Contact the one closest to where you live, and make an appointment with the counselors there. You are not the only US citizen in Pakistan who wants to return to the US for college. If the counselors at your Advising Center haven’t assisted any US citizens lately, it is certain that someone at one of the other centers has the expertise for your situation.
Since you are American, @CalmConquistador, I believe your application is doubly advantaged: you are not foreign so enter the pool as an American, yet are distinguished as having usual experience and so merit a closer look, i.e. you are not identical with others who appear equally good on paper.
A friend, whose son applied in the US from France (as a dual national), just got a good scholarship to UConn. His sister got a near-full scholarship to Haverford. My friend says it was for precisely the reasons I stated in the para above.
In our experience, my d got into a number of top US schools, also applying from France. She went in the end to Cambridge in the UK because it cost less than 1/3 what it would have done at Smith or Brown. After the election, my son has refused to apply in the US at all, so we are looking at UK and Canada for him.
Of course, @bouders makes a valid point re counseling, but I think s/he overstates the case. The admissions officers know you are in a different circumstance and will probably take it into account.