Recruiting the best Chinese students will help elite U.S. colleges maintain international dominance, especially in math and science, said William Fitzsimmons, Harvard's admissions dean.

"There are no quotas, no limits on the number of Chinese students we might take," Fitzsimmons told more than 300 students during a recent visit to a high school in Beijing.

College applications from China have increased dramatically in recent years as the Communist country opened to the world, The Boston Globe reported Sunday, noting that's disconcerting news to U.S. students seeking a coveted spot at top colleges at home.