"After a while, science really has no borders," he says. "Your contributions are to mankind as a whole."

More Harm Than Good?

But despite the opportunities that Chinese graduate students say are made available to them in the U.S., many express concern with how the increasing popularity of going abroad may affect China.

"In my field, many excellent people are in the U.S. now," Liang says. "There are still top people in China, but not that many."

Dongming Chen echoes Liang's comments, addressing the looming problem of the lack of qualified members of the younger generation to take over positions left by retiring professors.

"Sometimes, graduate students [in China] have trouble concentrating because they are trying to figure out how to get abroad," he says.

At the same time, Chen notes the crucial role that returning scientists could play in China.

"There are so few well-educated scientists in China that your impact is much greater [than in the U.S.] in terms of education," he says.

Haibo says that he will remain in the U.S. for the foreseeable future, because "all the jobs are in the U.S."

"At this moment [in China], I don't see a demand for basic research scientists," he says. "They're so involved in business development."

But Haibo says he believes that the focus on business has not helped basic research.

"In China, there's a lag in research, they're more interested in importing technology than doing the research. It's much more profitable in the long-run and much easier to do," he says.

Haibo adds that he did not have special connections in China, often crucial for the few positions that do exist.

But Haibo says he believes establishing a fair system to compete on equal ground would help check China's brain drain.

For the Chinese student in applied sciences or considering a switch to business, the future seems rosier.