Domestic vs. International Students for Graduate School?

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WhoaNonstop
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Domestic vs. International Students for Graduate School?

Post by WhoaNonstop » Sat Sep 26, 2009 3:58 pm

Recently, I was having a conversation with one of my Professors and we were basically discussing graduate school. He made a "guess" that approximately 90% of applicants to graduate school in Physics were International/Foreign. Does this number seem right?

It appears that the U.S. average contains 47% foreign students in Physics Doctorate programs. Does this mean that your chances are much better if you are domestic? It seems that many international students that are admitted typically have higher scores compared to domestic students.

-Riley

blackcat007
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Re: Domestic vs. International Students for Graduate School?

Post by blackcat007 » Sat Sep 26, 2009 5:44 pm

WhoaNonstop wrote:Recently, I was having a conversation with one of my Professors and we were basically discussing graduate school. He made a "guess" that approximately 90% of applicants to graduate school in Physics were International/Foreign. Does this number seem right?

It appears that the U.S. average contains 47% foreign students in Physics Doctorate programs. Does this mean that your chances are much better if you are domestic? It seems that many international students that are admitted typically have higher scores compared to domestic students.

-Riley
As I see it from previous profiles, domestic students always have an edge, one of the reason being the profs in the grad schools mostly know the UG institute or the faculties from where the student is getting his degree and recos. so they are better able to gauge the candidates credentials. secondly domestics generally have better research experience than the internationals. and also have publications, poster presentations, talks etc..

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grae313
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Re: Domestic vs. International Students for Graduate School?

Post by grae313 » Sat Sep 26, 2009 6:37 pm

90% is probably a bit high but it's definitely more than half and definitely easier to get in if you are domestic

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WhoaNonstop
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Re: Domestic vs. International Students for Graduate School?

Post by WhoaNonstop » Sat Sep 26, 2009 7:35 pm

I have also heard rumours that test scores are less reliable from certain countries as rampant cheating takes place. Any thoughts on this?

As far as my opinion, I would think that Universities would want domestic students to be teacher assistants. Althought it isn't always the case, I have found it difficult to work with international teacher assistants as an undergraduate student.

-Riley

nathan12343
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Re: Domestic vs. International Students for Graduate School?

Post by nathan12343 » Sat Sep 26, 2009 9:17 pm

I'd guess that the ability of an applicant to TA wouldn't really affect the admissions decision negatively, although it certainy could play into it if the applicant had teaching experience. They're really looking for ability to do research more than anything and that is demonstrated by prior experience and above all results. This means conference proceedings, nth author papers, and first author papers, in order of importance.

International students don't have as many opportunities to participate in research, this, along with the sheer number of international applicants places more emphasis for them on GRE performance.

pqortic
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Re: Domestic vs. International Students for Graduate School?

Post by pqortic » Sat Sep 26, 2009 9:44 pm

WhoaNonstop wrote:I have also heard rumors that test scores are less reliable from certain countries as rampant cheating takes place. Any thoughts on this?
it's a pretty true statement. I am a int. student and I was rejected from some schools only bcuz they couldn't track down my documentations. and cheating in tests in some countries is not uncommon.
anyway, where do you want to get to by this thread? if you are domestic you'll be OK..

blackcat007
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Re: Domestic vs. International Students for Graduate School?

Post by blackcat007 » Sat Sep 26, 2009 11:14 pm

pqortic wrote:
WhoaNonstop wrote:I have also heard rumors that test scores are less reliable from certain countries as rampant cheating takes place. Any thoughts on this?
it's a pretty true statement. I am a int. student and I was rejected from some schools only bcuz they couldn't track down my documentations. and cheating in tests in some countries is not uncommon.
anyway, where do you want to get to by this thread? if you are domestic you'll be OK..
well i would like to differ at this point.. tracking down documentation is something entirely different than the verity of the PGRE scores of a candidate. the reason may be the transcripts that your institute sent to those universities, may be its not an US accredited institute or something like that. One of my seniors faced this same problem: our university started its computer science dept in 2002, thus many US schools are unaware of it. being from that dept his documentations were rejected by many good schools, even after having a very good back ground with publications and GPA, he is now in North Carolina, Chapel hill, which is not so good in Comp sci.
I really can't say about these cheating business in the exams, but according to me this cheating parameter is not considered, since the genuine candidate will also be affected by this. Also since PGRE is not the end of the line, one cheating in PGRE will surely be knocked out in the qualifiers..
but ofcourse the pedagogical structure is surely considered, ie: a person getting a 900 from a commit and vomit system may be equivalent to a 840 of a domestic.

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noojens
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Re: Domestic vs. International Students for Graduate School?

Post by noojens » Sun Sep 27, 2009 7:18 pm

nathan12343 wrote:I'd guess that the ability of an applicant to TA wouldn't really affect the admissions decision negatively, although it certainy could play into it if the applicant had teaching experience. They're really looking for ability to do research more than anything and that is demonstrated by prior experience and above all results.
Agreed. TAs are cheap and easy for an institution to come by. Teaching ability has next to zero impact (regrettably, IMO) on grad school admissions. Applying for a PhD is, for all intents and purposes, applying for a job -- and it would be a mistake to think that the job they're hiring you for is anything other than research.



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