The Disappearing American Grad Student
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/03/education/edlife/american-graduate-student-stem.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/03/education/edlife/american-graduate-student-stem.html
The Disappearing American Grad Student
- Thread starter WTTCHMN
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irvinehusky
New member
That's funny, I used to read similar articles going to college in the late 70s, early 80s. Sadly, nothing has changed in 40 years.
Quite an accurate article. My husband and I came from two different Eastern European countries in the 90's to get PhD's in STEM fields (Physics and Engineering). Out of the 20 grad students at my department (yes, a small dept.) maybe two were American, the rest from China, India, Bangladesh, Nepal and E. Europe. To me, that was a little disappointing, as I was really looking forward to immersing myself in a true American culture. But I got used to it, and yes it's true that it makes for an easier transition, when you're fresh off the boat but you're not afraid to open your mouth, because everyone around you has a foreign accent!
As for getting admitted to the PhD program, it was fairly easy, you had to have good grades in college, and decent scores on the GRE and TOEFL. Also, we all had scholarships from the U.S. university that fully covered tuition and also included a generous stipend as most of us were TA's. The ease to get into these programs was astounding, later I realized due to the fact that few Americans were interested in those fields, since Physics and Math were not exactly priority subjects for many of them, and where would all the colleges get all those TA's to teach the labs and discussion classes to the myriad of undergrads majoring in pre-med, engineering, architecture etc.?
Also, most of us came over with barely a couple hundred $ in our wallet, arduously begged for from aunts, uncles, grandmas, neighbors and so on. Even my one way plane ticket was graciously paid for by the Soros Foundation!!
Interesting to note that even at that time (now as well), there were barely any grad students from Western European countries. The one guy we had from Germany went back home as soon as he got his PhD, to be a high school Physics teacher - apparently in Germany that is a very well-regarded well paid position.
I am not sure how much easier it is for foreigners to get into a STEM related PhD program nowadays. One thing I do know directly, back in "my time" Chinese grad students were incredibly humble, barely spoke English, were dressed extremely modestly, and ate home-cooked rice out of tupperware bowls in the student lounge. Now they walk around like they own the place, all dressed up in designer clothes, driving the latest car model, and most of them paying graduate tuition out of their own pocket. Yes, maybe times have changed!
As for getting admitted to the PhD program, it was fairly easy, you had to have good grades in college, and decent scores on the GRE and TOEFL. Also, we all had scholarships from the U.S. university that fully covered tuition and also included a generous stipend as most of us were TA's. The ease to get into these programs was astounding, later I realized due to the fact that few Americans were interested in those fields, since Physics and Math were not exactly priority subjects for many of them, and where would all the colleges get all those TA's to teach the labs and discussion classes to the myriad of undergrads majoring in pre-med, engineering, architecture etc.?
Also, most of us came over with barely a couple hundred $ in our wallet, arduously begged for from aunts, uncles, grandmas, neighbors and so on. Even my one way plane ticket was graciously paid for by the Soros Foundation!!
Interesting to note that even at that time (now as well), there were barely any grad students from Western European countries. The one guy we had from Germany went back home as soon as he got his PhD, to be a high school Physics teacher - apparently in Germany that is a very well-regarded well paid position.
I am not sure how much easier it is for foreigners to get into a STEM related PhD program nowadays. One thing I do know directly, back in "my time" Chinese grad students were incredibly humble, barely spoke English, were dressed extremely modestly, and ate home-cooked rice out of tupperware bowls in the student lounge. Now they walk around like they own the place, all dressed up in designer clothes, driving the latest car model, and most of them paying graduate tuition out of their own pocket. Yes, maybe times have changed!