How much harder to get admission as an International Student?

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ycao17
Posts: 7
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2018 3:50 pm

How much harder to get admission as an International Student?

Post by ycao17 » Mon Mar 05, 2018 11:02 pm

It seems this year is particularly hard for international students to get into physics PhD programs. None of the international students I know of got an offer by now. How much harder is it for international students to get an offer this year (compared to U.S students with the same profile)?

common_2012
Posts: 14
Joined: Wed May 31, 2017 11:01 pm

Re: How much harder to get admission as an International Student?

Post by common_2012 » Fri Mar 23, 2018 10:56 pm

I saw your post on your admission results. I'm sorry for your situation. And as an international student (attending an Asian university), I'd say my application went bad too. I applied to AMO exp, and only got in the safe schools (ranked below 20th). I don't know if it has something to do with the president's action. Do you have an idea of the situation of those who applied to AMO or fusion? I would guess they significantly raise the bar for international applications.

pulsaric
Posts: 8
Joined: Sat Mar 24, 2018 6:31 am

Re: How much harder to get admission as an International Student?

Post by pulsaric » Sat Mar 24, 2018 6:33 am

I got into physics in MIT, Stony Brook, Rice, and University of Tennessee (Knoxville), but all for astro. I haven't posted my profile yet - I'll do so in the next few hours or day or so seeing as the admission cycle is close to its end. I'm an international Asian male too, for what it's worth. Having said that though, I'm from Australia/New Zealand (but spent most of my life in Singapore).

Don't forget that there are personal statements, and they also look for applicants who are a good 'fit' into their program. I'm not sure if you'd have subconsciously put in something undesirable into the personal statement (I found out that I did so for a few places after I submitted :oops: ). Potential advisors, from what I've heard, play no role in your admission decisions maybe unless they're part of the admissions committee.

common_2012
Posts: 14
Joined: Wed May 31, 2017 11:01 pm

Re: How much harder to get admission as an International Student?

Post by common_2012 » Sun Mar 25, 2018 6:52 am

pulsaric wrote:I got into physics in MIT, Stony Brook, Rice, and University of Tennessee (Knoxville), but all for astro. I haven't posted my profile yet - I'll do so in the next few hours or day or so seeing as the admission cycle is close to its end. I'm an international Asian male too, for what it's worth. Having said that though, I'm from Australia/New Zealand (but spent most of my life in Singapore).

Don't forget that there are personal statements, and they also look for applicants who are a good 'fit' into their program. I'm not sure if you'd have subconsciously put in something undesirable into the personal statement (I found out that I did so for a few places after I submitted :oops: ). Potential advisors, from what I've heard, play no role in your admission decisions maybe unless they're part of the admissions committee.
Yes. Thanks for sharing. I would say the field you're applying also matters. I know several good offers (just as good as yours) in astro. But none in AMO. :cry:

ycao17
Posts: 7
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2018 3:50 pm

Re: How much harder to get admission as an International Student?

Post by ycao17 » Mon Mar 26, 2018 2:46 pm

As far as I know, "president" Trump proposed to cut the science research budget in a lot of fields (18% for astro, 30% for nuclear energy (fusion involved). https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-01811-x
But it got better now, See this post:https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-03700-9
(However, the result didn't come out during the admission period which might have influence things)
Still, politics influence a lot of stuff, and international students differ from countries to countries.
If you are from Europe, Canada or Australia I don't see a problem. However, since I'm from China, the fact that China and U.S are going to have a trade war lowers the probability of entrance. ( My trying to do controlled nuclear fusion is also a problem)

pulsaric
Posts: 8
Joined: Sat Mar 24, 2018 6:31 am

Re: How much harder to get admission as an International Student?

Post by pulsaric » Mon Mar 26, 2018 6:08 pm

As a note regarding the fiscal budgets - the President introduces their "budget blueprint" around the start of the year, but they're not enacted (if at all) until 1 October 2018, so it won't affect us much. Also, from what I understand, Congress doesn't usually follow-up on that budget plan, and instead do what they see fit. This is the same for any President; the point is just to show the legislative priorities of the President. Having said that, the cuts that Trump proposed (last year and this year) are especially draconian, so we won't (hopefully) see much alignment between what Trump wants and what Congress passes.

I agree politics influences a lot of things, most notably the massive tax reform law which would have decimated most of the graduate students (domestic and international).

I don't deny that there are many students from China who are looking outwards to other institutions for their graduate programs, but I'm not convinced that a trade war would affect the graduate admissions, directly or indirectly.

Controlled nuclear fusion is definitely a big red flag for the visa officers though - you probably already know this, but I'll just put this here for future readers: https://www.temple.edu/isss/immigration ... -list.html - being flagged for your program of study being under the Technology Alert List depending on what the consular officer assesses..



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