Names are masked to protect international students under the current U.S. administration.
Currently, Emory has 3,300 international students and scholars from over 100 countries, and each year, 15-18% of Emory’s incoming first-year class is international. These experiences are reflected in the personal stories of Emory’s international students, each navigating their own path amid uncertainty.
For a senior from Bengaluru, India, the advanced technology and research-driven institutions in the United States remain unmatched, but she recognizes the uncertainties that come when facing a new future. These apprehensions stem in part from the policies of the first Donald Trump administration, which tightened student visa regulations by enforcing stricter terms and increasing scrutiny of Optional Practical Training and H-1B programs. Nevertheless, they remain steadfast in their commitment to studying in the United States.
“The U.S. has the best medical programs, and it is where I want to be trained,” she said.
A pre-BBA freshman from South Korea noted that their first job in finance and subsequent work experience in the United States would be a significant factor in their life post-graduation.
“If I go back to my own country or go to somewhere else in the world, that becomes a clear record of my net worth in terms of salary or experience because the U.S. office pays you the highest, especially in finance fields,” she said.
Nevertheless, they recognizes the potential obstacles in her path. Many international students’ employment opportunities depend on whether or not they receive a work visa. While she plans to work in the United States on an immigration visa and perhaps apply for a green card, she fears that stricter immigration policies from the current Trump administration will hinder her ability to continue her life in the United States.
“I know a lot of the upperclassmen in my high school had to go back to their country or go back to Korea, which is where I come from,” she said. “Because after graduation from college, they weren’t able to find companies that could sponsor them a visa because of how strict it got, and it just became more costly for the companies to do so.”
For them, fears surface in conversations with friends about their employment options and future plans. Often surrounded by non-international students, they feel added pressure.“Every time, I am the only one who doesn’t have a green card, even,” she said. “So while they need to worry about other things, like what they want to do or where they want to get employed, the first factor for me to factor out all the time is, obviously, if it even offers visa sponsorship.”
For a junior on the pre-medical track from Bangladesh, the limited pool of medical schools for international applicants creates an additional layer of complexity and stress.
“Anyone from America can apply to any med school, but international students can only apply to 40 or 45 med schools,” he explained. “In a lot of universities, they do not take international students at all. You can’t even apply there.”
Despite holding an F1 visa, a non-immigrant student visa, they often fear their immigration status will be affected. “The moment I step into America, it is kind of scary when you’re standing in the line of immigration and you’re like, ‘Oh, even if there’s a 0.0001% chance of me not being able to go through immigration,’” he said. “Even though I’ve been to America many, many times since I was eight years old or something, and half of my family lives here, even then, every time I do step into America from wherever I go, I do feel this fear that there might be a very, very small chance that I might not be let in.”
Similar fears and uncertainty will likely continue into future undergraduate application cycles, as another student has already noted the impact such sentiments have had on his family in their hometown of Kolkata, India.
“My younger cousins, for example, who wanted to apply to the U.S. are now looking at other options,” he said. “They’re looking at the U.K. They’re looking at Singapore as potential places to study, because they have such inviting government systems over there, and people are so much more welcoming as compared to the U.S.”
According to them, the International Students and Scholar Services (ISSS) at Emory is a great resource for navigating anxiety and uncertainty. However, they note a lack of energy or effort from ISSS to contact students about these concerns.
“If you set up a meeting with your ISSS advisor and ask them anything about the situation, or just chat in general, they’d be very happy to provide you with information,” he said. “But there’s not enough initiative from the ISSS on this topic. They’re not reaching out to us and they’re not giving us information firsthand.”
Changes to the visa application process and federal immigration policies have concerned many of these hopeful Emory professionals. Another student has begun questioning the “practicality” of their legal career. Originally from Bogota, Colombia, they believe that the Trump administration’s anticipated stricter visa process policies have complicated their plans of attending law school.
“Maybe that process will take a little more time, and that might affect my planning into maybe taking a gap year or something like that,” they said. “But so far, I still think this is the place where I want to go into the career of law which is what I’m passionate about. So my plans remain unchanged in that sense.”
For them, Emory is a testament to the powerful positive force of individuals and institutions. Despite rising uncertainty, their experience at Emory gives them hope for the future. According to them, institutions like Emory “want to bring the best people from all around the world and give them an opportunity to show what they know.”
“Even as the policies evolve, though, I think that there’s a big difference between the policies of a government and then the actual people,” they said.
Yet for many international students, uncertainty overshadows opportunity. The senior from Bengaluru acknowledges the diminishing research opportunities but hesitates to dwell on the news, finding it overwhelming and largely beyond their control. For the pre-med student, the harsher reality lies in the heightened obstacles international students of color may face in obtaining U.S. citizenship or securing a long-term future. For the aspiring lawyer, the dangers of political rhetoric and “scapegoating” immigrants raise concerns about broader societal perceptions.
Another student fears these concerns may have added implications for the class of 2028 but also acknowledges how these issues weigh heavily on their shoulders.
“But now, because of the new party, which has come into power, and the new president, it’s just a little unnerving, and it’s a little scary, I would say, for an international student like me, because you just don’t know what’s going to happen next,” they said. “So with every passing day, the chances of me staying here forever are getting slim.”
These opinions reflect a deep-seated fear that I experience too, a sense of unexplainable dread I experience whenever I think about internships, jobs, and the application for a higher degree. It’s a feeling beyond hopelessness, where the question of being in a country is one of assigning value to my existence, not just my degree. However, letting this feeling dictate my actions also implies letting the paralysis take over and enabling myself to spiral with the news of deportations around me. I choose to carry on, not impervious to the circumstances that may limit my capability in the future, but also not letting them control my actions in the present.
Edited by Ash Zeng, Amiee Zhao
Layout by Scarleth Cantarero