Top 10 Reasons International Students Pick a USA College

Recently, gousavisacenter read that 100,000 international students were asked a variety of questions to learn more about how they decide which college they will attend and what is important to them when selecting a college abroad.Of course not all of the international students answered, but almost 20,000 did and I want to share their answers with you, the international students from all over the world who are reading gousavisacenter.Here’s what the research shows:The five most important factors you consider when studying overseas are the same no matter where you intend to go to school. These are: quality of education (compared to your home country), international recognition of qualifications, the country’s attitude to international students, safety, and ease of getting a student visa.The four least important factors are: distance from your home country, ability to get permanent residency in the destination country after study, exposure to culture or life in the destination country, and better job prospects in the destination country.To get you the information you need, it’s our priority here at GUVC to focus on how well we are doing when it comes to figuring out what makes you, the international student, decide where to go and what degree to study.Using this report, let’s see if we really know you as well as we think we do…What you think about and what you expect from a college?Are what you say and what you do actually different?Can we profile you, the international student?What does teaching quality mean to you?What motivates you to pick one college over another?Based on the report and our experience running GUVC, here are the Top 10 reasons international students selected their college:1. Degree 1st, Country 2nd, and College 3rdInternational students like you go online and the first thing you look for are the courses and program options available for what you want to study.For example, you are more interested in the variety and complexity of electrical engineering courses and degree programs than the fact that a college happens to be in Maryland, USA.You are also web-smart, and street-smart, and you can find almost all this information online and believe it is more important than the college brand, a well-known school in a popular city for instance, or the specific location of the college.2. Fees Must Be CompetitiveCollege fees are the second most important consideration for you and it’s the number one reason that students like you turn down one college over another.Fees are very important and you do careful research to find out exactly what you will be paying for every semester and class and if fees are unreasonably high and the college doesn’t explain why, you are not going to pick them over another college with more competitive prices.You care about the benefits you are getting for your money and it shows in the colleges you turn down.3. Courses Rank Higher Than A School’s ReputationYou place a higher value on individual courses and how they rank more than college rankings and a school’s reputation.The college you eventually select will offer courses that are highly ranked and these rankings are even more important that the school’s reputation. Making these decisions means you are particularly good at researching which college ranks particularly well and in which courses along with which subjects or course rank the highest.4. Success After College is Important AlsoYou want a well-respected program because you look at the program as a springboard to your success after college. You assume you will be satisfied at a college with a good reputation, so you aren’t really paying attention to this factor nearly as much as what you will actually be learning at your school. This means that colleges who brag and boast about how satisfied their international students are feeling isn’t really that important to you, or not as important as what they are learning.As an international student, you care the most about pursuing your degree not only for the sake of getting a good education, but also for the knowledge and experience that will stay with you for the rest of your life. You are attracted to colleges with programs that directly show a benefit to the students graduating from their college.5. Benefits Outweigh Geographic LocationYou are interested in the benefits of studying in the USA, versus the UK, or Australia, and this is more important that the location and the specific college.This lets you get a complete lifestyle picture of what it would be like to live and go to college in a particular place and the benefits of the entire college experience are more important than where the college is located.6. A friendly and safe environment is criticalBecause you consider the country location before the college itself, you need to be assured that you will be welcome and safe at the college you select.If a country has unwelcome immigration policies, it’s difficult to get a student visa, you can’t or will find it difficult to find work, or there is a large amount of crime against international students and racial intolerance; that is not going to be your first or even top 5 pick for a country.7. Good Communication and Marketing WorksSince you look at the courses and programs offered first, the colleges that communicate their unique course offerings and their brands will get your attention first.This means these colleges must also live up to the overall promises they are making to you or they will not be selected as often by international students.8. You Get Involved Through Social MediaYou want to get involved with colleges and their course offerings through visual social media sites like YouTube and Instagram while you are researching your college options.You enjoy taking tours of college campuses, viewing pictures of the student body and environments, and learning more about what it would be like to live there and attend classes every day.9. Colleges Who Understand You Get Picked FirstYou need to be nurtured from the time you begin researching your choices through any questions you may have up to filling out the application to a college.Colleges who invest the time at the beginning to give you the key information you need to meet your expectations, help you make your decision easier. If a college doesn’t know who you are or what you want, there is little chance you are going to be picking their school to attend for your education.10. Your Time is Valuable – Colleges Shouldn’t Waste ItYour time is valuable and you are not pleased when colleges don’t respond to your inquiries or you need more information and don’t get it quickly.A college website is the key source of information for you and it’s the primary tool you use to get information about your future education.You expect a quick response when you ask information from a college. Most of you want a detailed reply by email within 3 days or at least a short reply within 24 hours.You use social media to research and gather information but after a while you do not end up getting helpful information anymore using these tools.You understand the value of an international advisor and will contact several when making your decision and additional information will be helpful.So How Did We Do?I would enjoy knowing if you agree or disagree with this list. Do we understand what international students are looking for or are we wrong about what’s important to you? Write me here at gousavisacenter and tell me more – I love hearing from my visitors and all international students worldwide.Go USA!– MikeAll information presented here is from my personal research and my attempts to save you time and money when pursuing your dream of coming to the USA to study. Do not take any of this information as LEGAL advice – I am not an attorney, nor do I play one on TV. This information is gathered from a variety of sources including many US Government websites and I urge you to validate this information as much as possible, just as I do when posting on this blog.