Irfan Thakur, an electrical engineering senior from Tanzania, transferred to LSU after a year in Texas.
At the University of Texas at Dallas, Thakur was only allowed to register for general education classes, and he wasn’t able to begin engineering classes for his major. However, Thakur discovered he could also enroll at Brookhaven College, a community college in Dallas, and take his required engineering courses.
After hearing about Thakur’s experiences, a family friend who was also a LSU graduate recommended Thakur consider attending LSU.
When Thakur discovered LSU also offered more transfer credits, he said he decided to enroll at the University.
Of the six semesters Thakur has spent in the U.S., he has attended four at LSU.
“I like that LSU is an athletic university,” Thakur said. “It seems much more active than other universities.”
The cultural gumbo of Louisiana is augmented on campus by a large number of international students, which tallies 1,558 students this spring, according to the Office of Budget and Planning.
International students at the University come from 107 countries, with China leading the way at 367, according to the Office of Budget and Planning.
International students comprise between 5 and 6 percent of the University’s student population, said Natalie Rigby, director of the International Services Office.
Throughout the decade, the number of international students at the University has fluctuated. Since 2002, the number of international students peaked at 1,761 in spring 2004 and reached its lowest number, 1,394 students, in spring 2008, according to the Office of Budget and Planning.
According to Bernie Braun, application consultant in the Office of Budget and Planning, 1,624 total international students enrolled at the University in fall 2009, and 1,326, or 81.7 percent, received some type of scholarship or grant aid for that fiscal year.
“A large number of the students in this total are students with the graduate assistant exemption, which is a function of their employment as a graduate assistant,” Braun said.
Aashay Mulay, marketing chair of the Indian Student Association and petroleum engineering sophomore, said he chose LSU over other schools in the country because the University’s petroleum engineering program has been consistently ranked high.
“There are hardly around 20 schools in the U.S. that offer this course,” Mulay said. “The department at LSU also receives heavy recruitment from top oil companies each semester.”
Mulay said the University’s relatively low tuition also influenced his decision.
“I am able to afford my tuition even without having a scholarship,” he said. “All other schools I considered had much higher fees for the same program.”
Mulay said he also likes the University’s wide ethnic diversity and variety of activities, like sporting events and seminars.
Concetta Ingrassia, a native of Segrate, Milan, Italy, and mass communication sophomore, said she chose to attend the University because she was interested in Louisiana’s culture and history.
“LSU has an amazing campus, and there are lots of events and courses,” Ingrassia said. “In Europe, we don’t have many campuses, and the college life at LSU is amazing for me.”
Thakur names the size of the campus and limited transportation as his only dislikes of the University.
“It’s very hard to commute between classes and work,” Thakur said. “The campus is so big. It’s hard to get anywhere if I don’t have my bike with me.”
Some worry there is too much information to process at once for international students at their orientation because the University has such a large campus.
Through a series of different processes, Student Government is looking into having an SG informational table at the international students’ orientation to give the students a chance to interact with student leaders, said Lauren Leist, SG assistant director of student outreach.
“We will be giving out pamphlets with information to allow international students to become more acquainted with the LSU community,” Leist said. “We want to make all students feel like a Tiger.”
Leist said SG is also hoping to incorporate LSU Ambassadors into the student orientation.
“International students can sometimes feel overwhelmed with all the new information presented to them at orientation,” Leist said.
Leist said she believes the Ambassadors will help keep the students on track and become familiar with the University quickly.
SG officers would also like to include a link on the SG website featuring interesting places to visit in Baton Rouge and where the bus routes travel, Leist said.
Thakur attended his first orientation in Dallas before he transferred to LSU, and he said he had a clearer idea of the structure of American college orientations and how they are organized.
“[Orientation at LSU] might have been a little bit more overwhelming if I had not already attended orientation in Dallas,” Thakur said.
Thakur, who will graduate in May, said he hopes to find a full-time job soon.
“I want to stay in the U.S., and I’m looking for jobs,” Thakur said. “I’m finding it very hard to find one, though.”
Thakur, one of only two students at the University from Tanzania, said he wouldn’t mind returning home, but he hopes to get more work experience in the U.S.
 
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Contact Kate Mabry at [email protected]