It is middle school application season, and Ivy Wang ’26 is studying for the Independent School Entrance Exam (ISEE). Her study materials are a little different than those of her peers, though. Instead of studying area formulas and the order of operations, Wang has a pile of pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters on her desk. Unfamiliar with American currency, she struggles to recall the seemingly random values of each coin. Having emigrated from China a few months prior to applying for middle school, Wang faced many difficulties with adjusting to American culture. She said it was hard to adapt to different measurement and currency systems, making things like math harder.
“The biggest struggle for me when I was doing the ISEE math section was that I could not differentiate between all the coins in the currency,” Wang said. “I was so confused. To me, this was such a foreign language. The [U.S. Customary] system was also so confusing. I was like, ‘What are inches?’ I didn’t know how to do Fahrenheit. Every single system is essentially different.”
About 11% of students at the school immigrated to the U.S. from another country, according to a Chronicle poll. Assistant Head of School for Community and Belonging Janine Jones said having a diverse student body affords many benefits to all students at the school.
“Having students originally from countries outside of the U.S. as members of the HW community fosters a more globally-minded environment where students regularly learn first hand about diverse cultures, perspectives and experiences,” Jones said. “This kind of exposure builds empathy, compassion, curiosity and open-mindedness—all of which are core skills that are essential in today’s world. It also brings fresh ideas into classrooms and conversations outside of the classroom [and] allows for meaningful and authentic cross-cultural friendships.”
International schools are private schools that typically offer curriculum in English for families seeking a globalized education. The school does not offer a program in English as a Second Language (ESL), so many students who formerly lived in other countries come from international schools.
Emma Calista Lee ’27 moved to the U.S. from South Korea in eighth grade so she could attend the school. Her father and aunt are alumni, and they wanted her to experience their alma mater. She attended an international school in South Korea, which she said eased the adjustment to American school.
“Going to an international school in Korea really broadened my perspective on a lot of things,” Lee said. “When I was living in Korea, I was talking to Korean people, who are way more conservative a lot of the time. Talking to so many different types of people really changed my perspective on how to deal with different situations.”
Imogen Ramile ’26 previously attended an international school in Jakarta, Indonesia. She moved to Los Angeles in ninth grade because her parents wanted her to attend a better school. She said it was hard to adjust to this school because her previous school had not been as rigorous.
“At Harvard-Westlake specifically, I have a quiz or a test every week, whereas before, I didn’t have any tests or quizzes,” Ramile said. “Tests are definitely a lot harder here. It’s a lot more academically challenging, and they put a lot more stress on grades. It was hard to get used to how the teachers teach here because back in my old school, it was very project based, but here it’s more test based.”
Wang was born in Canada due to China’s one-child-policy, but grew up in Shanghai, China before moving to the United States at 11 years old. Wang attended an international school, but she said that at non-international, local schools in China, the value system and methodology is very different than American schools. Wang said physical discipline is often part of the culture of local Chinese schools.
“Abuse was a super normalized thing in local schools in China,” Wang said. “If you did anything wrong or if you didn’t do your homework, they’d take a ruler and hit you. It was something to be expected, not something that people were shocked by. My own sister and my brother have been victims to that. Whenever I visited local schools, I felt scared.”
The college application process is very different in China compared to the U.S. The Gaokao is China’s national college entrance exam and serves as the primary determinant for university admissions. Taken annually by over 10 million students, it tests subjects like Chinese, math, English and either science or humanities. Unlike the U.S. system, where extracurriculars and essays play a role in determining whether or not a student is admitted, Chinese universities rely almost entirely on Gaokao testing scores when evaluating applicants. Provincial quotas and score cutoffs make the competition especially intense. In many cases, its results can influence a student’s future career path and social mobility, according to CNN. Wang said the culture around higher education and the college admissions process is very different in China.
“In China, it’s a given that you have to complete education through college, whereas here, a lot of people just don’t go to college,” Wang said. “That isn’t something that I’ve ever processed before coming here. I thought college was a mandatory thing. In China, the only thing that determines where you go to college is the Gaokao. It’s crazy to think that here, we do so much for college, and I kind of take that for granted. There, if you have a bad day during your one test, you never get a second chance.”
Lee said although she grew up in a place with a different education system and culture, she feels content at the school.
“My background is pretty unique to a lot of people [at the school],” Lee said. “When people talk about growing up in [Los Angeles], I sometimes feel like I can’t relate as much to them. But overall, I feel a sense of belonging because I made a really good group of friends, and they’re just really nice people.”
Ramile said that she feels a strong sense of belonging at the school despite having a different background to most of her peers.
“I definitely feel I now belong because I have my friends, but ninth grade was a bit of a transition,” Ramile said. “I miss my friends and family from home the most, but other than that, I love it here. Everyone’s so welcoming here, so it’s hard not to feel that you belong.”
Wang said it can be burdensome to think about how one’s parents are adjusting to American social life in addition to oneself.
“Having parents [who are] not from the U.S definitely comes with an extra set of worries,” Wang said. “Not only do you have to worry about how you yourself fit in, but it’s also stressful for an immigrant’s child to wonder how your mom is doing with the social scene here and how your dad is doing being away from all his friends. It’s a big thing for a little kid in ninth grade to worry about how your own parents in addition to yourself are assimilating to the society here.”
