Hailing from nearly 120 countries around the globe, each year approximately 3,000 undergraduate and graduate international students converge on Philadelphia to study at Penn.
International students are drawn to Penn for many different reasons, including academic opportunities, campus life and greater social freedoms. Though all international students are exposed to the same culture, they leave with very different views of Penn and the United States.
The recent presidential election added an interesting dimension to international students' experiences with American politics and society, causing some students to discard the stereotypes of their home countries toward the United States, and others to reaffirm them.
Whatever their experiences have led them to conclude about the United States, though, international students offer a unique perspective through which to evaluate life at Penn.
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An American education
The most important factor in deciding to study in the United States for most international students is the quality of the American educational system.
"I think I would be better able to excel in my field here than in India," College sophomore and Indian transfer student Akshay Jashnani says.
Jashnani, who is double majoring in economics and political science, says that in India those who study the humanities are assumed to not be smart enough to get into an engineering school. In other words, humanities students are not given the same respect as students who choose to study science and technology.
"Here, whatever major you do, people appreciate it," he says.
French exchange student Mattia Parolari, who is studying in the Wharton School, says that American universities provide a more balanced education than in France. In the French system, students who want to pursue an academic track must complete two years of intensive studying and exams in which they compete to get into the top universities. Pending passing scores, they spend three more years at competitive universities called grandes ecoles. However, after the stress of exams, Parolari explains, most students are burned out and spend their time partying.
"We lose 80 percent of our intellectual capacities drinking beer," he says.
Those who fail their exams, or do not want to follow an academic path, attend one of the French universites -- non-competitive, preprofessional institutions that accept everyone.
Despite the heavier workload at Penn, Parolari prefers the constant intellectual challenge that the University offers, and feels that he is much better suited for the American system.
Switzerland has a similar higher education setup, according to College senior and Swiss international student Daniel Zachmann. Unlike in France, however, Swiss students are already divided into academic or preprofessional tracks in high school, and only those in the top track take college entrance exams.
"They want people who aren't smart enough to go to college to go into preprofessional approaches instead," Zachmann says.
Coming from the Swiss educational system, where students are only required to pass exams, Zachmann says he was unprepared for Penn's competitive atmosphere.
"When I first came here, I thought passing the class was good enough, but here, everyone is fighting for an A," he says.
In addition, Zachmann was shocked by the huge workload of many Penn students, and was not used to the "work hard, play hard" mentality.
"In general, I think that American students are much more intense than European students in their studies and in their way of life," he says.
College junior and Cayman Islands international student Katrina Jurn disagrees. Jurn, who attended school both in the Cayman Islands and at an international high school in Wales, says that an English or Cayman Islands education is a "do-or-die" process in which students study for a whole year and then have one essay or exam at the end.
Jurn says she prefers the American system, in which exams and papers are spread throughout the semester.
"It seems like you're evaluated more fairly and more comprehensively, and it seems like a less stressful school system," she says.
Recently, however, Jurn has become less satisfied with her American college education.
"So much of the time, you're struggling to get essays out or papers out that you don't have enough time to get engaged in the material," she says. "When I'm writing papers, I don't really understand what I'm writing about."
Zachmann, who was surprised by the preprofessional atmosphere at Penn, is also disappointed.
"I expected Penn to be much more of an intellectual place," he says.
The Social Ivy
When international students hit the Penn party scene for the first time, many are sent reeling.
"The frat culture does not exist in India -- it is something that is alien to us," Jashnani says.
Because the drinking age is 18 years old or younger in many countries, most international students have drinking experience before coming to Penn and do not see alcohol as a forbidden pleasure.
"Because you have a tendency to do what is prohibited ... underage drinking is a huge problem in this country," Jashnani says.
Engineering senior Andre de Clercq, who was born in Rwanda and lived most of his life in Belgium, says he prefers the younger drinking age in Europe, where people can learn their limits in a safe environment.
Although he is not a fan of the drinking environment at fraternities, de Clercq recognizes that going to Greek parties is a good way to meet people.
Jurn strongly disagrees, saying that sororities are conservative, socially limiting institutions. Coming from an international high school that fostered global understanding and social justice, she sees sororities as the embodiment of the apathetic, unconcerned outlook of many collegians that encourages self-involvement and celebrates the security of group membership.
"I find the whole sorority scene false and unnecessary. Why do you need an organized group of people to meet and make friends?" she asks.
Parolari also notes a falseness in the social scene at Penn.
"American people are socially more superficial -- it's much more difficult here to make a good friend than it is in Europe," he says.
In France, Parolari regularly started conversations with strangers by asking them about their personal lives, and was surprised at the reluctance with which Americans approach these types of questions. He dislikes the American notion of "personal space" that makes it very difficult for people to become close.
"I need to intrude into people's lives to know about them," Parolari says.
Also, despite the diversity of Penn's student body, Zachmann and Parolari both feel that students are very cliquish. Parolari asserts that in France, people join clubs and organizations because of an interest in the cause, not because of shared backgrounds with group members.
Perspectives on U.S. politics
With the news of President George W. Bush's re-election to the White House earlier this month, many Europeans joined liberal Americans in expressing disappointment.
"He represents whatever they think is wrong about America," de Clercq says, referring to public reaction in Belgium.
According to de Clercq, people in Belgium view Bush as an unintelligent, unscientific, irrational, right-wing Christian who mixes religion with politics. In addition, people in Belgium felt affronted by Bush's unilateral decision to invade Iraq.
Parolari says the reaction was similar in France. "In the image of the French people, Bush is even worse than a far-right, racist president," he says, referring to the unpopular 2002 French presidential candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen.
Venezuelans dislike Bush for other reasons, according to Wharton junior and Venezuelan transfer student Ari Hadida.
"The president [of Venezuela] is friends with Fidel Castro -- I don't think there's much more to say," he says.
The European perception of American citizens in general is no better, according to de Clercq, who is often forced to defend the United States against stereotypes that portray Americans as fat, stupid and arrogant people.
Despite all the criticism from abroad, however, there are some countries who support Bush and America.
Jashnani explained that Indians like Bush because he is pro-outsourcing, which means that Bush supports American companies taking their businesses overseas. Since labor is cheaper in India, American companies prefer to hire Indian employees.
In addition, many Indians hold much respect for the United States, viewing it as a world superpower. However, according to Jashnani, this perspective has changed somewhat since the war in Iraq, and now many Indians dislike America's "meddling" in other countries.
The people of the Cayman Islands are very supportive of the United States as well, according to Jurn, which she attributes to the proximity of the Cayman Islands to the United States and the fact that it is a British colony.
Looking back
When considering their time spent at Penn, international students have mixed opinions about their experiences.
"I felt at home pretty quickly -- there's a lot of international students who I'm friends with since the beginning of the year," Hadida says.
According to Hadida, international students tend to make the most friendships during International Student Orientation, often forming friendships that last throughout the four undergraduate years.
Straying from the pack, de Clercq deliberately avoided the international crowd, seeking out American friends. Because de Clercq didn't want to feel boxed in with the international student clique, and because he doesn't feel he has much in common with other Europeans at Penn, de Clercq experienced a difficult freshman year while looking for his niche.
"I've met so many great people and had so many great experiences, but at the same time, I feel I'm outside the general Penn culture," he says.
Besides fitting in with the culture on campus, international students must also adjust to American culture at large.
Initially, Parolari was shocked by the openness with which Penn students display their political and religious affiliations on Locust Walk. In France, students are not allowed to go to school wearing any kind of religious insignia and rarely discuss politics. However, he feels his experience at Penn has been beneficial for him and has made him more open to other perspectives.
Jurn, however, is disappointed with American culture and values.
"I am horrified, actually -- I really feel like there is a guise of freedom and equality but in actuality ... most people are just focused on stability and making a few minor things better for themselves," she says.
Jurn, who runs American Foreign Policy Discussion on campus, wishes that more Americans would question their government and that Penn students would shed their apathy.
"People are content to be a part of what they're part of and are not interested in questioning the social context," she says.
Contrasting his time at Penn with his years in Rwanda, de Clercq also has come to see the American lifestyle as self-centered and unfulfilling.
De Clercq characterizes Rwandans as being poor and unaware, but believes they have a greater sense of happiness than Americans do. In Rwanda, de Clercq says, life is not about getting jobs or bonuses, but rather centers on family and community -- in short, the simple things in life.
"In the third-world countries I've been to, people are generally happier with less," de Clercq says. "I feel like once you come here, you forget about things, because people are in such a hurry to get ahead. ... You never sit down and just chill."
Others, like Parolari, embrace American culture and ideals. In comparison with France, where Parolari says foreigners are slightly less wealthy and less well-regarded than native citizens, he views America as a land of equal opportunity for all ethnicities.
In America, "you have a chance, and if you want it, you can take it," Parolari says.
Jashnani agrees: "As a foreigner, I feel that the American dream has a lot of power in it."
And although Zachmann sometimes doubts whether a Penn education is worth $40,000, he is among the majority of international students who are satisfied with their experiences at Penn.
Considering the impact of his Penn experience when he returns home, de Clercq put it aptly: "I'll have become much more American -- I don't think it would be a bad thing at all."
