International Students Acceptance Rate in the US

[morcas87]

Hello everyone!

I am an international student from Latin America, double majoring in econ and math at a state university in California. I am interested in applying for grad school (Ph.D.) in economics this coming fall.

I have seen the stats and there seems to be a trend, at certain schools, of accepting a higher percentage of international students into their graduate programs. Thus, my question is, do certain schools actually tend to accept higher/lower percentages of international students for their PhD programs? If so, which ones are those universities?

I would appreciate any comments or experiences you’ve had related this topic

Thanks!

[melusine]

Ha! I'd like to know too!

[fuzzylogician]

Generally, state universities tend to accept more US citizens than internationals because (a) state rules require them to, and (b ) it's cheaper. In some states (e.g. California), US citizens can become state citizens after living there for a year; they will therefore pay a considerably reduced fee, compared to internationals who will pay a higher fee throughout their studies. Other states don't count the time you're studying towards establishing residency in a state, so there it doesn't make a difference even if you're from the US, if you're from another state. In private schools everyone pays the same fees, so it costs the same to admit an international and an American. Many schools like the diversity, so they admit more internationals.

One good way to know if schools you're interested in tend to admit many internationals is to simply check the "people" page on their website and look at the current grad students. That will pretty much reflect the school's policy for the last 5-6 years, and should therefore be a good indication of how things will look next year as well.

[papercuts]

There are actually quite a few factors affecting this. To begin with fewer international students apply than US citizens, therefor there are undoubtedly more Americans in any given program. The real question in terms of acceptance is whether being an international student will reduce your chances all other things remaning the same, in other words: take two profiles, one American, one international, which are exactly the same, will the US citizen have a better chance? IF you need funding the answer is mostly YES. That's because funding opportunities are much more diverse. FAFSA or subsidized loans don't apply to foreign students. There are also specific scholarships that limit the awards to US nationals or permanent residents. So it depends on where the money is coming from and how rich the school is, but mostly money is tight. State schools have fee differences as aptly explained in the previous post but I don't think private universities can be too liberal with accepting international students as well.

But doctorate applications that are funded have a good chance of accepting foreign students and if your profile is better then you have a higher chance. Some scholarships are unique to international students on the other hand, given to nationals of certain countries. The money for these scholarships usually comes from an alumni or businessmen who was a national of one of those countries too.

On the whole it's true that international students have a disadvantage in terms of funding but mostly because we don't have as many options. But no school will let a very good candidate go because of lack of funds. That's an area where US is way way better than other european countries. For my master's I got accepted to Oxford, SOAS and Manchester, but they were surprised that I didn't have money to pay for it. "Oh, that's too bad" was their reaction. They have like a handful of scholarships for people like me, so US as far as I know is much better.

My advice: Check how much money the schools have and email them beforehand about their funding options for international students and apply to more schools than normal US citizens would.

[socialpsych]

There are actually quite a few factors affecting this. To begin with fewer international students apply than US citizens, therefor there are undoubtedly more Americans in any given program.

This, by the way, isn't always true. OP, your field is econ? At my school I would be willing to bet that well over 50% of the econ majors are international students, though I don't know the actual numbers. I don't know what proportion of applicants are international, and in any case I doubt this reflects an actual bias toward international applicants, but the point is that you will find some programs that clearly are willing to accept international students.

The advice others have given above is still true. It is worth checking into the number of international students at your programs -- you could even email a few of them and ask whether their funding is different from that of American students. And you may also want to apply to more schools than an American student would.

[emilywantstogetin]

I don't have any hard evidence of this, but the general impression I've gathered in the past 7 years studying in the US is that

1. In natural sciences, engineering, studio art, music performance...etc, where your Absolutely Perfect Grammar and Fantastic Vocabulary is not mandatory for success, there are always more international students than humanities and social science programs.

I know this hasn't taken into account Canadians, British, Australians, New Zealand-ers...etc. My apologies. I am just talking about folks who I can tell didn't grow up in the US.

2. What has been said about funding seems to be true.

3. If you did your undergrad in the US and you are into social sciences, you are in a very awkward situation, especially if your undergrad was not in a discipline geared towards Absolutely Perfect Grammar and Fantastic Vocabulary-- which, if you are international, I am guessing you are unlikely to major in English or ESL education ( I don't know that you are eligible for that, even if you do have excellent English)

Why is that? Because nobody knows what to expect from you in terms of your English. Obviously, you are still not a native speaker. But you've had more exposure than someone who did their undergrad in their home countries. So, if your English isn't so great, or if you speak like you grew up in Boston, nobody knows if they should be impressed, concerned, or if it's just normal.

[Argonaute]

Hi everyone, I'm new here. I am currently planning to apply for graduate studies in the US for Fall 2011. The acceptance rates of most of my target universities really make me anxious. I believe that the rates depend largely on the amount of funding available for international students.

By the way, thanks for the info. posted before. My question is, would the endowment of the university be a good indicator of the funding allocated for international students?