Applying as an international student

[karim.morgan.nehdi]

Hi -

I'm applying this fall for top tier schools (HBS, Stanford, Wharton, INSEAD) and have triple citizenship (US, France and a country in N. Africa). I have been told by many advisors (people with a very good perspective into the admissions process) that I should apply under my N. African citizenship so that I qualify as an international student, but I wasn't sure if the schools would buy it given my US citizenship.

Does anyone know the minimum threshold to be considered an international student, and have any idea what benefits are given to international students? How should I position myself?

For what it's worth, I spent a fair amount of time growing up in France and N. Africa and speak French fluently (Arabic less so), but I did my HS and university studies in the US. My profile: 25 year old male, 4 years strategy consulting, Ivy League undergrad.

Thanks in advance for your help.

[mbamission]

Hi, thanks for your inquiry. I'll offer my thoughts but I think the best advice I can give you is to contact the specific schools and ask them. Most give the option of listing dual citizenship, but I'm not sure their websites are set up with triple citizenship options! They'll have more insight into how they advise you to describe yourself. But for what it's worth....my thoughts are:

You can't try to hide your US citizenship, but you certainly do qualify as international as well. There is no minimum threshold to meet in order to be considered international. You may have to choose a primary citizenship for declaration purposes, and as long as you're not trying to hide the others, going with the N. African one could be a differentiator.

But really, read the websites for any guidance, look at the applications to see what options they give you, and contact the schools.

Best of luck!

Jessica Shklar
mbaMission

Our blog: http://www.mbamission.com/blog