DOES APPLYING TO A COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY AUTOMATICALLY GIVE AMERICAN STUDENTS LIVING ABROAD AN EDGE IN GETTING IN?

Many families and students believe that just by being international, or applying from overseas, they have the golden ticket. I see this particularly in my American kids overseas.

Here’s the hard truth. If you are applying to a college that ranks "highly selective to very selective" , you are competing with highly accomplished students from the United States and abroad (International Students). Students, regardless of their national standing need to be just as competitive as any other student – noting that coming from overseas may add just one slight tip factor, but only if the rest of the application sings to the admissions committee.

For less selective colleges, or colleges that would like to attract more students from overseas, then yes, applying from overseas might be a very important tip factor. Therefore, if a student or family that thinks that merely applying from overseas is the key to an elite school like U.S.C., NYU, Columbia or Harvard, you may confidently and quickly put that myth to rest.

This is why students with American passports (all considered American Citizens by most colleges) want to know if they can check the “international” box on the application – believing it will give them an advantage, DON'T.

If you are abroad and need assistance with the application or are an international student and need assistance including I-20 forms, contact us, we may be able to assist you.