Today, as a mentor herself, she’s the one doing the knocking.

“When I first came here, I was scared a little bit at first,” Yu said. “I realized it wasn’t going to work and that I should get involved.”

Every year increasing amounts of students with backgrounds like Yu’s are making the decision to come to MSU.

She is one of more than 2,400 Chinese international students at MSU this year, meaning numbers have increased more than 71 percent from about 1,400 students in 2009. The numbers also represent a more than 320 percent increase since 2005, according to recent statistics from the Office of International Students and Scholars, or OISS.

And MSU is only one school experiencing a national boom of Chinese students pursuing degrees in the U.S., OISS Director Peter Briggs said.

More than 26,000 Chinese international students were studying in the U.S. in 2009, a number that more than tripled since 2000, according to recent reports by the nonprofit Institute of International Education.

A number of factors explain Chinese interest in sending their children to U.S. institutions, Briggs said.

“The liberalization of U.S. visa policies wasn’t always there,” he said. “Also, the rising economic climate in China has contributed. A generation ago, they didn’t have that kind of financial support. It also attests to the strength of a U.S. college degree.”

Yu decided to transfer to MSU from one of the top Chinese universities because of the difficulties she faced in changing her major. Business and entrepreneurial endeavors were a big incentive to enroll at MSU, she said.

Other students, such as doctoral student Wenbo Qiao, were attracted by the research opportunities universities such as MSU can provide.

“I love the research atmosphere here,” Qiao said. “People love what they do and I think they all have a huge interest in their research topics.”

But like any students living abroad, Chinese international students face numerous academic and cultural transitions, said Shuangmei “Christine” Zhou, a staff psychologist for the MSU Counseling Center. Although Zhou works with all students, she was hired last year specifically to help international students who might be struggling to transition at MSU.

In most cases, Chinese students are pressured to perform academically while making a transition into a foreign world, Zhou said.

This is heightened in that most students coming from China are only children, she said.

“There is a misconception that all international students are rich,” she said. “But a lot of Chinese students can only afford it because the family gives everything they have into that one child.”

Moving forward, Zhou said she would encourage domestic students and Chinese international students to learn from each other with the political and economic relationship between their native countries becoming increasingly important.

“This is a great opportunity for students, faculty and staff to learn more about China and their culture,” she said.

And as for Yu, she’s ready to graduate and is thoroughly enjoying the “notorious” Snyder and Phillips halls’ cafeteria food and the Spartan’s winning football season.

“MSU is the best thing that ever happened to me,” she said.

“I don’t know where I’ll be in the next few years or how things will turn out. It’s kind of scary, but I’m excited.”