When applying to Dartmouth, Peter Saisi ’16 said his best tool was Google. His public school in Kenya did not have a guidance counselor, so he prepared for standardized testing with Internet research. Ultimately, he said, he chose the College by process of elimination, finding that it seemed to best suit his desire for a school with a good academic reputation, a strong sense of community and an intimate size.
This year, the College experienced a 20 percent decline in the number of international applicants, part of an overall 14 percent decline in applicants to the Class of 2018. International students at the College attributed the decline to recent media coverage, the College’s focus on liberal arts and its rural location.
Saisi, the International Student Association’s vice president, said he thinks obstacles in attracting international students to the College include its small size and the relatively few graduate programs, which increase the exposure of some of its peer universities abroad.
Before he became international student programs director, Steve Silver worked in the admissions office for eight years and was responsible for international recruitment and evaluation. He said there is no easy answer to the question of why international applications saw such a significant decline.
Several international students cited recent media attention and the reputation of Dartmouth’s culture as potential influences on the drop in applicants.
Keshia Badalge ’16, who is from Singapore and served as the International Student Association secretary last year, said she attended an international school that regularly sent students to Ivy League institutions, so many students were familiar with Dartmouth.
While she originally wanted to go to school in California, Badalge said she chose Dartmouth because it offered the best financial aid package. She had some concerns about the drinking culture on campus, which she had read about on College Confidential.
The decline in international student applications, surprised Badalge, she said, because Dartmouth is one of a few American universities that offers both a need-blind application process and strong financial aid for international students.
International Students Association campus connection chair Rocio Labrador ’15, who is from Spain, said she chose to attend Dartmouth because of its small class sizes, as she values being heard and communicating with professors. She said, however, that deciding to study at a liberal arts college is difficult for many international students because there is often resistance to that form of education.
“From the get-go, being international and applying to a liberal arts school is difficult to explain to the people back home,” she said.
Labrador credited the recession and media reports on the College as potential factors in the drop in international applicants, though she said they do not provide a full explanation.
“I think the media about the alcohol issues with Dartmouth is certainly not helping because in other countries where the drinking age is lower there’s a lot more judgement passed on not being able to control your drinking,” she said.
International student mentor Faizan Kanji ’15, who is from Pakistan, said the significant decline in applicants shocked him. International students often consider current events when looking at colleges, he said. International members of the Class of 2016 asked him about Andrew Lohse ’12 and hazing, while international members of the Class of 2017 often asked about the Dimensions protest and the issues it raised, like sexual assault at the College.
“Those kinds of events eventually build up to affect the application percentages,” Kanji said.
University of California at Berkeley freshman Jack Shen, who is from Shanghai, said he applied to Dartmouth after learning about it from a friend who had attended his high school.
Though Shen was attracted to Dartmouth’s biochemistry department, the Dimensions protest deterred him from the College, since he said it seemed to indicate disagreement on campus. While most other students he knew that applied to Dartmouth saw the protest as “no big deal,” he said he believed it still impacted their opinions of the school.
Once at the College, international students are provided with a significant support systems but also experience a number of challenges.
One resource is the International Students Association, which aims to hold one big event each term, the most popular of which is the winter ball, Saisi said. This year’s ball, called “A Night in Bangkok: Thai Lantern Festival,” was held Saturday. Around 200 people attended, Saisi said, which was more than in past years.
Badalge said she particularly benefitted from programs over the winter interim, which included free meals and the friendship family program, which connected her with a Tuck School of Business professor and his family. Badalge said she meets with the professor every week, has skied with his family and accepted his assistance moving between terms.
“Dartmouth does a really good job of taking care of international students,” she said.
Saisi, who had not studied outside of Kenya before coming to Dartmouth, said he found the College to be a very different environment. He added, however, that a strong “network of care” exists for international students, citing the international student orientation, the friendship family program and international student mentors.
Labrador, who lives in the McCulloch Hall international residence, became involved in the International Students Association after she began to feel homesick her freshman winter. She said she benefitted from the community, where she chatted about missing home as well as aspects of American culture.
Though the College provides a strong resource system, Badalge said she does not like the way in which some American students interact with international students. While American students often perceive college as a time to have fun, she said, international students tend to be less interested in parties and heavy drinking, particularly since the legal drinking age is lower in many other countries. Last year, Badalge considered transferring because she felt a “huge cultural disconnect,” she said.
“It’s a really different life, where your whole life revolves around this little plot of campus,” Badalge said. “It doesn’t seem real.”
