Besides the obvious answer of being from a different country? Because anyone can become more interesting/popular when they visit a different country, but it all depends on the situation. For example, at my college, some of them are viewed as “celebrities”.
Now, this doesn’t bother me at all, but it’s an interesting thought.
I don’t find this an interesting thought, especially once you discard the “being from a different country” point - in part because I’m not sure what you base this statement on: a high school experience? Your own college (which is…?) A personal feeling or impression? Are you speaking as a freshman or an upper class student?
I read your post because the heading didn’t make sense - I work in this field and have never heard or seen popularity of international exchange students discussed or studied. Popularity of study abroad, yes, but popularity in the high school sense, no.
I guess you can say college AND high school, but still, every school is different.
It might really depend on the college, but it’s very dependent on which school you are talking about. Some colleges have many international students and are just…students. I suppose at a college with predominantly local students, a foreign students might be interesting. High school is probably different, because most high schools will have few, if any, foreign students.
What does this question even mean. What is your sample size?
There are popular exchange students and unpopular ones. Just like there are popular domestic students and unpopular ones. This is also applicable to pretty much any social group in any setting.
It’s such an odd premise with a baseless assumption that might be predicated on one kid’s personal impression or short experience.
Is opntryingto get his/her personal feelings validated or trying to figure out “is my high school pretty typical” or …?
I find that in general, the typical high school popularity thing goes away in college. People are just more mature and really haven’t known each other long enough to consider someone “popular.” And I say this as someone who attends a small college about the size of my high school.
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
Closing thread; Threads about stereotypes are not allowed.