Biz Programs With The Most (And Fewest) International Students

Biz Programs With The Most (And Fewest) International Students by: Nathan Allen on February 09, 2017 | 0 Comments Comments 4,807 Views February 9, 2017Students presenting during a case competition at Indiana Universitys Kelley School of Business. Last fall, Indiana Kelley enrolled more international students than any other public university. Courtesy photoWhen Carlos Eduardo arrived on the campus of Northeastern Universitys DAmore-McKim School of Business as a freshman, he came with a nickname and a joke. While attending a British international high school in his home country of El Salvador, Eduardo adopted the English version of his name — Charlie. But when he arrived on Northeasterns Boston campus, he saw an opportunity to reinvent himself — as the Super Latino Carlos. I told everyone my name was Carlos in the thickest Spanish accent as possible, Eduardo laughs. It made a quick impression on people.Jokes and accents aside, international students enrolling in U.S. business schools face two potentially massive hurdles: language and jobs. Eduardo tackled both from the get-go. Upon his arrival on campus, he  began volunteering as a campus guide for prospective students and their families, a role that taught me a lot about speaking English, and giving presentations, and relationship building and establishing rapport, he  says. In short, as an international student he learned the importance of getting involved in as many campus activities as possible.Eduardos solution to the jobs  problem was the reason he chose DAmore-McKim.  A big challenge international students go through is the ability to find a job right after college, he  says,  explaining that Northeasterns co-op program was the reason he chose the school. Each student must complete at least two six-month full-time co-ops with an organization.  It wasnt just an internship I would do over the summer, Eduardo says of the co-op. It was a full-time job — 40 hours a week w ith a company performing tasks a full-time employee would.NORTHEASTERN: 43% INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS, 99% PLACEMENTIt paid off. By the time Eduardo graduated last spring, he had completed six-month stints at San Franciscos Adobe office, Wellington Management in London, and HubSpot in Boston, where he is now working full-time. Overcoming the dreaded H1-B visa hurdle is something Eduardo and many of his international classmates have achieved. This past fall, DAmore-McKim enrolled more international students than any other school that reported those numbers in the  PoetsQuants Best Undergraduate Business Schools. Amazingly, DAmore McKim also placed 99% of its 2016 graduating class in full-time positions three months after graduation — more than any other school in the top 50 — largely thanks to the co-op program.â€Å"Our students do everything,† Peggy Fletcher, associate dean of undergraduate studies, told PoetsQuants late last year. â€Å"They’ll do two o r three co-ops, they may do two or three international programs, they may do a combined degree. We have hundreds of study-abroad programs, and we also have international programs that can last from one week up to two years.†NEW ENGLAND AND NORTHEASTERN SCHOOLS DOMINATE TOP OF LISTOf the 42 schools to track and report their percentage of international students entering last fall, Northeastern topped the list at 43%. The next highest school was Babson College at 29%, Emorys Goizueta Business School followed at 27%, and rounding out the top five were  New York Universitys Stern School (26%) and Boston Universitys Questrom (24%). This years data points to some interesting trends. For one, three of the top five schools are in the Boston area, and seven of the top nine are in the Northeast. Only two public schools are represented in the top 10 — Indiana Universitys Kelley School of Business at 22.5%, and the University of Virginias McIntire School at 19%.According to Lukas Leftwich, associate director of undergraduate programs at Indianas Kelley, thanks to a Chinese boom the school has been on an upward trajectory in enrolling international students for the past few years. Now, Leftwich says, the school has embraced its international potential and built systems around it — for example, investing  resources and developing curricular opportunities to mitigate culture shock for international students and help them  feel more comfortable with communication. Teams are often set up in classrooms to include at least one, and often more, international students.At Emory, Andrea Hershatter, senior associate dean for undergraduate education, says Goizueta  draws from a pool of Emory students: the two-year structure of its  undergraduate program keeps the admissions selection in-house. So our first priority is to find among our applicants those students who bring the best profile to our class, Hershatter  says. Because they are already at Emory, there is more emphasis on their current collegiate extracurricular activities and on their academic performance and programs than necessarily their country of origin. However, Hershatter says, Emory has been emphasizing enrolling international students in general over the past few years.Still, she adds, if they are qualified  in the pool, we admit them without much consideration whether they are from the U.S. or another country.B-SCHOOLS WELCOMING INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS WITH OPEN ARMSThe relatively recent influx of international students has brought much debate. On one hand, they generate added revenue for universities and communities. Not to mention, the value in different thoughts, backgrounds, and opinions. But on the other hand, critics claim they take up spots deserving of qualified U.S.-born students. Of course, educators within business schools largely see international representation as a major plus.The research on creativity suggests people are far more creative when conf ronted with people who are enough like them that they can share common frameworks and references, but different enough they are bringing unique perspectives, Hershatter, who teaches entrepreneurship at Goizueta, says. It certainly makes them stronger than when MBA programs were founded in the 1940s and everyone in the classroom was a white male.In particular, both Hershatter and Leftwich mentioned South Korean men as being a demographic that brings a particular level of perspective and maturity, largely stemming from the required military service.  They bring a maturity and professionalism that brings a lot to the class, Hershatter says, noting some at Emory will leave after their sophomore years to fulfill the requirement before returning for business school before their junior years.  They bring a lot of majority to a classroom with our more traditional domestic students, Leftwich concurs.  Some of that maturity and worldliness is special in how they interact their their dom estic classmates.TRUMPS BAN COULD PLACE U.S. SCHOOLS (AND THEIR STUDENTS) AT A GLOBAL DISADVANTAGEAt the bottom of the list, five schools enrolled 2% or fewer  international students last fall. The College of New Jersey and Texas AMs Mays School both scraped the bottom, enrolling just 1%. They were followed by the University of Missouri (1.2%), the University of Georgia (1.6%), and Elon University (2%). Of the 42 schools to report data, 26 had  fewer than 10% international students.An elephant in the college admissions room moving forward will certainly be international response to the Donald Trump administration. At Indiana, Leftwich believes the commitment and drive from international students will not be hampered by an administration many see as antipathetic  to immigration.  Where we are politically is not going to change the drive of international students, he says, noting that Indiana Universitys president is Australian.I would like to believe it is going to stay open, Hershatter says of the metaphorical door to international students. Were it to close, its not only the international students that would be at a disadvantage, its also the U.S. institutions. Our students learn a great deal about operating in a community that is globally diverse, and if that becomes harder to practice when they are students, that will be much tougher learning once they get out of school.I believe the European schools will keep enrolling students from other countries, so if the U.S. decides to stop doing that, it would place U.S. schools and their students at a competitive disadvantage.COMING TO THE U.S. FOR THE MELTING POTRegardless, Eduardo says its essential for international students to know what they want and start working toward it on day one.From the first day, everything will count towards your goals, he says. Begin investing in your resume or something that sets you apart at a very early age. For me, it all started with very small steps and really understand ing how to set myself  apart.For Eduardo, it came down to investing in the one thing that set him apart, as well as finding his weaknesses and improving  them. He knew, for example, that he was not strong in finance, so he decided to major in finance to develop those skills.Either way, Eduardo says, being in an international setting is beneficial — and the reason he wanted to study in the U.S.Talking with people from around the world helps you look at problems globally and from many different angles, he says. When I thought about that, I wanted to go to the U.S. because of how people used to call it the melting pot. People from all over the world would gather in a classroom and discuss their thoughts. And for me, that is why I came to U.S.See the next page for a chart of the schools with the most and least international students to enroll in the fall of 2016. Page 1 of 212 »