Physics GRE Discussion Forums

Someone else got me thinking about this in another thread: I'm Australian born, but have dual citizenship in the US and completed my high school education in the US. I recently moved back to Australia to complete my undergrad education, after which I would like to enroll in a top US grad school program. When the time comes, should I apply as a domestic or international student? Obviously I will be subject to less competition as a domestic, just not sure if I qualify. Anyone care to shed some light?

As a naturalized citizen I think you qualify regardless. The pressure on international students is generally higher for non-english speakers than otherwise, so I wouldn't worry too much about how you fall in the spectrum.

There are two sources of difficulty for international students. The first is the language issues, the second is funding. Language won't be an issue, but it is still more difficult to fund international students (it costs the University more). If you have US citizenship then my guess is you can apply as a domestic applicant, in which case you should do so. If you want to be sure, just call up a physics department and ask.

If you are a dual citizen, even if you don't live in the U.S., you can apply as a domestic student and enjoy all the benefits of unrestricted government funding and scholarships.

I am a US citizen, I did my high school and undergraduate degree in India and I'm applying for next fall as a domestic. I see all these threads about Domestic vs. International, and I have no idea which category I would come under, since I'm from an Indian university (a top one though) but I'm an american citizen and I even voted in the last year's US elections! There also seem to be different 'cut offs' in PGRE scores for foreigners (read Indian and Chinese) and Americans, any idea what would be my classification? How would I be considered for admission?

jones wrote:I am a US citizen, I did my high school and undergraduate degree in India and I'm applying for next fall as a domestic. I see all these threads about Domestic vs. International, and I have no idea which category I would come under, since I'm from an Indian university (a top one though) but I'm an american citizen and I even voted in the last year's US elections! There also seem to be different 'cut offs' in PGRE scores for foreigners (read Indian and Chinese) and Americans, any idea what would be my classification? How would I be considered for admission?

Well I can't say for sure but my guess is if you're a US citizen you'll be considered domestic for funding but if you did your schooling in India the expectations on your academics will be in the international category. You should apply as a domestic US citizen which puts you in a good boat for funding, but since you did a lot more physics in your undergrad than your American peers, top schools will probably look to see a higher PGRE score than the average US applicant. Again, just my guess.