<p>RML, exactly what are your qualifications to come to such far reaching conclusions? Do you know anything about agriculture and biosciences and who is good? Or are you just looking at Ibankers? </p>
<p>[Research:</a> UW-Madison and China](<a href=“http://www.chancellor.wisc.edu/china/research.php]Research:”>Research: UW-Madison and China)</p>
<p>MIT, Stanford, Caltech, Berkeley, Harvard, Yale Princeton. Period. </p>
<p>These are the most ‘famous’ name here, in India. MIT is like crazy popular. If I tell anyone that I am taking the SAT, he or she will respond in a teasing tone, ‘OooOOh MIT!’. Prestige is so important here. My parents wouldn’t be very happy if I get into Michigan, than they would be if I got into Yale… For Engineering! Damn. </p>
<p>Other well known colleges are, Purdue, Columbia and Wharton (UPenn… not quite!).</p>
<p>Why ask this question of a bunch of Americans who don’t anything about this except from anecdotal stories, e.g. my best friend from China said blah, blah, blah…</p>
<p>Try finding a forum like this that is based in Asia. Just a thought…</p>
<p>^Do you have any recommendations? </p>
<p>How many Asian college forums do you believe are in English? And how many have a Western university focus?</p>
<p>I live in SE Asia. Williams my son’s undergrad alma mater gets ZERO name recognition. In fact the reaction is usually (unspoken of course) “You poor parent, too bad your son couldn’t get into a GOOD college.”</p>
<p>He’s now in a graduate program at Cornell which moves the approval meter way to the positive! </p>
<p>I’d concur that among the big publics Michigan, Wisconsin and Berkeley are the best known and regarded in SE Asia. These three universities have been churning out PhDs in Asian related areas – economics, arts, anthropology – for decades.</p>
<p>I spent a year in Taiwan, and have spent time on business in S. Korea, China, Japan, Singapore, and India.</p>
<p>Cornell is well known and (and highly regarded) in China and Taiwan - Pres. Lee Teng-hui of Taiwan earned his Ph.D. there (and provoked a cross-the-straits incident when he returned for a reunion). Dr. Hu Shih, reveared on both sides of the Taiwan Straits, studied at Cornell early in the 20th Century.</p>
<p>I concur with momrath - there’s a widespread belief in Asia that colleges are inferior to universities.</p>
<p>I knew a professor at the University of Wisconsin’s Superior campus thirty years ago who said that a lot of students arrived at his campus from Asia under the belief (derived from the name of the town where it was located) that it was the flagship campus.</p>
<p>Schools like Penn and Dartmouth actually have a surprisingly strong reputation in Asia.</p>
<p>On the other hand, Princeton, mostly because of its lack of a graduate program, is very much underrated.</p>
<p>Harvard is still an obvious #1, no other school even comes close in terms of reputation/recognition</p>
<p>So if there is a widespread belief that colleges < universities, you’re dealing with people who don’t have a substantive base of knowledge as to what they are talking about. Its all based on supposition, familiarity, vague impressions from TV shows and t shirts. People who don’t open their minds to the concept of “I haven’t heard of it, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be good.” So, why, again, would you care what they think? People who are willing to revise opinions based on new knowledge are the people whose opinions are worth caring about, not people who stubbornly cling to superficial judgments.</p>
<p>US schools that are well known in Asia are the ivies and those which have good business or/and engineering programs. AND NO LAC.
So, UC Berkeley, UCLA, UWisconsin, Purdue, UMich, Georgia Tech, MIT, Stanford, UIUC, UT Austin, NYU, Indiana U, U of Washington, Northwestern, and Caltech.</p>
<p>Re: Post #48:</p>
<p>Some American universities are well-known in Asia due to the longstanding involvement of those universities in the region, their Asian alumni base, personal contact and familiarity, etc.; others are well-known simply due to name-recognition from popular media; still others are well known from the various rankings, whether those are USNWR, the Times, the Australian equivalent, or the Jiaotong University world rankings. Basically, its not very different from the manner in which Americans determine the prestige or quality of their own universities. As we habitually do on CC, we launch into a discussion without making necessary distinctions or defining terms. In the case of Asia perceptions of American universities, important distinctions to make are the same ones we should make when discussing US perceptions of American universities: Whose perception is it? The man in the street, or informed people? What region are they from? Are they referring to undergrad or grad rankings? Are they filtering their perception through the lens of a schools reputation in a particular field, e.g., engineering? Are they referring to perceived social prestige, academic quality, or both? And so on. Like it or not, when information or familiarity is lacking or incomplete, brand-names take on some importance in judging prestige or quality. </p>
<p>As for liberal arts colleges, if they are not perceived as prestigious in Asia, a large part of that is due to a cultural differences, e.g., valuing practical and technical fields over those that are not, not having the same classical tradition in which the liberal arts originated, etc.; and, part of it is determined by economic factors. Perhaps that perception will change, though:</p>
<p>[Pursuing</a> a Liberal Arts Education in China - Newsweek](<a href=“http://www.newsweek.com/2010/02/10/liberal-applications.html]Pursuing”>Pursuing a Liberal Arts Education in China)</p>
<p>[Less</a> Politics, More Poetry: China’s Colleges Eye the Liberal Arts - International - The Chronicle of Higher Education](<a href=“http://chronicle.com/article/Less-Politics-More-Poetry-/63356/]Less”>http://chronicle.com/article/Less-Politics-More-Poetry-/63356/)</p>
<p>[What</a> We Could Learn From India And Korea | The New Republic](<a href=“http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/76997/what-we-could-learn-india-and-korea-education-poverty]What”>Want To Learn How To Educate Kids the Right Way? Look East to India and Korea | The New Republic)</p>
<p>[Korean</a> Man Dumps Harvard](<a href=“Korean Man Dumps Harvard - The Korea Times”>Korean Man Dumps Harvard - The Korea Times)</p>
<p>Re: Post #49:</p>
<p>BearCub, I see you mentioned Purdue and Indiana. Another poster also mentioned those universities earlier in this thread. This caught my attention because it is relatively rare to see them mentioned on CC. I attribute it to the Northeastern bias on this forum. Yet, Purdue is a great school for engineering. Indiana, while it does not have an engineering school, has a range and depth across other disciplines matched by few other universities. It has extensive offerings in Asian Studies, notably including a strong Tibetan connection. (The Dalai Lama visits Indiana yearly, and his brother operated a Tibetan restaurant in Bloomington.) I think both of these universities are underrated on CC; it’s too bad they get overlooked so often by the “coasties”.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Should it not be important to make a distinction between undergraduate and graduate education? Are there any statistics about the number of students from Asia who attend US schools as international students? What is the percentage of those students who spend four to six years getting an undergraduate versus the much shorter master’s degree? </p>
<p>Isn’t it expected that the US educational factories that offer both large numbers of spots in post-undergraduate education and financial incentives would be … better known?</p>
<p>Re: Post #47:
“On the other hand, Princeton, mostly because of its lack of a graduate program, is very much underrated.”</p>
<p>Princeton does not lack a graduate program. I think Princeton is probably well-known in Asia. It has longstanding scholarly involvement in East Asia; an alumni presence; strong East Asia academic programs; and, it’s reputation is sciences, math, economics is well-known. Also, as Asians read the college ranking as well as Americans, I think they’re quite aware of its rankings.
[Princeton</a> in Asia](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/~pia/]Princeton”>Princeton in Asia)</p>
<p>“Harvard is still an obvious #1, no other school even comes close in terms of reputation/recognition.”
Clearly, Harvard is well-known in Asia, but despite “Harvard Girl” ([Harvard</a> Girl - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_Girl]Harvard”>Harvard Girl - Wikipedia)), it’s silly to think that no other school even comes close. Berkeley is the obvious choice.</p>
<p>Re: Post #52: “Should it not be important to make a distinction between undergraduate and graduate education? Are there any statistics about the number of students from Asia who attend US schools as international students? What is the percentage of those students who spend four to six years getting an undergraduate versus the much shorter master’s degree?”</p>
<p>“Isn’t it expected that the US educational factories that offer both large numbers of spots in post-undergraduate education and financial incentives would be … better known?”</p>
<p>xiggi, I totally agree with you that it’s important to make that distinction. As you know, on CC, this distinction often is overlooked. I don’t think the failure to make this distinction is any different among Asians. </p>
<p>I’m sure there must be statistics on the number of Asian students in US schools as well as the number of them who are undergrads vs. grads. I haven’t attempted to retrieve those statistics, however. </p>
<p>Yes, large institutions with large graduate programs and funding for those programs would be better known. However, I suspect that many of the Asian students currently attending American universities are here for undergrad studies with relatively little institutional funding.</p>
<p>Some numbers:</p>
<p>Origin of int’l students</p>
<h1>1 India is the with 103,260 in 2008/09 (an increase of 9% from the previous year)</h1>
<h1>2 China (98,510, up 21%)</h1>
<h1>3 South Korea (75,065, up 9%),</h1>
<h1>4 Canada (29,697, up 2%),</h1>
<h1>5 Japan (29,264, down 14%),</h1>
<h1>6 Taiwan (28,065, down 3%),</h1>
<h1>7 Mexico (14,850, up 0.1%),</h1>
<h1>8 Turkey (13,263, up 10%),</h1>
<h1>9 Vietnam (12,823, up 46%),</h1>
<h1>10 Saudi Arabia (12,661, up 28%),</h1>
<h1>11 Nepal (11,581, up 30%),</h1>
<h1>12 Germany (9,679, up 9%),</h1>
<h1>13 Brazil (8,767, up 16%),</h1>
<h1>14 Thailand (8,736, down 3%),</h1>
<h1>15 United Kingdom (8,701, up 4%),</h1>
<h1>16 Hong Kong (8,329, up 1%)</h1>
<h1>17 Indonesia (7,509, down 2%),</h1>
<h1>18 France (7,421, up 5%),</h1>
<h1>19 Colombia (7,013, up 5%),</h1>
<h1>20 Nigeria (6,256, up 1%),</h1>
<h1>21 Malaysia (5,942, up 10%),</h1>
<h1>22 Kenya (5,877, up 1%),</h1>
<h1>23 Pakistan (5,298, down 1%),</h1>
<h1>24 Russia (4,908, up 0%), and</h1>
<h1>25 Venezuela (4,678, up 5%).</h1>
<p>The Top ten most popular fields of study for international students in the United States in 2008/09
were Business and Management (21% of total), Engineering (18%) and Physical and Life Sciences (9%), Social Sciences (9%), Mathematics and Computer Science (8%), Health Professions (5%), Fine & Applied Arts (5%), Intensive English Language (4%), Humanities (3%), Education (3%), and Agriculture (1%). Undeclared majors are excluded from the rankings of top fields of study. </p>
<p>For the eighth year in a row, the University of Southern California is the leading host institution with 7,482 international students. New York University hosts the second highest number of foreign students (6,761). Other campuses in the top 10 are: Columbia University (6,685), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (6,570), Purdue University (6,136), University of Michigan – Ann Arbor (5,790), University of Texas – Austin (5,703), University of California – Los Angeles (5,590), Boston University (5,037), and Michigan State University (4,757).</p>
<p>Rank Institution City State Total Int’l Students</p>
<p>1 University of Southern California Los Angeles CA 7,482
2 New York University New York NY 6,761
3 Columbia University New York NY 6,685
4 University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign Champaign IL 6,570
5 Purdue University - Main Campus West Lafayette IN 6,136
6 University of Michigan - Ann Arbor Ann Arbor MI 5,790
7 University of Texas - Austin Austin TX 5,703
8 University of California - Los Angeles Los Angeles CA 5,590
9 Boston University Boston MA 5,037
10 Michigan State University East Lansing MI 4,757
11 Harvard University Cambridge MA 4,735
12 University of Florida Gainesville FL 4,731
13 University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia PA 4,635
14 Ohio State University - Main Campus Columbus OH 4,583
15 Indiana University - Bloomington Bloomington IN 4,565
16 Texas A&M University College Station TX 4,558
17 SUNY University at Buffalo Buffalo NY 4,539
18 Arizona State University - Tempe Campus Tempe AZ 4,375
19 University of Wisconsin - Madison Madison WI 4,243
20 University of Minnesota - Twin Cities Minneapolis MN 4,120</p>
<p>In 2008/09, the international students were divided as follows: </p>
<p>Undergrad 269,874
Graduate 283,329
Non degree 51,812</p>
<p>Very interesting data, xiggi. I would not have guessed that USC had the highest number. Do you think they came for the climate or to see the movie stars? lol
I would have expected Wisconsin to be higher.
Berkeley is conspicuous by its absence from the top 20.</p>
<p>In academic year 2008/09 </p>
<p>103,260 students from India
15.1% undergraduate
68.8% graduate students</p>
<p>98,235 students from China
26.7% undergraduate
58.5% graduate students</p>
<p>75,065 students from South Korea
49.4% undergraduate
33.9% graduate students</p>
<p>29,264 students from Japan
57.3% undergraduate
21.5% graduate students</p>
<p>28,065 students from Taiwan
25.5% undergraduate
54.6% graduate students</p>
<p>13,263 students from Turkey
33.1% undergraduate
51.6% graduate students</p>
<p>8,329 students from Hong Kong
70.8% undergraduate
16.4% graduate students</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Looking at the distribution of immigrants in the US might reveal some clues. Families and friends might offer a network of support and knowledge about the schools.</p>
<p>In the meantime, here at the most popular destinations:</p>
<p>TOP U.S. STATES Hosting Int’l Students
Rank State 2008/09
1 California 93,124
2 New York 74,934
3 Texas 58,188
4 Massachusetts 33,838
5 Florida 30,386
6 Illinois 29,887
7 Pennsylvania 27,529
8 Michigan 23,617
9 Ohio 20,725
10 Indiana 17,098</p>
<p>^ Interesting stats. As others have said, the most recognized schools in Asia are the ones with strong graduate business/engineering/medical programs. This includes HYPSMC, Michigan, Berkeley, UIUC, Johns Hopkins, Wisconsin, UCSD, GA Tech, Purdue, NYU, Virginia, Cornell, and Texas.</p>
<p>Ivies like Dartmouth and Brown, for some reason, lack a strong reputation in Asia. When I went to India almost no one heard of Dartmouth or Brown, yet everyone I came across held Purdue and GA Tech in high regard.</p>