Returning to school and attending in-person classes is difficult enough, and they say China’s Five-One policy, which limits  airlines to one international flight a week has turned it into a nightmare. And these restrictions could last until 2022.

“I bought my ticket five months before my departure,” Jiaqi Shan, a first-year graduate student at New York University said. “It’s a 40-hour transit flight and it cost me over $2,000. Normally before the pandemic, it only cost about $700 for a round trip between China and the U.S. The price just went crazy since March last year.”

According to Shan, the costs of a single flight ranges from $2,000 up to over $5,000, and one of her friends’ tickets were even canceled twice. As the Delta variant continues to spread in the U.S. and causes a significant increase in new cases, Chinese parents worry about their children studying here.

 “She will go to multiple places and meet so many people every day, I’m afraid she’ll get infected,” said Hongmei Peng, whose daughter just came to America to study. “Although she said that she will do all possible protections against covid and take care of herself, there’s still the possibility of being infected. Increased hate crimes and violence rates also worry me a lot.”

Peng said that although she  struggled to sleep the first few weeks after her daughter left, she didn’t let her daughter know how she was feeling.

“I don’t want to distract my daughter or cause her panic,” she said. “She’s already busy with studying and living alone abroad and I believe that she can take good care of herself.”

In April, President  Joe Biden signed a proclamation suspending the entry to the United States of certain nonimmigrant travelers and China carried out the “Five One” policy restricting international flights to and from China. Both acts were aimed to limit the risk of transmitting coronavirus across borders. 

Shan said that she understands the restrictions but they make travel very difficult for international students.

“I’m worried about the pandemic as well. But I still decided to come to America to continue my study,” Shan said. “I think face-to-face interactions and discussions, on-site practices and experience, library resources on campus, and other available resources and opportunities are important and integral parts to my college life.”

Miko Liu, a Chinese student who just graduated from the University of Washington this summer, is preparing for her upcoming GRE test this week and applications for graduate programs in biology and bioengineering. She said she was really torn between going to graduate school in the  U.S. or Singapore and Japan to study biology.

“These countries are also really advanced and professional in biology and bioengineering,” Liu said.“More importantly, these countries have better control in COVID-19 and are much safer I think.”

But after careful consideration, she chose the U.S. 

“America still owns the most advanced technology and the most opportunities to get in touch with the most talented and professional seniors and peers,” she said. “I will also be able to hear the most diversified voices in this country with the most variety in students race and ethnicity. As long as I remember to wear a mask in public places and monitor my health every day, the pandemic won’t bother me much I believe.”

The post Travel restrictions make back to school challenging for Chinese international students appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

ICE is now threatening to deport any international student who will have only online classes next semester. The news came on July 6, as the coronavirus numbers in the states continued to soar. Many international students who hold  F-1 and M-1 visas will not be able to return to their campuses. The measure would entail high costs for these students who already contribute nearly $41 billion to the U.S. economy. 

“I think it’s cruel. I can’t even see a benefit to it. We contribute a lot to the economy. I worked really hard to be here, and to have that taken away overnight is absolutely cruel,” said Julia Sipowicz, an international student studying film at NYU Tisch. 

Since the onset of the pandemic students have realized how frail their status is in the country. At NYU, the largest private university in the country, with 19,600 international students, the pandemic has led to one crisis after another. They faced eviction from their dormitories in March because of the COVID-19 outbreak. Now, they may face eviction from the country. 

NYU President Andy Hamilton assured students in an email that “ NYU’s leadership has been looking ahead and working on plans for a return to in-person, on-campus activity to be accompanied by an effective set of health and safety protocols.” 

Sipowicz is still uneasy despite Hamilton’s email. Her academic advisor assured her she was fine, because her program is hybrid. But she doesn’t trust the system.

 “I was one of the students who got kicked out of the dorms,” she said. “I’m very weary of what could happen in the future given how (NYU) didn’t think of the consequences. I need to look out for myself and not expect them to,” she said. 

Students who are enrolled in classes that are confirmed to be in person or hybrid are not entirely safe. If there is a resurgence later in the year, and their programs switch to online courses, they could be required to leave the U.S.

Zhuoru Deng, a second-year graduate international student at NYU Steinhardt, doesn’t know if she should transfer to the Shanghai campus. 

“There are risky choices on both sides. What if I stay in the U.S. and the course goes online in October/November,” she asked. “My advisor told me, ‘If you go back to China, you have to be prepared for the possibility of not being able to come back to the U.S.’”

Getting a ticket to Shanghai will not be easy. Flights are limited and costs can be as high as $10,000. Also, tickets need to be booked through an agent. Regular booking will not be available until November. 

“Some agents are frauds, and some of my friends have already lost money booking through them,” Deng said. 

Harvard and the Michigan Institute of Technology have sued the Trump administration in response to ICE’s announcement. Sipocwicz wishes NYU would do more, like reaching out directly to the government or immigration lawyers to find out how to help students. On July 7 Hamilton announced that NYU intends to file an amicus brief in support of the lawsuit.

But Sipocwicz wants the university to do more.

“NYU should do more to advocate for us,” she said. “I haven’t seen NYU do that. A statement from the president doesn’t make a difference.”

The post ICE takes aim at international students appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

 The agency that oversees the nation’s student and exchange visitor program, announced that international students must take at least one in-person class in the fall to maintain their visa status, or they will have to leave the U.S. 

 In a hotel room in Shenyang, a city 2,800 miles away from her hometown Shenzhen, Fang, a student of New York University, said she was being thrown a curveball again. After NYU announced in June their plan to operate in a hybrid model in the fall, with an in-person and Zoom option, she decided to go back to China and attend classes remotely. But the new rule now requires her to show up in the  classroom so she won’t lose her student visa. 

“I have no idea what I should do in the next step,” Fang said. “ I have to make a new plan to complete my degree.”  

Chinese students like Fang, may become the biggest casualties of the latest ICE regulation on international students. For the tenth consecutive year, China remained the largest source of international students in the US, making up 33.7% of all foreign students in 2019, according to a report by the Institute of International Education. These students, whether they have returned home or stayed in the U.S., are scrambling to maintain their visa status which has faced more scrutiny under the Trump administration since the pandemic began.  

Former Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have both voiced their opposition to the policy on Twitter. Elizabeth Warren urged the ICE and the Department of Homeland Security to “drop this policy immediately” and called the move “senseless, cruel and xenophobic.” 

Kicking international students out of the US during a global pandemic because their colleges are moving classes online for physical distancing hurts students. It’s senseless, cruel, and xenophobic. @ICEgov and @DHSgov must drop this policy immediately. https://t.co/MHYduGA1Pk

— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) July 7, 2020

 Sanders also used the word “cruelty” to describe the disturbing policy. “Foreign students are being threatened with a choice: risk your life going to class in-person or get deported,” he said.  

The cruelty of this White House knows no bounds. Foreign students are being threatened with a choice: risk your life going to class in-person or get deported.

We must stand up to Trump’s bigotry. We must keep all our students safe. https://t.co/Q2MvmgJPqV

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) July 6, 2020

If a university adopts the hybrid model, foreign students have to take “the minimum number of online classes required to make normal progress in their degree program,” and have to be back in the states to participate in the in-person classes. 

 For many schools that offered the in-person option for smaller scale seminar classes, like NYU and Columbia University, classroom presence is optional. Local students can opt to stay at home and participate via Zoom. Yet international students, per this policy, will not have the same privilege. 

 “Is it worth risking my health to travel back and attend the classes?” Fang asked. 

 After many states reopened, the confirmed cases across the U.S  soared. On July 2, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 54,357 new cases, a record single day jump.

University campuses are particularly vulnerable to such a highly contagious disease. Washington University reported that at least 112 fraternity residents have tested positive for Covid-19 on June 30.

Even if they are willing to risk their health to attend in-person classes, the students that are already home face travel restrictions. On January 31, President Trump banned foreigners that had stayed in China in the past 14 days to enter the U.S. Five months  later with Covid-19 decreasing in most regions of China, the travel restriction is still active. 

 This travel ban is essentially in conflict with the ICE regulation that mandates international students to return to the U.S. to attend in person classes. 

 Another NYU graduate student from China, Taylor Xu, who studies biostatistics, chose to stay because her “visa is going to expire.”

Given the indefinite suspension of U.S. consulates in China and the sensitive nature of her major, she said “it wouldn’t be easy to get a new visa.” 

 On May 29, President Trump signed an executive order to ban certain groups of Chinese graduate students from entering the country, accusing them of “acquir[ing] sensitive United States technologies and intellectual property, in part to bolster the modernization and capability of its military, the People’s Liberation Army.”

 Now, Xu faced the chance of being deported as her program will operate remotely.

“It’s mentally stressful and disheartening that the country I’ve lived in for six years may kick me out,” Xu said. “The fact that I can’t find a reasonably priced ticket home also makes the situation more challenging.”

 To stop coronavirus cases from entering China, Beijing has drastically cut the number of international flights to “one route to any specific country with no more than one flight per week” since March. Although it eased airline access after President Trump threatened to ban inbound flights from China, allowing Delta Air Lines and United Airlines to operate four weekly flights in total, the seats available still fell short of demand. 

While international students are rattled, universities across the country have been advocating strongly against the policy. Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology sued the Trump administration.  In an email to the students, Lee Bollinger, President of Columbia University, which has the fourth-largest international student population in the U.S., wrote “the destructive and indefensible purpose driving these policies is by now all too familiar.” 

 Universities are also in the process of transitioning to hybrid models to save international students’ visas. But the growing number of new cases  and the chance of a second wave hitting in the fall could easily force universities to close again. 

 “If a second wave hits this fall and my school moves to online classes again, what would  I do?” Fang asked.  

The post Chinese students trapped by new ICE policy appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

Students can transfer to another institution or must leave the country. 

Many of the universities going online only are in California where the coronavirus  cases continue to grow.

On July 8, Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to stop the policy. 

More than 50 universities are filing either amicus briefs or lawsuits opposing the new ICE regulation, according to Ubadah Sabbagh, who voluntarily crowdsourced and fact-checked university announcements over his twitter account. His twitter thread amassed over 5,000 comments and retweets with university internal letters or official announcements.

Universities filing amicus briefs/lawsuits against new ICE regs by my count:

– Cornell
– Dartmouth
– Georgetown
– Harvard
– Hopkins (forthcoming)
– Michigan State
– MIT
– Northeastern
– Northwestern
– Penn
– Princeton
– Purdue
– Stanford
– U of California
– UMich
– USC
– Yale

— Ubadah Sabbagh (@neubadah) July 9, 2020

According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, more than half of the universities are planning for in-person teaching for next semester. Around one fourth of the universities are proposing a hybrid model and about  9% of  are planning for a fully online model.

Data provided by the Department of Commerce shows that international students make up 5.5 percent of the total U.S. higher education population, contributing $44.7 billion to the U.S. economy in 2018. China is the largest source of international students in the U.S., followed by India, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Canada.

 Incoming international students are also having difficulty  gaining access to  F-1 visas because of  U.S. embassy shutdowns.

Ke Li, an incoming NYU journalism graduate student said she decided to defer her offer till next year.

 “I have to take online courses from China if I accept the offer,” she said.“Students like me who are not in the states only get the choice of being fully online.” 

 Li did not feel the government’s response to contain and mitigate the public health crisis was adequate.

“It is safer to wait another year to see what is coming,” she said.

The post Lawsuits follow ICE policy barring international students who are taking online classes appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

On her way to stay with her family for spring break, and until in-person classes resumed, she packed the essentials, leaving the rest behind in her New York University dorm room. 

That Sunday, the government of Puerto Rico put in place a curfew. And on Monday, to her dismay, a memorandum from her university announced that all dorms would be shutting down, giving approximately 12,000 students living in housing less than a week’s notice to move out, and advising them to do so within 48 hours.

“It was contrary to everything they had told us up until that point,” she said. “They could have told us to move out before spring break. Everything I own is in that room.”

All over the US, universities have been closing down student housing in response to the new coronavirus outbreak, some of them turning the dorms into facilities for quarantine or temporary hospitals. The situation has been escalating day by day, and institutions have been struggling to quickly respond to an unprecedented crisis.

New York has been hit particularly hard, and is quickly becoming the epicenter of the outbreak in the US. 

The email sent out by NYU President Andrew Hamilton on March 16th offered to have student’s belongings packed and shipped for free and assured they would be reimbursed for the rest of the semester. It instructed those who were away for spring break and planned to return to “do so as soon as possible”.

It also gave students the possibility to petition for an exception, noting that “the bar will be high” and warning them that they might still be asked to move to another house. According to several students, the university only responded to their requests on Thursday, three days before the final deadline to move out.

“I decided to seek temporary housing, because of how long it took for them to respond to the housing requests,” 23-year old graduate student Pak Ho, said.

Like Ho, who is originally from Hong Kong, hundreds of international students, who are around 27% of residents, were put in a complicated situation, unable to go home, because of travel restrictions, health concerns and fear of not being able to return soon.

“I can’t go back because of the visa issues and travel bans that are already on Iran,” a graduate student who asked to not be identified because he is considering pursuing legal action against NYU, said. “[Getting a visa] was a really, really, really hard process. Now the University is asking me to go home. They didn’t think about it in terms of international students, who don’t have any place here and they can’t go anywhere.”

He found a temporary place to stay, through the help of a coalition of students and the GSOC student-worker union, which dubbed themselves the “NYU COVID Coalition”. In response to the initial memorandum, the group promptly took the role of advocating for students and forming a system to pair up people who could provide any type of housing and students in need. 

The Iranian student did get his petition for an exception approved, but still preferred to move out.

Students have noted the generosity they’ve felt from people offering up the homes, either for a place to crash or for storage, and also from the NYU COVID Coalition. Just not from NYU.

“Through my four years at NYU, I’ve gotten a sense that they don’t care about their students,” Nagovitch, who is a fourth-year housing resident, said. “And that was just completely validated.”

Iraj Eshghi, a student worker who is part of the NYU COVID Coalition, said the group is especially concerned about the way NYU handled the process of moving people out, more than the decision to close dorms.

“At least the way it was done for graduate students, was they out of the blue,” he said. “ I wouldn’t entirely blame NYU for that, because it seems like nobody was prepared for this.  But just the way NYU dealt with it was particularly harmful [to students].”

On March 17th, one day after the announcement that housing would be closing, Senior Vice President for Student Affairs Marc Wais sent out a more informal email as a response to the initial backlash. It highlighted how they would now be offering the possibility for students to have their possessions locked in their room, and how only “students who are in day-trip range” should return to campus to pack up their belongings.

It also offered some further explanation as to why students were being kicked out of housing: for their own safety and for the university to possibly be able to offer up its dorms as a state contingency plan in the event of hospitals being overwhelmed.

“I know that some of you may feel that the University should have anticipated this decision earlier,” Wais wrote. “Nonetheless, I can promise you that it is not the case that NYU knew all along that it was going to end up here.”

Pavement Pieces reached out to the Office of Student Affairs, for an interview with Marc Wais, but could not get one in time for this article. The questions sent via email also remain unanswered.

“I understand why they closed residence halls, I understand everything that they explained in the second email,” 22-year-old senior Jana Cholakovska, from North Macedonia, said. “I was mostly upset about the language and the fact that they made it seem like we had known rather than them convincing us that it was all going to be fine. In fact, you know, we were convinced for a very long time that we were not gonna be kicked out”?

Wais talked about the situation in an article published on Tuesday, March 17th, in the New York Times.

“Mr. Wais indicated that many students had not heeded earlier calls to leave their dormitories. ‘Altogether, this was the opposite of what we needed’,” the article said. 

But just a few days before, on the 12th, an email from NYU Residential Life & Housing Services stated, “the residence halls remain open at this time, supported by NYU staff members.”

In fact, most students, even resident advisers, said that they were completely blindsided on Monday by the announcement that the dorms would be closing. 

But in just several days the spread of the virus continued at an alarming rate. It became clear that dorms could only be used by students who had no other choice.

By the end of the week, some of the students who asked to have their possessions packed and shipped were still struggling to figure out just how that process was going to happen. 

“I have packed some of my stuff. But some of my stuff isn’t packed and there’s no way I can go back,” Lyvi Wren, a 23-year-old student from Canada, said. “I get that they’re going to pack things up and ship them. But when are they going to do that? What are they going to do about things in the common area?”

Others have raised questions about, for example, who exactly would be doing the move, the number of things that could be shipped and whether there would be an insurance policy. Overall, the lack of information has kept everyone in a state of unease.

“You’re at a point where you don’t know who to talk to,” Nagovitch said. “Instead of answering the phone, a little voice comes up and tells you to go check the coronavirus website for updates.”

A statement put out early in the week by the Inter-Residence Hall Council addressed some concerns regarding the way the housing situation was managed, including the lack of information regarding their decision.

“This was done without any notice to any of the groups that represent or work for NYU Residents,” it said. “We recognize that extreme measures and decisions are increasingly common across the nation, but it should be recognized that consulting students about decisions that impact student housing and well-being will logically create better decisions.”

They also addressed health concerns, regarding the way the university called on their students to go back to housing to get their belongings. Contrary to the recommendations that have been given out by authorities, they advised students to travel back to New York and to come together at the same time in the halls, “almost certainly” leading to gatherings of 10 or more people. 

“I completely understand why they did it,” Cholakovska said. “But I think that they put their students in danger when they told everyone to come back immediately and preferably move out within 48 hours. My first fear was, ‘oh my god, this is going to create a bottleneck effect where all of us are going to start moving out in the same at the same time’.”

The post NYU international students struggle with move out of dorm orders appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

Just before going to work on a sunny Friday morning in March, Khan Pham, a 24-year-old native of Vietnam looked outside her living room window onto the street below.

“I love my neighborhood,” said Pham about her Hamilton Heights home at 141^st street, a classic New York City pre-war building nestled in this bustling neighborhood. “Diversity is what makes this part of the city so vibrant. The rent is affordable and the food is amazing. It’s still a predominately Hispanic and African American neighborhood. I can’t imagine the negative impact a vast reduction in visas would have on this area of the city.”

In the aftermath of the various executive orders restricting immigration and statements from President Donald Trump denigrating visa programs such as the H-1B visa used by foreign workers, young international students  like Pham, are rethinking their place in American.

Pham first moved to the city seven years ago to study and received a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and master’s in Public Policy from Baruch College. She currently works for the NGO, Amani Global Works, as a program and development intern. When Pham first moved to the U.S her plan was to find a way to work in the country, but now she is not that sure.

“Being international, I suddenly feel somehow less welcomed here,” said Khan. “I am honestly not sure I want to stay here and my partner and I are thinking about moving to another country together if things worsen under Trump’s presidency.”

Other young adults from abroad echoed Pham’s sentiments. Betty Lo, a 22-year-old recent college graduate from Taiwan is currently applying for the H-1B visa, an employment based visa for temporary workers. She is unsure of how Trump presidency will affect her status.

“Trump and his cabinet are in the process of reforming work visas,” said Lo. “It has me worried because I am in the process of applying for a work visa. So I’m pretty certain things will get even more complicated than it already is.”

There are 85,000 visas given each year and currently 900,000 visa holders in the United States. Where Trump stands on the H-1B is difficult to determine. Back in October 2015, Trump said he was in favor of people coming into this country legally, but in March 2016, his campaign released a statement saying that the H-1B program was “neither high-skilled nor immigration: these are temporary foreign workers…for the explicit purpose of substituting for American workers at lower pay. I remain totally committed to eliminating rampant, widespread H-1B abuse I will end forever the use of the H-1B as a cheap labor program, and institute an absolute requirement to hire American workers for every visa and immigration program. No exceptions.”

The H-1B is one of the most common visa programs for foreign workers in the United States.

Nadeem Omar Shad a 23-year-old student at Columbia University, originally from the U.K. is discouraged.

“Once I get my degree, I will go back to the UK,” Shad said. “Trump has had a chilling effect on students’ from the UK in the sense that people feel discouraged to stay here and pursue an OPT, because they think employers will be less likely to hire them. But a lot of students say that after studying here for five, six years, they fee lbetter here than in their country of origin so it’s not a great situation to be in for a lot of us.”

According to the nonprofit Institute of International Education, about 1,043,839, international students were enrolled in U.S. universities in the 2015-2016 school year. The same year, 147,498 were doing Optional Practical Training (OPT), a visa that permits international student to stay and work in the country momentarily.

International students account for about 5 percent of all U.S. college students, and, as a group, contributed nearly $32.8 billion to the U.S. economy in 2015-2016, according to NAFSA.

“International students pay tuition, room and board to the university and sometimes rent local apartments/houses in the community,” said Jason Wynn the Assistant Director of International Student and Scholar Services at Georgia College and State University who has throughout the years helped and facilitated international students’ immigration and cultural acclimation needs. “This revenue is money that the local economy otherwise wouldn’t have.”

What worries students like Pham is the uncertainty behind Trump’s language.

“Trump specifically stated that changes are coming for H-1B visa,” said Pham. “Knowing his sentiments about foreigners, I don’t think he will make it easier for us to stay and work in the country. Most people don’t realize that international students not only stay because they have job opportunities here but also they create a new life in the country. They form relationships, grow to love certain places, learn the culture.”

The post International Students Worry About Their Future Under Trump appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

Zishun Ning, a senior cinema studies major in Tisch School of the Arts at New York University from Guangdong Province in China, came to the U.S. two and a half years ago for the sole purpose of landing a job in the U.S. when he finished college.

But unlike domestic graduates, the 7,000 international students at NYU face much bigger challenges than securing a job here after graduating. They have to deal with restrictive visa requirements and limited jobs opportunities because of their limited visa status.

“I want to find a job here after graduation,” said Ning. “However, it’s not easy because not many companies are willing to offer working visas to international students and there is only a limited amount of visas being offered each year.”

Paula Lee, director of the Wasserman Center for Career Development at New York University, said because hiring international students is costly and time-consuming, it is less likely for companies with limited resources to hire international students.

“You might have to pay a few thousand but if I am a small organization, I might not have the finances to pay to hire international students,” she said.

Visa restrictions

After graduation, international students like Ning, have one year to work in the U.S. under the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program, as long as their profession is related to their field of study. But, they must obtain a HIB visa to be able to work in the U.S. for a longer time before the program expires.

The H1B visa is a non-immigrant visa for foreigners to work in the U.S. for three years and can be extended for another three years at the discretion of the employer. If an employer decides to hire an international student, they must apply to the government for the visa on behalf of the student. When the H1B visa expires, a student must apply for another kind of visa or green card to retain legal status in the U.S. H1B visa holders are eligible to apply for green cards and to become citizens while still holding a H1B visa.

Ning said he wanted to start his career as a production assistant in the film industry to gain some working experience. Currently an intern at Deep Dish TV, Ning is worried he might not be able to get a job with an H1B sponsor visa before the program ends.

“The economy is bad,” said Ning.

Bangzheng He, a second year graduate student from Sichuan Province in China and a mathematics major at NYU, said he was not optimistic about the employment future in the U.S. for international students.

“I know some friends of mine, who are working right now under the OPT,” said He. “But the companies are not sponsoring them H1B so they probably have to leave and find another job which could sponsor them.”

Renjie Xie, a second year grad student from Shanghai, China, and a mathematics major, said the only way of securing a job in the states is by working hard and maintaining a positive attitude.

“When you are under OPT, you have to do as much as you can and do everything they want you to do,” said Xie. “My friend told me that it’s still a tough time, you can’t show your emotions, or lose your temper.”

Major Matters.

According to the Open Doors report, which was published by the Institute of International Education in partnership with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the most popular majors for international students are business and management, which accounts for 22 percent of international students area of study, engineering (19 percent), mathematics and computer science (9 percent), physical and life sciences (9 percent), fine & applied arts (5 percent), and health professions (5 percent).

With one third of his classmates from outside the U.S.,He agreed that different course of study played a role in the employment situation.

“From what I heard, your major really matters,” said Bangzheng He. “Employers want to find the right people for the job.”

Ning said even though he wanted to apply for a green card and hoped to live the “American dream” — something that his parents and relatives expected him to do, he has learned that the process of making that dream come true is hard.

“I feel some pressure from my parents and relatives,” said Ning. “They wanted me to stay here for a few years. For them and for me, it was a waste of time if I went back to China with no working experience. In that case, they would say, ‘Why didn’t you just go to college in China?’”

Backup Plan

Compared to Ning’s “American Dream,” Xie said he had a “Chinese Dream,” which was going back to China to build his career back home if staying in the U.S. didn’t work out.

“My parents and relatives asked me to find a job in the U.S. and stay here,” said Xie. “But for me, I don’t think that’s something I have to do because I think as long as there is an opportunity out there, I will go for it no matter where it is.”

Having been in the U.S. for five years, Xie said he has started looking at job postings from websites from big firms like Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch to smaller investment banks.

Lee also encouraged international students not to turn down potential opportunities that might exist in their home country.

“We say to international students that you need to be realistic, because not all international students will find a job in the U.S.,” Lee said. “You need to prepare and figure out what is the deadline, what is your plan B, and what is your strategy if your first choice does not work out.”

“I am not that against going back to China,” said He. “China is doing pretty well and there are also a lot of companies and good opportunities in China. So I can always work back home.”

The post International students struggle to find jobs in the U.S. appeared first on Pavement Pieces.