When Jin Hoe Ng decided to leave Malaysia more than two years ago to attend the University of Wisconsin-Madison, his knowledge of the state and campus was limited.
He knew Wisconsin was â??an agriculture state famous for cheese and dairy products,â? that the universityâ??s student population â??lacks racial diversityâ? and that UW-Madison â??is a party school.â? Similarly, Indiaâ??s Hardik Modi knew UW-Madisonâ??s industrial engineering program was â??highly ranked,â? that Madison is a â??great university townâ? and that it â??gets really cold here.â?
Yet like hundreds of thousands of others from across the globe, fear of the unknown did not deter Ng and Modi from traveling to the United States to earn a college degree.