The purpose of this study was to identify and analyze the views of exchange students from Asia
about their academic and social experiences at an American university. The participants were
eight exchange students from Japan (four men and four women). This study was descriptive qualitative
(Patton, 2002). The data sources were a demographic survey and two semi-structured
interviews conducted during the participants’ study abroad sojourn. The interview data were
analyzed using the constant comparative method (Merriam, 1998). The emergent themes were
(a) social distance contributes to academic struggles, (b) collectivism positioned against
individualism, (c) isolation in group discussions, and (d) professors’ negativity. We include
recommendations aimed at improving international students’ academic and social experiences at
American universities.