Where to go?? {QingHua, BeiDa, Xi'an FLU, XiaMen}

<p>I’m a junior in highschool studying Chinese all four years (I will next year also).
If this matters, I go to TJHSST which is supposed to be famous for being a good highschool.
([Thomas</a> Jefferson High School for Science and Technology - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TJHSST]Thomas”>Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology - Wikipedia))
I really love learning Chinese-Mandarin, and the culture!!</p>

<p>I want to know: which of these universities that I have found would fit me best:
criteria:
not too many foreign students -I’d rather make friends with Chinese than Americans…
easy to interact/make friends with Chinese
smart class mates
wont die from stress
really good programs for Chinese</p>

<p>also:: Would it be hard for me to get into these schools? Especially QingHua and BeiDa…
would they know/have heard of my highschool and maybe that would be bonus points in my favor? – I know our school has had at least 3 groups of government officials/educators from China come since I’ve started attending.</p>

<p>Also, what will they look for - SAT and GPA? so scared about whether it really is easier for non-Chinese to get into Chinese colleges or not… i hope that rumor is true! …</p>

<p>I’m so curious!! :D</p>

<p>If you are considering Chinese language and culture as your major, I would say Bei Da, or Peking University would be your first choice. Fu Dan University in Shanghai also has a wonderful Chinese department.</p>

<p>As you know, domestic students must take the Gao Kao to go to college in China. However international students go through a very different application process. I don’t think they will consider the SAT, but you may need to have some kind of language certification. I suggest you check out the college websites, or call the admission office to find out more. Best of luck!</p>

<p>Peking University, definitely.
PekingU has the best Chinese dept, and I think for international students, it will be much easier (compared to Chinese students) to enrolled in PekingU since it is far less competitive. SAT will not play a role in admission for sure, and for more details, I think it would be better to contact those staffs.
Hope you good luck!</p>

<p>I’m amazed you even now Xiamen University!?? Well, it is a great school.</p>

<p>Though if you can go into Peking or Tsinghua, I recommend you go there. But let me tell you about Xiamen University.</p>

<p>It’s the most (or the second most considering who you are asking) beautiful university in China. It’s located on a tiny island city, which is Xiamen obviously. Some foreign students, but not many Americans (if any I assume). You definitely won’t die from stress because it’s not that competitive as the top tier universities, but the university still is really good. Some of its majors are even one of the top of the world. It has a great Chinese program, partly because the famous Chinese writer Lu Xun taught there before.
If you do choose Xiamen University, you will enjoy the place so much!! It’s right next to the sea (in fact the sea splits the university into half). Think about it;)</p>

<p>Hi I’m happy to see someone so excited about the Chinese language but I need for you to realize a few important things. Number 1, 4 years of high school Chinese will in no way prepare you for an actual education taught in the Chinese language. I have worked as a researcher (foreign scholar) at Peking University and Tsinghua University and the very few foreigners from the west that I’ve met that are in undergrad are around 2-4 years older than their peers due to the fact they have to take intensive Chinese before they can start. Number 2, I might be wrong but undergraduate wise the top schools have a special entrance exam besides the gao kao and you need to pass it in order to get in, once again taught in Chinese. Number 3, you are in no way prepared to study Chinese literature at a college level in Chinese. This is what they are talking about at PKU. Tsinghua, Fudan etc. Try taking a look at a short piece by lu xun and I you’ll understand exactly what I mean. If you want to study for a bachelors in China most foreigners that I know that do that either go to BLCU or Fudan’s Bachelor in the Chinese language. It gives the students enough Chinese ability to be able to tackle the graduate school entrance exam in China. Number 4, As someone that has helped teach undergrads at PKU I have to say that the Chinese education system really squashes creativity. The CCP keeps a very very firm grasp on top universities because it was at PKU that many of the CCP founders met and established the party and Tsinghua and PKU have a tradition of political action (tsinghua and pku students were the ones at tiananmen square) and because of that they really keep a close eye. So don’t expect to be given high marks for a great analysis of something that might criticize the party or country. Top universities have special offices just for high ranking party members to make sure there is no need for “river crabs”. So unless you are doing a hard science, engineering, or business, don’t do your undergraduate in China. There is a reason why all my colleagues and friends from Tsinghua, PKU, and Fudan all are doing their masters or phD abroad. Now universities in China have english taught graduate programs to try to make the schools more international and give more leeway. I hear they might start offering english undergraduate programs and at least those will be less monitored compared to the chinese taught ones due to the fact the party doesn’t really care about what us foreigners think. Number 5, cheating, plagiarism, and unethical behavior is rampant in Chinese universities. While its not as bad in the top Beijing and Shanghai universities, schools such as xiamen daxue, nanjing daxue, and tianjin nankai are notorious for it and its very discouraging to say the least. I have visited some of these universities and sat in on classes and the attitude Chinese students have is very disheartening. Number 6, Your passion for China should have brought you to Confucian thought. If so then you understand that in the Confucian style of teaching still seen in China the teacher is the Master. That means no questioning him, no raising thought provoking questions that create student-faculty discussion. In fact, its considered extremely rude for a student to do that. There are no seminars where students discuss and argue what was learned. No analyzing literature from XXX perspective or discussing the affects of so so on Chinese politics. Number 7, you don’t just apply to a university in China. You apply to a department. While it creates cohesion among students, there is no real “liberal arts perspective” You need to be 10000% sure this is what you study because its impossible to transfer departments in a top chinese university. Its not like in America where you can double major or spend your freshman year exploring.
As someone that also did chinese in high school years ago and pursued it through my education I respect and encourage your enthusiasm in East Asian culture but I find this post cute because I was thinking to do the exact same thing when I was applying to schools. My own chinese teacher told me not to go for my bachelors in China and after spending my time as an “foreign scholar” in 2 of China’s top Chinese universities I can understand why she said so. I urge you to instead look for a school in America with a strong Chinese language and area studies program. The CAPS program at COrnell is geared perfectly for you, Columbia has direct exchange agreement with Tsinghua where basically you can spend 2-3 of your years at Tsinghua but still get a COlumbia degree. All the UCs are very strong for China studies and connections in China. And if you are worried about not being good enough in Chinese even after that or possibly thinking that I must be one of those foreigners that has weak chinese, I write academic papers for presentation to professors and think tanks in total chinese and passed jia ban the putonghua exam used by locals whose native dialect isn’t mandarin which showed that I have a near native accent with Mandarin (I just missed the first level which is what tv broadcasters, radio broadcasters, and CHinese teachers need). So its not impossible to have great Chinese and still go to school in America. I applaud your drive, but at the same time feel as someone that wanted to do the same thing before, I need to give you the advice that was given to me before. If you have any questions further feel free to contact me.</p>

<p>^Amazing! Are you going to write an essay to show how you master English? Haha…</p>

<p>Of course,QH and BD are the most famous universities in China,but in my opinion, I prefer USTB(University of Science&Technology Beijing).This is a place which you can adapt to.</p>

<p>hi! i am Chinese student and in high school. if you really want to study in China , i recommend BeiDa. Compared with QingHua, PKU focus more in Humanities and has a more free academic atomosphere. If you want to study engineer, QingHua is great, while i think USA is more suitble than China.<br>
As BlueJayBJ said, you need seriously take his advice because what he said is very true about the situation in China university. </p>

<p>The reason why i want to go aboard is not just for advantages of other country, but also because there exisit some disadvantages in our university.</p>

<p>The university in China is not a place for free thoughts and academic research. Becasue the control of government, the compus operates bureaucracy. Detailedly, the professors‘ status are not important compared with the administrators’. </p>

<p>And if you really interested in Chinese culture, i don’t think China is a good place to go . As a person lived in China, i know that the the pith of tradition and culture derived from thousands years ago is not inherited properly by our people.The reasons are complicated , but you must know that in China latest history there were several reformations, such as WenGe( lasting ten years!), because of that , something has changed. Today’s China can never back to some time that i really dreamed, such as the time in 1919, the May Fourth Movement , and the Confucius time. In these time, people dare to question and come up their thoughts, no matter the thoughts are proper at that time or not. But if you lived in today’s China, don’t say the original and free thoughts, the traditional culture is ruied by modern Chinese relentlessly. Most ordinary citizens are not you expected the persons have deep culture basis and thoughts.<br>
Back to the topic, if you want to study something about China, go to Taiwan, not mainland. the relationship of Taiwan and mainland is always a controversial topic. While to be frank, Taiwan is a more cultural, chinese place. It is not because i stay in mainland so i think other place is better but because Taiwan is trully a place inherited lot from our ancestors. In my class, my Chinese teacher also understand this point. She is a deeply ‘chinese’ person and said her dissapointment about today’s mainland society, especially the people 's attitude towards the culture. For example, the chinese today mainland uses is different from that in Taiwan( and HK,Macao). We use the simplified words.Although the simplified words are more convinent, the language is the most significant part of one’s cultrue and the simplified words are totally cut off the culture and great meaning, now just for the use of convinence. </p>

<p>And the condition in mainland is just the that in Taiwan thirty years ago, experiencing the problems brought by modern society. So mainland is in the transition period, not suitable for you studying and using the great resource.</p>

<p>Be serious when you taking PKU, QingHua etc. those universities in you place to study chinese. you could consider National Taiwan University(many chinese author,schooler have studies there.it is a great university!and aslo the best uni in Taiwan ).</p>

<p>Peiking University. Definitely!</p>

<p>you’d definitely want to go to QingHua, it is basically the ‘harvard’ of China.<br>
the students who are smart enough to attend such a school (native chinese applicants) are absolutely the best of the best.</p>

<p>What yeihisao wrote is extremely accurate. Although most people would immediately think of going to China for Chinese culture, Taiwan has actually preserved the culture much better. Unfortunately, I cannot attend a Taiwanese uni because I have a citizenship there, while I’m still considered a foreigner in China (long story lol). But I thought that it would be really useful for me to be more fluent in Chinese, so I’ve attended a Chinese uni for one semester so far (not as well known as Peking or Tsinghua, but still a rather typical uni in China). So far, all of what BJBJ said is really true, especially about the teaching atmosphere. Honestly, if you go to China for a few years your Chinese will definitely improve 100x, no matter what you’re doing. This will be especially true if you go to a smaller city, because then you would have to rely completely on your Chinese to get around, unlike if you stay in Beijing or Shanghai and can get by on English…Another possibility would be for you to take a gap year or two to go over there and teach english. Not only would your Chinese improve by being in the environment, but you could make a lot of money as English tutors are in extremely high demand over there.</p>

<p>I am a Chinese,I think it depends on your major…</p>

<p>I agree with neptune6164… it really depends on your major.
I can’t give you much insight though, since I’m not thinking about Mainland Chinese universities… All I know is that Mainland Chinese universities LOVE foreigners, so you’ll probably be at an advantage.
What I can tell you is that the University of Hong Kong is also really good, if you consider a Special Administrative Region of China… People who get into HKU are considered really smart :slight_smile: Chinese University (Hong Kong) is also not bad as well.
Schools in Hong Kong look for SAT or AP courses. I think it’s best if you visit their website for specific details. Every school is different.</p>

<p>Good luck! And I’m glad you’re taking interest in Mandarin. It’s a wonderful language (and Cantonese is even more complicated, haha… If you go to Hong Kong you’ll know what I mean. 9 tones. :P)</p>

<p>There are no good colleges in China that won’t be academically stressful. Honestly, the colleges (Qinghu, Beida, Beiyou, Zheda which is currently ranked 1 i think but mostly an engineering science college) are very cutthroat.
I honestly don’t think you can survive studying Chinese literature at a Chinese University. Your fellow students at tio universities will be the cream of the crop in the entire nation, and you will most likely end up at the bottom of your class.</p>

<p>However, if you feel you are willing to handle the courseload, by all means go for it.</p>

<p>For Zheda at least, there is a Chinese proficiency test you must pass. </p>

<p>Are you sure you want to get a degree in China? Because unless you graduate at the top of your class at an ultra prestigious university, it will be pretty hardnfor you to seek graduate degrees in America. But maybe being an American citizen might make the process easier.</p>

<p>Yeihisao can not have phrased the cultural situation any better. in all honesty, I’d rather end up in community college than go to china.</p>

<p>Bu yeihisao, I’m surprised that your teacher would have the guts to insult the government and chinese society… is he/she not afraid of repercussions?</p>

<p>I would also like to add, that with my dad’s insistent, I can secure an acceptance to any top college in china, simply because my dad has connections and the system is based so much on corruption and relations. It is really, really unfair, especially for native chinese students.</p>

<p>The five years I spent in china have been the most memorable, not because it was amazing, but because I still have nightmares about my time there. Though I looked just like everyone else (asian), i was ostracized and bullied by students and teachers alike for being a traitor, an American. On the other hand, If I were blond with blue eyes, I’m sure the people would’ve kissed the ground i walked. I just hope that if you really want to go to china, you are caucasian, or a foreigner.</p>

<p>some posts above might be a little too exaggerated i think, no offense. i agree with BlueJayBJ and yeihisao. TINGSHUA U was dream school for me over years but i decided to go to US for better education, after pondering carefully over my career. and Why not consider Hongkong? the region perserves old chinese traditions and cultures better than mainland while colleges follow international stardards. nicer match for you; HKU, HKUST, CUHK, etc are toptier worldwide.
mandarin is the wonderful language +1. good luck!</p>

<p>Well, as a Chinese student, i think it all depends on your major.
If you want to major in social science or something like Chinese culture, you should definitely go to BeiDa. If you prefer to major in Science, then you will find QingHua a good place for you to spend 4 years.
However, personally, I prefer BeiDa.Many people in QingHua are nerdy…
By the way, I know a Chinese student in Tj. It seems your school has rigorous courses…I think you will survive in these top schools.</p>

<p>Hi,
Ive been oferred a fully funded scholarship to study in China for a PhD. I have got BE-Mech and MBA degrees from the best universities in Pakistan. I already have 3 yrs of experience in an oil marketing company.
I have to give 3 choices for which I’ve shortlisted PKU and Tsinghua. Im not sure about the third option. Any advice?
My intended field of study is Management Science and Engineering with a specialization in Supply Chain & Logistics.</p>

<p>P.S Should I wait n try to get a scholarship anywhere else such as HKU or NUS?</p>

<p>I have to point out that THU excels at engineering, not science. Sure it is rebuilding its science departments and recruiting furiously, but over all PKU beats THU in this area.
My recommendations:
Natural sciences: Peking U, U of Sci Tech China, Fudan U, Tsinghua U and Nanjing U.
Engineering: Tsinghua U, Shanghai Jiaotong U, Zhejiang U.
Humanity: Peking U, Fudan U and Nanjing U.
Social sciences: Peking U, Renmin U of China, Fudan U and Tsinghua U.
Medical sciences: Peking U, Peking Union Medical College, Fudan U and Shanghai Jiaotong U.</p>

<p>Haha this is very interesting! We Chinese kids go to US and the American kids go to China for education too! Globalization… ;)</p>