<p>Ok… this financial issue is all relative and as everyone already said, you can be a rich/poor instate or you can be a rich/poor out-of-state too (although poor out-of-state is rare). </p>
<p>I’m an international student myself so for now I can only speak for international students in the engineering majors. I’ll ignore financial pressure as a determinant of success and use inductive reasoning based on my experiences from my 1st year and international students I know of. I can say that most intl classmates I know of (Asians… how coincidental…lol) are doing EXCEEDINGLY well. When I look at their background and how they’re doing it, it’s always a combination of qualification first and then hard work. Most of them tell me that the material they “learned” during their first year was not new and much easier than that of their home country. Let’s factor in the fact that they were also the top students at their local high schools. I really don’t want to generalize, but it’s hard not to mention that they are mostly math/engineering “inclined” and definitely not as well-rounded. Most international students don’t have the luxury of exploring (other majors) and look for what they might be interested in and possibly change majors, so they come very prepared already. So this curriculum difference is what makes the difference in the first year at least. Maybe this is leveraged over the years, but it provides a significant edge.
As a side note, coming from OOS/abroad, it’s a much bigger change than say moving from Norcal to LA. Maybe this psychological factor can contribute to slightly better performance, more focused mindset and whatnot, so it should not be totally neglected.</p>