Electrical engineering senior Juan Galindo is an international transfer student from El Salvador. Electrical engineering senior Juan Avelar is an international transfer student from Colombia.
Each Juan is 23, each Juan left their respective Central American country on a student visa and each Juan transferred to Cal Poly from a community college in Northern California.
As much as they have in common, Galindo and Avelar would likely never have become friends had they remained in their home countries. Diversity within the U.S. is one major draw for international students when deciding to study abroad.
“It’s America; you go outside and there are restaurants from all over the world,” Avelar said. “Even in this area, there are people from all different cultures.”
America has long been referred to as a “melting pot” of diverse peoples with diverse backgrounds and cultures. Cal Poly has been previously criticized for lack of diversity, but efforts are being made to attract more international students.
Galindo and Avelar moved to California after high school with relatives and received their general education at local community colleges. Both were told about Cal Poly by their professors, citing an elite engineering program with relatively low tuition.
International students must jump through several procedural hoops in order to study in America, but Cal Poly offers a wealth of information and support to make the process as smooth as possible. Even so, prospective students must meet with their home country liaison to obtain a student visa, contingent on ties back to the country to ensure their return after graduating.
Another requirement of international students is that they demonstrate proficient English skills.
One thing Avelar has been surprised by in the classroom is the extra effort required of international students to interpret their teacher’s dialogue, then digest the information. He realized this after taking a class last summer in his home country, where he did not have to worry about misinterpreting something the teacher said.
“There are still words I don’t fully understand,” he said.
Unlike Galindo and Avelar, who are full-time students on track to receive their degree from Cal Poly, landscape architecture senior Nisha Gandhi came to the university from England for a set time — three quarters — via the student exchange program. Gandhi pays tuition to her school in Leeds, England, while a Cal Poly student essentially swaps places with her and pays Cal Poly tuition.
Gandhi lives on-campus with American roommates, who she said have been very helpful in accommodating her unfamiliarity with campus life. Gandhi said she enjoys all of her architecture classes, but the experience goes far beyond education.
“Being here, you take your one perspective and make it so much wider,” she said. “You get so inspired by how different people think in different countries.”
The International Students department is currently developing a new international program, with brochures and electronic information, to attract international students who have never heard of Cal Poly. Such efforts will be helpful, but the most important method is still word of mouth, according to Interim Director of International Education Raymond Zeuschner.
“We’ve got the beautiful Central Coast, we’ve got great programs and we’ve got great faculty,” he said. “That all appeals to an international student.”
Cal Poly constantly seeks international students from diverse regions of the world, especially after financial support was capped at 16,000 in-state students by the State of California. The remaining 3,000 students are made up of out-of-state and international students, who do not take the place of California students.
The classroom presents its own challenges to international students, many of whom are not as accustomed to independent coursework.
“We go downtown, and we always see a person who’s left behind because he’s drunk and his friends left him,” Galindo said. “Everyone is looking out for themselves, especially in the classroom.”
Associate director of International Students and Scholars Judy Mitchell said international students can get more than just a textbook education while attending Cal Poly.
“They get to learn what we’re really like, not just what you see in the media,” Mitchell said.