By Ahmad S. Aimaq
suhrab.aimaq2050@gmail.com
Despite the vast facilities and high quality of teaching in the United States, the education system is very complex and confusing for the majority of international students, especially newcomers.
At first glance, the registration process, class selection and communication with professors are designed in a way that requires a thorough familiarity with the university structure and an understanding of the English language. However, many newcomers who seek to learn English are not adequately prepared and familiar with these aspects.
As an international student, my personal experience as a newcomer with the class selection process is a clear and undeniable example of the difficulties that new students face. With my past experience and perspective, I entered the university for the first time to proceed with the registration process, but I soon realized that everything was done online.
I thought this system would be better, but soon, my optimism turned to despair and hopelessness. When I entered the website, everything seemed complicated. From navigating the differences between in-person and online classes, to how to request a consultation with an academic advisor. At first, I thought the advisors would offer clear guidance on where to start, but after speaking to several, I received only vague answers.
I explained that I was new and didn’t know how academic affairs worked here. I wanted to know which classes I should register for and which ones are more suitable. But I kept hearing the same thing: “You choose for yourself.”
Some might argue that the answers offer a sense of freedom of choice, but in practice, they create a kind of helplessness and loneliness for those new to the program. We need real professionals and guides to make decisions, not just arbitrary freedom that unintentionally leads to choosing classes that are either above our language ability level or do not align with our academic goals.
I’m not the only one who’s faced these problems. In many classes, my classmates did not know why or how they chose those classes; some of them did not even have the ability to read and write the language, yet they registered for the grammar and writing correction class.
The teachers were not encouraging those struggling to participate in the homework. One of the teachers, in response to the students’ complaints about the lack of familiarity with Canvas, said, “You chose the online class yourself; you should have known before coming here.” This suggests that professors sometimes assume students are being lazy when, in reality, this is not the case.
The main problem here is that the education system is designed at a high level, based on individual independence; however, this independence requires patience and special support for those who come from different countries with completely different educational systems. Many of us have experienced a different, more centralized and guidance-oriented educational structure, meaning that instead of making individual decisions, we get guidance from advisors and professors.
Therefore, in a new environment where you are free to choose what and how to choose from the beginning, it is natural to be confused.
In practice, not only does it cause great difficulty for newcomers, but it may also lead to a loss of academic motivation. Students enter university with a thousand hopes and hardships, with all the financial worries, to start over from somewhere, but unfortunately, when they are placed in classes that are higher than their linguistic, professional and academic level, they feel like failures instead of learning.
I suggest that City College hold a special orientation for new international students before the start of each semester, so that the class selection process, learning to use the online system, and understanding how to utilize the provided platforms and amenities can be explained in detail. If such a session already exists, it should be communicated to new students more directly.
Finally, I would like to emphasize that my purpose in writing this is not to criticize a specific individual or professor, but to highlight a problem with a confusing system for new international students, including myself. I believe that education is only effective and efficient when its structure is simple and transparent, accessible to all students equally, regardless of their cultural background and disadvantage.