Immigrating From Egypt To The US For A Better Education And A Better Life

(Ahmed Abdelfatah and his family circa 2013
on vacation in Dubai)

Ahmed Abdelfatah is an Egyptian-American who came to the United States in search of an opportunity for a better education. In the above interview we sat down with him to discuss why he came to the United States and some of his experience.

He immigrated to the United States from Egypt in 1989 to attain his master’s degree from Montclair University. He had achieved his bachelor’s degree in Egypt in architecture and initially he had planned to get his masters degree in the same subject. However he ended up changing his field of interest to computer science after taking classes with AutoCAD and deciding that he wanted to go into computers

(Ahmed Abdelfatah and his family,
including his newborn son and his mother-in-law,
at a family member's wedding)

But why come to the United States instead of studying in Egypt? Simply put the Egyptian education system is far more limiting and it is harder to pursue advanced degrees. If you want to continue to post-graduate degrees you have to have graduated at the top of your class and there are a very limited number of spots available. This causes many students who want to pursue masters or doctoral degrees to leave the country. There was also a difference in the quality of education in the way they taught the material and the ability to choose what you study. This can be perceived as being detrimental to Egypt because there is a flight of educated young people looking to further their education and as such Egypt faces a reduction of human capital which could otherwise benefit the country.

Coming to the United States is not always easy for immigrants, especially if they have lived their whole lives overseas and are used to a different culture and different environment. The culture in the Middle East is and was more conservative and oriented around family values and caring for one another than American culture. However, Mr. Abdelfatah said that the transition was not difficult for him and he cited having family in the United States as being one of the principle reasons that he was able to adjust. This shows how important having a strong support network is for immigrants and indeed for all people when going through difficult times or times of major change.

(Ahmed Abdelfatah and his family in Egypt circa 2001)

When asked about how he thinks things have changed since he came to America he didn’t see much of a change here other than the state getting busier and more crowded. He also felt that culturally the United States had become more tolerant and accepting. When it came to Egypt however he seemed to feel that their had been significant changes in the culture and they way that the people acted. He felt family values had lost their importance and people were becoming to busy for each other and were becoming less and less a part of each other’s lives. He seemed almost nostalgic for the way Egypt used to be. Despite this seeming nostalgia he maintains that he is perfectly comfortable in his new country, which gave him the opportunity to pursue a higher degree of education and start his life here, and doesn’t miss being in Egypt.

Written by :

Yousuf Abdelfatah

Rutgers University 

Bachelor of Arts in Economics/Political Science (2019)