<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I applied to several colleges where there aren't many students from my country (will not disclose country due to privacy reasons) or no students at all in order to increase my chances of getting in (diversity!). Would it be difficult for me settle down at a US college as an international student because I have no people from my country? Do you know anyone at your college with a similar situation?</p>
<p>P.S. Although I'm not very good at being a very social person, I can manage! :)>- </p>
<p>what matters most is how well-done the international orientation then the first year orientation is; how close-knit and collaborative the general student body is; whether you’ll have an American roommate and whether there are “host families” locally to show you a bit of American life. It’ll be hard because you won’t be able to speak your native language if it’s not common and you may want to bring a book of easy recipes and a few traditional spices for when you get really homesick and want comfort food (you can’t predict what it’ll be though, it’s really strange.)</p>
<p>If you applied to colleges that match both your academic and your social wants- and if you’re a friendly sort, reasonably aware of American attitudes, willing to get involved in activities, etc, you should be fine. You may make friends with kids from different countries but similar religion or customs. You should be able to make plenty of US friends. My kids had friends in your position. Good luck.</p>
<p>Thank you for your responses.</p>
<p>I do have a bit of experience with American culture because I stayed in the US when I was 3-5 years old. But a lot has changed because of the boom of social media.</p>
<p>I speak in my native language with my parents. So I’d most likely be speaking on phone with them in my native language. I’ve heard that some people discriminate saying its America and you should speak English even on phone. </p>
<p>Not to mention the very recent incident with the coke multiracial superbowl ad (<a href=“- YouTube”>- YouTube)</p>
<p>How often does discrimination occur in us colleges?</p>
<p>I’m also concerned about the hype about gossiping via social media, something not common in my country. How do people avoid this in college?</p>
<p>Hardly, at the schools you mentioned. My kids are/were at one. Nothing is perfect all the time. Anyone can run into some obnoxious sort. But iirc, the 3 schools I saw were all in the northeast. You can see if they have deans or staff in charge of easing intls through whatever their concerns are or whatever comes up. We also have a situation in a number of private and public high schools where there is a “minority of one.” Maybe you hold distracting phone calls or skype away from your dorm room. (My kid does this anyway.) Can you tell us what besides the NE? There are some more provincial areas. And maybe what region of the world you’re from?</p>
<p>I would not be concerned one bit. You should fit right in. We have a multilingual household and no one has ever confronted me for speaking Japanese to my wife or son in person or on the phone. Most people think it is cool that we communicate in different languages. My house? Japanese, English, Spanish and a little Hebrew.</p>
<p>Social media? No problem. If it bothers you, just don’t follow it.</p>
<p>The people that responded with hatred to the Coke ad were a very, very small but vocal minority of viewers. It got a lot of press, but most people just ignored the chatter. In real life here in the US we feel very little if any discrimination and we are the worst kind of people for the haters. We are a multiracial, multilingual, international family that is part Buddhist and part Jewish. If anyone would get harassed it would be us. So far, the last 30 years since we relocated back to the US have gone fine without any problems. In fact, the last time we encountered racism is was overseas! Some drunk in a train station in Japan called my wife a disgusting slur. We did what was appropriate, we laughed at him and walked away. I guarantee our lives are far happier and certainly more interesting than that inebriated looser.</p>
<p>Thanks for clearing the air everyone</p>
<p>Actually you can speak in whatever language on the phone, it will not draw hostility but either indifference (if you’re in a big city) or admiration (in some places such as a college campus). The Coke ad reaction came from a fringe of Americans who do not represent the overall nation’s inhabitants. I’(m sure you have those in your country too. Remember that your perception of things as a toddler or very young child is likely to be VERY different from your perception of things now, regardless of how much has changed.</p>
<p>College campuses are very accepting places. So are college town usually; most cities here are multicultural. I wouldn’t be concerned about your experience. To be the only one might not be that unusual, depending on your country. But you will have a lot in common with the other international students transition wise. Even some American kids find it a big transition.</p>
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<p>Some schools are not in big cities, and some of the small towns that some very welcoming schools are in are not so multicultural or welcoming. Since the OP has not mentioned any specific colleges, it is hard to make generalizations about all of the schools in the US and all of the places that the schools are in.</p>
<p>There are also other cultural differences at different schools that may be relevant, depending on the OP’s cultural background and preferences. For example, at some schools, consumption of alcoholic beverages is more prominent socially than at other schools. If the OP has any strong preference one way or another in this aspect, that may be worth looking into when comparing schools.</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus I prefer colleges with high diversity. I applied to some top lacs. I don’t drink since it’s against my moral and religious principles but I don’t really mind being around people who drink (most of current friends do drink). I made my colleges choices because of the academic vigour, diversity, graduation rates and recognition at top grad schools. Factors that did not come into play were the number of people from my country and social stuff.</p>
<p>OP: be aware that when Americans speak about college students “drinking” or a “drinking culture”, they don’t mean that those students consume a glass of wine or beer socially. They mean that the students drink alcohol until they vomit, then drink some more, usually cheap beer involving “drinking games”, and this typically leads to uncouth behavior. There’s drinking on all campuses and it goes unsaid (as most American kids discover alcohol on their own and overconsume at first) so when it’s specifically referred to, it usually means “excess drinking”. How many students spend their weekends drinking in excess and what other “alcohol-free” activities are offered on campus (free films, crafts, outdoors activities, non-alcoholic parties…) should probably be part of what you look into when selecting colleges for “fit”.</p>
<p>With respect to the drinking culture, you may want to do more investigation of that at the schools you are considering, particularly those which have characteristics associated with higher rates of drinking and binge drinking:</p>
<ul>
<li>More prominent fraternity and sorority systems.</li>
<li>Lack of substance-free dorms.</li>
<li>School in a rural (vs. urban) area.</li>
<li>Small (vs. large) school.</li>
<li>More white (vs. black or Asian) students.</li>
<li>More prominent athletics.</li>
<li>Not a historically black school.</li>
<li>Coed (vs. all-women) school.</li>
<li>4-year (vs. 2-year) school.</li>
<li>Residential (vs. commuter) school.</li>
</ul>
<p><a href=“http://www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov/niaaacollegematerials/panel01/highrisk_05.aspx”>College Drinking, Changing the Culture;
<p>Yes, but I had/have girls at a “work hard/play hard.” One went full gusto into each weekend (Fri and Sat nights, Suns were back to schoolwork.) The other spent her Fri/Sat in the library or with more sedate friends. Same college. </p>
<p>@MYOS1634 Advice Taken</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus I did not apply to any historically black college but most students are white in the colleges I applied. Are drinkers higher in those colleges?</p>
<p>That is the general trend, but there are always exceptions. Do some more investigation of the individual schools if you are concerned about excessive binge drinking. You may try posting questions on the school specific forums, or do web searches of the school name and “alcohol” or “drinking”, which sometimes turn up articles in student or local newspapers on the subject.</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus ok thanks!</p>