How to succeed as an international student

Choose an Institution that works for you

Your path to success starts even before you arrive in America.Choose your Institution wisely. You need to find a place that is a good fit foryou, and one that will support you, particularly in the first year or two, asyou struggle to find your feet. That is not always the most highly rankeduniversity: Some of the most prestigious schools are huge, class sizes arelarge, and professors are under so much pressure to publish research that theymight not have a lot of time to concentrate on helping new undergraduatestudents thrive.

Choose the right major

I have met any number of students whose parents choosetheir major for them, because supposedly it will lead to a good job. Thesestudents tell me they are not really interested in the subject, but they haveto obey their parents.

This is tricky. I absolutely do not want to advise you tobe disobedient, but you might want to spend a little time chatting with yourparents about the choice of major. The research shows that students do betterwhen they are studying a subject they find interesting; something for whichthey have a passion.

In America, undergraduate education is not, in general,vocational. In other words, its primary purpose is not to prepare you for aspecific job. Part of the problem is that the world is changing so fast that wedon’t even know what the jobs of the future will be, or which jobs will be doneby machines rather than humans. So we tend to spend some time in our collegesand universities making sure you develop different facets of yourself as ahuman being, rather than just pumping you full of specialized knowledge.

The time for professional preparation is often your Master’sdegree. Of course, if you intend to become an engineer or mathematician orscientist, you need to learn a lot of subject-specific stuff as an undergraduate.But if you are aiming for a career in, say, business, you and your parentsmight want to reflect on the fact that many (perhaps most) successful businesspeople did not major in business as undergraduates.

Participate in class

In smaller classes, professors expect you to participate.You cannot just sit there like a sponge trying to soak things up. You might beused to a culture in which it is disrespectful to speak up, but most American teachersexpect you to do just that, and some even take the degree and quality of yourparticipation into account when determining your final grade. So you need toask questions and volunteer opinions. If you find this difficult, trypracticing with a friend or tutor.

Memorization is not enough

You will not succeed by memorization. In our educationalsystem, we value and encourage originality, creativity, critical andindependent thinking, and individuality. You need to do your best to try anddevelop these. Again, if you find that difficult, ask for help. Some tutors arevery good at helping you make progress in these areas.

Start fast

If you fall behind, you will not catch up. Ever. I haveseen any number of bright, talented students fail their first semester classesbecause they thought they could relax for the first month or so and then catchup later. After all, there were so many interesting things, such a brand-newsocial scene, to occupy them. I think you will be stunned at the pace withwhich professors cover material.  Irepeat: If you fall behind, you will not catch up. Ever.

Do not skip Classes

Many professors have an attendance policy. Pay attentionto it. Usually, if you miss more than three classes, you grade will suffer.

Turn in your assignments on time

Don’t expect professors to accept assignments turned inlate. Even if they do (and quite often they will refuse to) accept a paper orproject that is turned in after the due date, they will usually penalize you insome way, such as giving you only half the credit for the work.

Do not plagiarize or cheat in any way

Academic dishonesty is considered a very grave offense inAmerican universities and is severely punished. If you copy someone else’swork, or buy a paper on the internet, or quote sources without citing themproperly, you will almost certainly be caught. If that happens, you will likelyreceive an F for the class and you could even be disqualified, which is a politeway of saying you could be kicked out of the university.

Ask for help early

American institutions have many support services. Ask forhelp as soon as you have a problem. Do not wait until it is too late. Inparticular, if you are in the Top US University program, you will be meetingwith tutors and you advisor frequently. Quite often, we will be able to spotproblems and help you solve them. But there might well be issues of a personalnature that are not immediately obvious to us. Ask you advisor for help. Thatis our job: to help you succeed.

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