<p>My parents told me that it would be easier for a foreigner to get into a good Chinese university. Or maybe they just like the cheap tuition lol. Is it?</p>
<p>Also would going to school in China for two years look good on my college application? Because no matter what my parents want or say, I am definitely planning on coming back to the US for college.</p>
<p>do you have to test into an international school? is getting in hard?
-Applying to international schools is similar to applying to private schools in the US. You have to send transcripts, test scores, letters of recommendation, etc. I really don’t know the acceptance rates. Here are 2 very well known schools in Beijing- Western Academy of Beijing and International School of Beijing:
[Admissions</a> | Western Academy of Beijing](<a href=“http://www.wab.edu/admissions]Admissions”>http://www.wab.edu/admissions)
<a href=“http://www.isb.bj.edu.cn/applying-to-isb.aspx[/url]”>http://www.isb.bj.edu.cn/applying-to-isb.aspx</a></p>
<p>are you allowed to practice christianity in china?
-Yup. I’m not sure how many English speaking churches you will find but there are Chinese churches.</p>
<p>if i got a medical degree there, would it be valid in the us?
<p>how bad is the censorship there?
-no: facebook, youtube, any movies that portray China in a bad light (I think the Rush Hour movies are banned), twitter, blogging about sensitive subjects such as Tianmen Square, Skype
HOWEVER, there are services which you can pay for that can get you around the censorship so that you can use facebook, etc.</p>
<p>what are the teenagers like?
-They’re similar to teens in the US but i think they’re less rebellious IMO</p>
<p>what’s the fashion scene like?
-Many wear uniforms to school. Overall, they dress more conservatively in comparison to Americans. It’s very typical/normal for girls in the US to wear very low cut shirts, shorts that cover as much as panties, etc. Dressing like that in Beijing will get you mistaken as a prostitute (if you’re female).</p>
<p>do they listen to american singers there?
Yup</p>
<p>I was curious about the whole getting around the Chinese firewall and found this if you’re interested, </p>
<p>[Getting</a> Past China’s Government Firewall : NPR](<a href=“http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5219008]Getting”>Getting Past China's Government Firewall : NPR)</p>
<p>Getting into good universities in China are extremely difficult. There are a lot more people there that are applying to very limited amount of spots. You also can’t change majors. If you do end up enjoying life there I would suggest you go to University of Hong Kong (ranked #23 in the world) or Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (ranked #40 in the world).</p>
<p>limmering, are you ethnically Chinese at all?</p>
<p>
Am I missing something or did he just say “Use a proxy”?</p>
<p>Ha ha. Yes… I looked it up more in detail because that’s kind of was I was thinking, but this explains it more [Instructions</a> for getting around blocking software](<a href=“http://peacefire.org/circumventor/simple-circumventor-instructions.html]Instructions”>Instructions for getting around blocking software)</p>
<p>It’s not just for China, but for all blockers. I think the issue with a proxy is often those are blocked or are easily blocked when found. This takes care of that issue because it works through another computer. If I understood correctly the other computer you got the link from has to be running for the link to work as well. It can’t be blocked then because it’s not a simple URL but more complex due to the whole running through the other computer.</p>
<p>Can you tell me about the international schools?
My son says the teaching style is very different at his school. He thinks it’s more college like, with a lot of self learning. I think it depends on what you’re used to.</p>
<p>There is alot of paperwork, recommendations from teachers, guid councelors etc. At SAS it wasn’t so much competitive to get in by grades, but there were a limited number of spots, so it was first come first served. All the recommendations and transcripts were mostly to weed out kids that have any kinds of learning problems. They won’t deal with any of that. Even though the tuition is high,and they could afford to deal with kids with problems, they wont. SAS is a great school. There are two. One is much more “asian uptight” than the other, but their scores are pretty much the same. What kind of student are you now? Do you go to a good school?</p>
<p>My son took tests in the summer just to make sure he was in the right classes. People come from all over the world from schools with different standards. Not everyones calculus is the same etc. It’s just to make sure you end up in the right class and succeed. Lots of average kids there really.
The length of the school day is pretty much the same.</p>
<p>My son has quite a big circle of friends, half asian, and didn’t have any trouble making them. Lots of kids new to the school every year and in the same boat.</p>
<p>You need a VPN to get around the “firewall” and see facebook, youtube, etc. but it’s no big deal.</p>
<p>Because I live in a country where there are international schools, I can tell you that you won’t really mix around with the local students. </p>
<p>I rarely ever see the international schools students in my country and they hardly ever interact with local schools. They interact with other international school students.</p>
<p>Hey, limmering. It’s 12:11 AM here and I’d originally intended on surfing through some fun posts on HSL before going to bed. I saw your post and I felt that I should take 30 minutes to share some experience with you. If you’ve noticed, my time zone is BJ/HKTm which means I live in China. Almost four and a half years ago, I moved here from California and I know what you’re going through. You love your life in America and the fact that your parents want you to go to China is probably very sudden. You’re most likely afraid that you won’t be able to get along with Chinese students and/or keep up with the curriculum. You’re definitely freaking out about this whole thing because you wouldn’t make a thread otherwise. I was in the exact same situation as you - terrified and confused. What’s worse, I went to an all-Chinese school… Talk about crazy.</p>
<p>If you can’t get out of going to China, just forget about studies, college, making friends and all that stuff for a while. Consider this: if you were born again, but in China instead, you would still be yourself right? You could tell the same jokes, only in a different language, think the same things, want the same things, love the same people. In the end, the only things that change about you are the language you speak, the people in your life and the place you live.</p>
<p>Sorry if that paragraph kind of digressed… My point is, moving to China isn’t the end of the world, nor is it a sure sign that you’re going to be miserable. You might not go to your senior prom, but you might run into something, or someone, even more memorable than a prom. China is enormous. I’ve gotta say, it’s been four and a half years and even today I’m not sick of living here. In China, almost anything can happen. You can hit rock bottom today and be on top of the world tomorrow; I’m dead serious. With time, you’ll love the huge plazas filled with tens of thousands of people, the McDonalds and KFCs every 200 yards, and the breakneck speed with which modern Chinese culture develops. Sure, it’s gonna be tough at first, but I think it was all worth it. I mean, I’m pretty darn good at Chinese, I’ve managed to make a ton of friends and hey, it’s a good story to bring home to America. To me, China isn’t on another continent - it’s the side of America I never had a chance to experience.</p>
<p>I know I’ve said a lot of crap about China’s education and whatnot, but to be honest China was the best thing to ever happen to me.</p>
<p>The past few posts have been about the great firewall of China, so I’ll address that as well. You can’t go on youtube, facebook or twitter (and a lot of other popular sites) but what’s interesting is that a lot of Chinese people in TW and HK download youtube vids and upload them onto Chinese equilvalents of video broadcasting sites such as Tudou, Youku and Ku6 (I think that’s the name…) If all else fails, there are plenty of cheap proxy and VPN services you can use to disable the GFW, albeit slowing down your connection speed.</p>
<p>Hmm, as for teens here, they’re mostly brainwashed by the government. Jk, haha. They’re DEFINITELY not as rebellious as teens in America but they’re not compliant to the point of being dead inside. I personally enjoyed hanging out with Chinese kids because we have a lot in common (as do all Chinese nerds, lol). The Asian nerd stereotype is very common, but it’s not discriminated against so people just call them “good students”. Chinese students don’t believe in ECs. In other words, they participate in very few ECs. More often than not, “good students” spend all 3 years of high school studying.</p>
<p>Wow, it’s late. I’ve been rambling on for over 40 minutes… I’m off to bed. If some of what I wrote doesn’t make sense, it’s only because I’m tired 
I hope you can make some use of this post in your decision. To summarize: China’s not a bad place and it’s definitely not some kind of scary academic asylum.</p>
<p>
couldn’t have said it any better, 
best of luck!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>fortunately this is a girl not a guy we’re talking about…her sexual needs are not as adamant as us american male perverts, :P</p>
<p>Okay, this is a slightly delayed response but I just happened to come across this thread as I was searching my school on CC :)</p>
<p>Honestly, life in China is not as bad as you think. I was born and bred in the US for most of my life but moved to China a couple of years ago. You mentioned that your dad has a high paying job here. That pretty much ensures a VERY luxurious lifestyle here. For example, we have a maid, a driver to drive me wherever we go, and plenty other luxuries that is unattainable in the US. Also, the school I go to, the International School of Beijing, is one of the best things about moving to Beijing. When I moved, I was in the same position as you are. I was petrified of changing everything about my life, leaving my best friends, and moving to a completely foreign land. But you know what? As soon as you stop holding on to your past, then you will truly enjoy life here. Like, I cannot emphasize how great things are here. Of course, I still talk to my best friends from the US every 2 or 3 days through Skype, MSN, etc. but I have also developed very close friendships here. As for American culture, you don’t really have to worry about it much here. Every year, ISB receives around 30-40 new students in the HS. Last year alone we had around 20+ Juniors, many of which were first time international students from the US. So you won’t be alone. All of them have adjusted within a few weeks and have a close group of friends to eat lunch with and hang out with within the first month. Seriously, people here are so friendly and really eager to make friends. The culture in our school is very American and the fashion is also very western. I know a lot of the guys wear things like American Eagle, Abercrombie, etc., as well as many other higher end brands. As for college, that really shouldn’t be of any concern. I am a senior this year and most students end up going to the US for college. And not just any US college but really selective ones too. For example, we have people going to Stanford, Princeton, NYU, UC Berkeley, UCLA, USC, Northwestern, Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Carnegie Mellon, among many many others. In fact, one of my friends is going to BC :)</p>
<p>If you are still freaked out about this or have any questions at all, feel free to PM me :)</p>
<p>Everyone hating on her stop. My parents moved me too china 8 months ago, and I felt the same way. Don’t worry it’s a blast!</p>
<p>OP, I am so jealous of you. This will be an INCREDIBLE experience.</p>
<p>I’ve been trying to get out of the UK lol, the soonest I could was for college, so I decided to uproot and go to penn hahha. I would have loved to go to live in china for two years.</p>
<p>Jeez, you should be so excited.</p>