some of you may have read NACAC’s Today in College Admissions (4/4) post taken from the American Association of Collegiate Registrars’ recent survey, citing a drop in international applicants for the University of California and the University of Missouri systems. I note this piece because of the March 16th New York Times article Amid ‘Trump Effect’ Fear, 40% of Colleges See Dip in Foreign Applicants - which also cites this survey, only later to receive some push back from a March 29th WSJ article - Other Than That, The Story Was Accurate; An economist waits for the New York Times to retract its report on foreign students - citing Mr. Cowen’s blog (an economics professor at George Mason University). Quoting the WSJ piece, “Mr. Cowen decided to examine the survey for himself and discovered the following results published on the very first page of the report, listed first among its “key findings”: “39% of responding institutions reported a decline in international applications, 35% reported an increase, and 26% reported no change in applicant numbers.” The WSJ and Mr. Cowen’s point – “If you look at all the data, they probably are down, but by no conceivable stretch of the imagination should the 40% figure be reported without the other numbers.”
Whatever the numbers, we understand there are growing challenges that our international applicants face. As an independent counselor, my job is to be ‘in the know’ so that I can provide timely and pertinent information to families as they determine their college list, invest their time and resources, and wisely navigate through the admissions process. Understanding their challenges better is one of the main reasons I enrolled in this class. The questions posed to us at the end of the lecture helped me to frame some of issues that face our international students.
Of course, there is the obvious - the Trump’s proposed policies with their implications for international students (such as the ability to persist to degree, travel and safety concerns). But I think even more consequential are factors shaped by individual US colleges and universities. Understanding colleges’ missions and agendas, their volume and source of international applicants, the focus of the school’s research dollars, the nature of impacted majors, institutional philosophies and everchanging enrollment practices, will be essential for me if I am to bring value to these applicants.
Just today, while attending an IB College Fair in Hurst, Texas, I was more aware of these international admission dynamics. One admissions rep shared that her university is very intentional in how they admit students from country to country, while at a similar university, a single country may enjoy up to 60% of the total international admits. Another rep, from Temple University Japan, shared that some of their international applicants are now more likely to consider a degree from an American university located in another country. Temple in Japan happens to be in one of the safest cities in the world – Tokyo.
Another challenge, as we read and I have personally witnessed, is that of the growing number of international students attending US high schools. This phenomenon creates certain admission advantages for such students and provides some understanding of a colleague’s recent post:
“Despite his impeccable credentials: perfect GPA, top standardized test scores, 12 AP classes, state and regional science and math achievements, college research experience, athletic championships, and musical awards – he wasn’t quite strong enough to get into his top schools. International students must truly be among the very best in their birth country and have achieved some level of ‘national prominence’ in order to get into the top U.S. universities.”While this statement may be a bit of an exaggeration, it does seem to have a ring of truth. Open Doors is a great resource for more on stats.