Chinese students are coming to study in the United States in record numbers, but our understanding as to why is limited. Through interviews conducted with Chinese students who have studied in both China and the United States, we examine why students are making the choice to come to the United States, what they hope to learn, and how they are making sense of these experiences. For some Chinese students, despite studying in the United States, they remain grounded in an understanding of school that is steeped in traditional Chinese teaching methods. They are also lodged in a construction of school that entirely defines their sense of value and their sense of work. This construction of school sets the stage for the importance of distinguishing oneself and the "work" of standing out among an enormously competitive global workforce. The "work" of standing out for Chinese students, as it is tied to one's worth as a human being, necessitates the need for experience with Western education--education perceived as the best in the world, providing students with an edge over competitors. This article conveys how these factors converge, producing hundreds of thousands of Chinese students who now--more than ever, and more than students from any other single country--have comparative experience and a new, emerging global outlook.