"International Students Friendly" Universities (Humanities)

[deconstructing]

First time poster here! (Hope this is the right place to ask my question).

I'm currenly searching for some good options to study anthropology or communication in the US (PhD). Thanks to think forum, I learned that things are not that simple - some universities are not that eager to accept International students (Berkeley, for example).

I'm glad I have this information, but now I'm wondering how to tell if an University is "international students friendly". Can someone help me here? Obviously, I can't email Universities and ask them opnely about this. So I guess I'm searching for clues. Are certain Universities known for their reluctance to accept internationals (in humanities/social sciences)? As I understand, I might have more luck with private Universities, but I doubt it's a rule.

Any help here?

[Adam87]

Hello everyone,

I have the same issue, could someone please help us out? I'm going to apply for a phd program (bioengineering) this fall, I'd love to know some universities that are likely to welcome international students.

Thank you very much!

[deconstructing]

Not sure what to say. I don't have a clue how things might go in your field. The only info I have is about California. I suppose a good thing would be to check your desired programs and see if they have a significant percentage of international students (though it's not an absolute indicative). I know of some internationals-friendly universities, but not in the US. On the other hand, if a program states something along the lines of "we offer a few scholarships for international students, but they are very competitive", it might be a sign that there aren't many funding opportunities for internationals.

However, none of this is official. Maybe none of it is true. It's just my way of trying to read between the lines. I suppose the best way to get some helpful info is to contact grad students and get some insider information on the subject.

[Ennue]

From what I understood it is state dependent - afaik California has rules that make it very expensive for universities there to waive international student's tuition. I can tell from experience that the University of Minnesota is very international student friendly, I'm treated no differently than US students. From what I understood public universities tend to be better for this than private universities, but I see you've heard differently, so now I don't know! Good luck!

[deconstructing]

Not sure. I had no idea about this until someone mentioned it on this forum (I mean, I had no idea there's a difference between the way public and private universities approach funding for internationals). Some people DO mention top private universities as a good source for funding, but what about us poor sods who don't reach for the Ivys?

Why do you think public universities are actually more international-friendly?

[fuzzylogician]

As far as I know it depends on the financial situation of the department, which directly depends on the financial situation of the university. This, in turn, depends on the financial situation of the state for public universities, but not for private universities. There are several reasons why programs in public universities may prefer to admit domestic students rather than international students: first, tuition for domestic students is often cheaper; US citizens can become state residents for a discounted tuition rate (in some states) whereas internationals cannot; for the amount of money a program would spend on the tuition of one international student, it could cover the tuition of two or more domestic students. Second, public universities are required to admit a certain number of local state residents (which, again, international students aren't and can't ever become). Third, for some programs I have heard that there is an issue with trusting the credentials of international students; if there is a higher attrition rate of internationals vs. locals, the program loses its funding for that student - that is, a program is allocated a certain amount of money, and that money goes away and can't always be reused if the student drops out. The money essentially goes back to the central pool and is reallocated to another program. When making admission offers some universities face a similar situation - if a potential student rejects an offer, the money that was put aside for that student's funding can't always be re-offered to a different applicant on the wait-list; so, if an international rejects an offer, more money is lost than if a domestic student does. Lastly, some programs are very concerned with the makeup of their student body and want diversity, but others are less concerned with that and prefer to have students from similar backgrounds to (in their opinion) ease bonding and lower attrition rates.

All this affects some states more than others. I learned about these issues through my applications to public universities in California, and it's possible that the situation is markedly different in other states. For private universities, on the other hand, there is no such difference between international and domestic students. Tuition and fees cost the same for everyone and there are no external demands on the student body makeup. That is, a program is able to admit whoever it wants depending on its own needs, which may include concerns about attrition rate or composition of a cohort but don't need to care about a student's origin, per se.

[deconstructing]

Thanks for the info!

So, what would your advice be? Stick to private universities? Find public universities with a significant percentage of international students/universities promoting diversity?

I am not sure how to approach this issue.

Edited August 31, 2012 by deconstructing

[fuzzylogician]

I'd proceed exactly as if I were a domestic student and simply add another consideration to my decision process. Find universities that might be of interest to you based on the research that they do and the potential advisors you could have there. As always, aim to have 2-3 possible advisors and a department with diverse resources that could support you if you change your concentration (within reason) and enough professors to serve on your committee and give relevant advice. Eliminate schools that don't have the research resources you need; also eliminate schools that are located in areas you will not consider living in (generally, a good rule of thumb is that you should not apply to a school if you would not consider going there in case it was the only offer you received). Then look more closely at the departments that make this cut: what kind of students do they usually accept? Are there many international students? Is it a private university or a public university, and if so what state is it in - is it in one of the states whose finances have suffered recently? Read the admissions page closely - does it say anything that could be interpreted as discouraging (or encouraging) international students to apply? If you can't find any information, you could try and write either the administrative staff or the DGS in the program; be careful how you frame the question - no one will overtly tell you they're not accepting international students, but if you ask correctly you may learn what kind of resources are available to internationals and whether they are limited compared to domestic students.

[Usmivka]

Harvard (33% of grad students are international), MIT (38% of grad students are international), and the University of Southern California (26% of grad studentsare international) are the three schools that pop to mind as having a high percentage of international students. MIT especially, but many of them are Canadian, eh? USCs international grads are primarily Korean, Chinese, and Indian. I think Harvard international grads are particularly Europe heavy.

Edited September 1, 2012 by Usmivka

[Seeking]

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Edited December 15, 2012 by Seeking

[t1racyjacks]

I think that if the fit is good, you should apply regardless (but then I've applied to Berkeley). Fit > other considerations, at least for me. But I am with fuzzylogician on this in that I think 'friendliness' to international students is merely one factor out of many.

[waparys]

Harvard (33% of grad students are international), MIT (38% of grad students are international), and the University of Southern California (26% of grad studentsare international) are the three schools that pop to mind as having a high percentage of international students. MIT especially, but many of them are Canadian, eh? USCs international grads are primarily Korean, Chinese, and Indian. I think Harvard international grads are particularly Europe heavy.

These numbers are artificially high because of science and engineering programs (IMO). The humanities have a significantly lower number of international students and I think this is why the original poster asked such a specific question.

[Duna]

@ Waparys: Berlin <3

back to topic:

We have a lot of international students in my humanities / social sciences program at USC and I thoroughly enjoy being in such a vibrant and diverse community...