Acculturative stress is a common challenge for many international students worldwide, as they attempt to navigate a new environment, create social bonds, understand new languages and balance it with academic demands. Despite growing interest in international students' well-being, little is known about how coping mechanisms for acculturative stress evolve over time. This study aims to compare acculturative stress and its coping mechanisms between freshmen and seniors. Specifically, it explores the following research questions: 1) Does the academic year (freshmen vs. seniors) impact the kind of language and coping mechanisms used in the interviews? 2) Does gender mediate the presence of coping mechanisms for acculturative stress? 3) How does being raised in a collectivist country affect the level of acculturative stress experienced? To address these questions, semi-structured interviews (n=30) were conducted, and a mixed-methods approach was employed. Data was analyzed using quantified content analysis focusing on participants' use of positive and negative language, coping strategies, and the influence of gender and cultural background as mediating factors. The results showed that seniors had a slightly higher frequency of negative language use, indicating higher levels of acculturative stress compared to freshmen (p=0.0521). Regarding the mediating variables, gender presented no effect on language use, while collectivistic countries approached statistical significance on increased negative language use (p=0.0647). Coping mechanisms were not more developed in seniors than in freshmen (p=0.3787), however, freshmen showed a higher frequency of social strategies, whereas seniors favored more reflective coping style. These findings challenge previous assumptions about stress trajectories in international students and highlight the need for sustained support across all academic years.