Things you didn’t know about Chinese international students
You regularly see international Chinese students walking through campus, but you never really know the stories behind them
Over 2,500 Chinese students study at the University of Iowa, and I am one of them.
Compared to the large student population, we are still considered a minority group on campus. You might see many of us around the old capital mall, the Papa-john Building, and the Pentacrest.
However, you might not know that I was the only Chinese student staff at some of the student organizations (such as Multicultural Nursing Association) and orientations (such as the On Iowa small group), and sometimes I am the only Chinese student in some of my classes.
They spend three times as much on tuition as other Iowa students
Besides tuition, students have to deal with many life expenses such as food, accommodation, and flight tickets
International students at the University of Iowa spend at least $13,000 in tuition each semester and pay an extra $70 to the international student office each semester because of their immigrant status.
Given that, plus daily expenses, rents, and textbooks fee, most of the Chinese students have to depend on their parents because they can’t afford their tuition and life expense by themselves.
They live 10,000 miles away from home
A world map at the International Program center
If you look at the map, China is pretty far away from America, separated by the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean. Each year, million of students spend thousand of dollars buying plane tickets back home during summer and winter break.
Some Chinese students go back home once or twice a year, while others can only go back once every few years due to limited financial conditions.
They aren’t able to spend time with their family during specific traditional festivals
Hot pot for Chinese New Year
Chinese Spring Festival is a very important tradition where the Chinese celebrate the lunar new year. The date of the Chinese Spring Festival varies each year according to the lunar calendar. Spring Festival is usually celebrated in late January, early February, or middle of February.
Unfortunately, the Chinese international students can’t celebrate Spring Festival with their family because of their school schedules.
Some of them speak a dialect besides mandarin
A Cantonese learning book(left) and a Chinese-English dictionary(right) from the library
Mandarin is the dialect that is spoken by most Chinese, but there are many dialects in China, such as Cantonese, Shanghainese, Sichuannese, and Hakka.
If someone speaks Cantonese in front of a person who only knows Mandarin, they will not be able to understand each other because the dialects are so different.
Students sit at the old capital mall
They are not eligible to apply for most college scholarships
Many scholarships are only eligible for US citizens or permanent residents.
Although there are some scholarships available for international students, the requirements are extremely strict in regards to GPA and ACT scores.
Some of them need to spend more than four years to graduate from college
Students study hard at the main library
Some of the Chinese students have to take English as a second language before taking any class towards their bachelor degree or master degree.
For instance, some Chinese student take the IIEP program, which is for international students who need to learn more basic English skills before enrolling any classes toward their academic degree.
They struggle with English 24/7
The international program offers English as Second Language program for international students
As I mentioned before, Chinese students use English as a second language when they study in America, like American students use Spanish when they study abroad in Spain or Mexico. You can imagine how hard it is when students use their second language to communicate with foreigners 24/7.
Many Chinese students have trouble with understanding English. Although some Chinese students have very good oral skills, they have limited listening and reading skills. Sadly, many of the Chinese students spend three times as much time reading college textbooks in English, compared to the native students.
They took many math, English, and science classes before studying abroad in America
Students study at the old capital mall
Some American students may notice that some Chinese students are very good at classes such as math, biology, chemistry, and physics. Before studying in America, many Chinese students took numerous math and science classes in high school, middle school, and elementary school.
Also, they took English classes since elementary school, and some of them even started learning English through kindergarten. However, the English classes they took were very superficial, most of the content related to simple daily conversations and short articles.
They don’t need to tip the waiters/waitresses in their home country
Students sit next to a Chinese restaurant at old capital mall
In China, customers don’t need to tip the waiters or waitresses; it is not part of the culture. This does cause some cultural problems and misunderstandings for Chinese students when they come to America for the first time. Most of them don’t know that they need to tip the waiters or waitresses in America, but eventually they catch on to it.
Even though there are some struggles, I think I can speak for all the international Chinese students in saying that being able to study at the University of Iowa is an incredible opportunity.