International Students in US Boarding Schools - IACAC

It’s always been fluid, but the definition of “international student” has been complicated even further by the rapid growth of the international boarding school population in the U.S. These students often face unique challenges in the admissions process and present their own challenges to a selection process that can no longer be neatly divided between domestic and international. Admission representatives from a wide cross-section of U.S. institutions shared their experiences and advice for managing this tricky population.

The presenters for this session were: 

• John Beck, Due West Education
• Greg Edleman, Carnegie Mellon University
• Caitlin Kelley, University of Alabama
• Isthier Chaudhury, University of Rochester

My notes:

The demand for full pay international students is rising but the market is competitive. Approximately 15,000 Chinese students are in boarding schools in the US. They are adding to the pressure. An international student studying in a boarding school will be evaluated contextually since their life circumstances changed because of their move to the US. The TOEFL will be required even though students have had english-speaking education. For example, CMU wants students to collaborate in and outside of class. So if students can't communicate in English at a high level in teams they can end up impacting the experience of others. What's more, some schools have admissions from the student's parent country read the application while in others, officers that are assigned that particular boarding school read them. Who reads them also makes a considerable difference, both for better and for worse.