International students are intrigued with San Diego State’s reputation, something that’s reflected in the amount of overseas students that attend the campus.
In total, there are approximately 2,800 international students out of the overall 35,000 students attending the university, according to SDSU. This makes up about 8% of the campus population.
There was also a collective analysis of the student population to see how many countries were represented on campus. In 2017, College Factual reported at least 49 countries are represented at SDSU. Some of the more popular countries include China, India and Kuwait.
SDSU is popular with international students for a variety of reasons, not all of which are dissimilar from students who attend the school from within the U.S.
San Diego’s weather influenced some international students to attend. According to USA Today in their “Top must-sees in San Diego” article, San Diego is known for its mild weather all year and sandy, white beaches. These factors are seen as a way for international students to experience the California dream.
“I liked the idea and vibe of living in San Diego,” mechanical Engineering freshman Mutale Kulilishika said. Kulilishika is from Harare, Zimbabwe
With SDSU having an acceptance rate of 34.6%, it is difficult and competitive to get into the school. This also attracted Kulilishika.
“It seemed like a very competitive school to get into,” Kulilishika said. “I liked the quality of the courses offered.”
Because he is studying mechanical engineering, he was captivated by the master plan of SDSU’s course work involving his major. There are many other majors that international students are interested in, some more popular ones being business administration and management, mechanical engineering and economics.
The university offers guidance to make sure students know which courses to enroll in to graduate on time through the Personal MAP on students’ webportal.
According to “Overall Best Value U.S. Colleges & Universities” for International Students, SDSU is ranked 69th out of 1,204 universitys nationwide.
“I heard that it had a good business school,” business administration major Derin Turken said. Turken is originally from Istanbul, Turkey, but wanted to attend SDSU to focus on the marketing aspect of business.
“I really wanted to be in California (because) I had a lot of people telling me that San Diego was one of the nicest cities in the U.S.,” Turken said. “So I came and I like it a lot.”
Originally from Jordan, international economics major Karim Arafah said, “Other than it being a great school, I chose San Diego State for my major, as it is well known for it.”
