Decisions based on money?

[ambitiousfolk]

For international applicants, it is either the applicant is considering an enrollment by paying the tuition and expenses from their own budget, through a domestic governmental scholarship or seeking a fellowship/scholarship from the university itself he is applying to.

 

From what I have understood from some threads, that some programs may seem more strict when they review the applications of international applicants whom seek the university's scholarship to fund them, hence, such schools become more selective and based on that they are more strict when using GRE they toss applications based on low GRE scores when they dont meet their minimum/cutoff. However, when an applicant has an 'average/mediocre' application but clarifies that he/she will be funded from his/her local government to study abroad and all the expenses/tuition will be funded, and not a single pinny will be paid by the university he/she is applying to, the admission committee will become less restricted incomparison to the first case, whereas international applicants are initially seeking not just an admission, but a funding from the university itself too.

 

I know that certain cases vary by particular programs and schools, however, I'd like to hear some stories on that generally, to atleast know how such process works.

 

[juilletmercredi]

I think these are broad assumptions that don't necessarily apply across the board.  In some 'cash cow' MA programs (like, let's say, an MA in peace and conflict studies,* in which exactly zero people are awarded non-repayable financial aid), an international student's ability to pay might be considered as a plus in admission.  But in a PhD program, funding from an outside source may or may not make a difference, as 1) the department may commit to fund all students anyway and 2) at very competitive programs, there may be several students who have outside funding who are just as competitive.

 

*Note that I am not saying that peace and conflict studies is a bad field or only for the money.  I just thought of that off the top of my head because my former institution actually has an MA in that field and it is a 'cash cow' - by which I simply mean it's a program that brings in revenue for the university, by virtue of the fact that students are not offered non-repayable aid and the professors are largely taken from other departments who teach a few classes in the PCS program every year.  MBAs and journalism degrees and MDs can be cash-cow programs for universities, too; it has nothing to do with the field.