ARAQ Network

[ai_ya]

I am seriously considering studying in China, and have came accross this network.

From their website, it seems very promising. Has anybody applied to a university in China through this network, if so, is it very reliable?

Also, I am considering doing a bachelors degree [starting in Sept 2007], but the courses listed only go up to March 2007, does anybody know if the website is / will be updated in time for me to apply.

Thanks for all your help.

[mrtoga]

I run that company, and I can assure you that we will be updating our website in the near future. Drop me a mail through at enquiries@hyccchina.com and I will do whatever I can.

Several other members on this forum have / are using us, in a second I will post a link from a satisfied customer on another thread - have to go find it first......

[mrtoga]

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/12-horse-horse-tiger-tiger-slang-and-idioms490

[braveb]

mrtoga, did you have anyone complete a 4 year Mandarin degree? I'm curious if I could have a high enough level to apply for a MA program in the U.S.

I have another thread about accreditation for China degrees. Is a degree from one of the schools mentioned on the ARAQ network respected in english speaking countries?

[mrtoga]

Dear Brave B,

We have only been going for little over a year, so no we don't have anyone that has completed a four-year programme. However to address your concerns.....

1. If you are studying Chinese language you can expect to be at about HSK Level 9 / 10 at the end of four years. That is the level the Japanese and Koreans reach and students all follow the same syllabus. Some reach Level 11 (the highest level). This is considerably higher than most people reach studying Chinese Language abroad, it is obviously also considerably cheaper. Of course, when employers look for foreigners with an ability to read / speak / write Chinese they will not judge them on a graduation certificate - it means nothing. They will interview to judge spoken / listening ability and judge written / reading ability on the HSK result, which is a reliable indicator - if you have level 9 you can read and write, end of story.

2. For non-language degrees, you need level 4 HSK for scientific courses and level 6 HSK for social science / arts based courses as a prerequisite. This requires a few years of language study. I do not know a foreigner who has completed such a course, but I do know a number of Chinese that have, and they have gone on to take masters degrees at prominent university in the west (I have interviewed three such people recently in fact). Of the ten universities currently on the ARAQ network three are considered to be in the top twenty universities in China (HIT, Jilin University and DUT). If you want to study something other than Chinese Language courses I would recommend one of these three.

[G - Steven]

Hi Mrtoga,

I am also considering to study in China with your programme, when I get 18. I had some questions concerning your program, so I sent a mail to enquiries@hyccchina.com about 20 days ago, the 5th of november, if I'm not mistaken. However, I still haven't got any reply. This sort of disturbed me, cos my folks want me to go with a Dutch organisation, because they have more trust in an organisation from my home country. The thing is, I like your program so much more than the stupid Dutch program which only goes to BLCU, but my parents won't let me go unless they completely trust it. The fact that I didnt get a response on a question mailed 20 days ago has only made them more distrustful of non-Dutch programs.

I'll copy and paste the email here in this post, so you can still answer the questions:

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Dear Sir/Madam,

After reading your website, I had several questions concerning your program for foreign students in China.

On your website, we read that upon arrival at Beijing Airport, the participants have to take the train to their destinations. As I will travel from Amsterdam airport, my journey will be quite long. I fear that I will be too tired to look out for my luggage and travel documents. As I am carrying a lot of money, I am not accustomed to my new environment and still tired from my journey, I can be easily robbed. Therefore I would like to ask if it is possible for participants of your Comprehensive Program to receive an escort - as offered in the Professional program - during the journey by train. Does this service include the way back as well?

Could you tell me how long the journey from Beijing to each university is?

Upon arrival at the university, participants have to arrange their accomodation. Could you tell me more about how this works? What if I cannot arrange accomodation in time? Will I be required to have the money in cash on me needed for accomodation?

Is there a website or anything where I could read about the experiences of you participants?

In case of emergency, how can my parents contact your company?

Will I be able to withdraw cash from an ATM with a Europas, issued by the Dutch Rabobank?

I would be grateful if you could answer my questions.

Yours sincerely,

Gjalt Steven Elsinga

Gjalt89@gmail.com

The Netherlands

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[mrtoga]

Sorry for the communication problem! Actually what happened is that for several days I was unable to reach my mails from here in Dalian (my server is in the US and for some reason I got blocked here). I had to get my colleague in Harbin to forward me all the mails. As you can imagine there is always a lot of spam, he must have mistakenly deleted your mail instead of forwarding it.

I will contact you today to answer your questions using your email. Apologies again.

[G - Steven]

Thank you for your reply and explanation. I am seriously considering going with your program now. If I got some new questions, I'll know how to contact you.

[G - Steven]

Hi,

I have another question concerning ARAQ Network. You see, I read on your site that you have to email a scan of "Copies of graduation certificates from the last educational establishment attended". The problem is that I'm not sure whether I will have my diploma in time to make the copies required for application.

My plan was to study in Chinese at one of the universities during my vacation between my last year of secondairy education and my first year at the Dutch university. This vacation is from july till august. The problem is that I'll get my secondariy school diploma around the end of july. If this is the case, will I still be able to apply in time?

[stephanhodges]

Hi all.

I'm one of many students that MrToga's company has helped place. I've met at least four or five others this summer, when I first came over for a summer intensive, before fall semester.

There's other posts about that, a bit. Also, Amandagmu has posted a bit about that (in Dalian).

Mrtoga is british, and I would say he has an excellent understanding of western initial expectations and common issues and interests. His company has helped me out several times now, once over the phone for 20 minutes to straighten out why the bank wouldn't give me my money, etc. They provide a very high level of service, for almost too little money, in my opinion. Hopefully MrToga will skip over that sentence

I haven't looked at his site in a while, so I don't know if it has references or not. You're welcome to pm me if you wish. I am not affiliated with the company, other than to say he's been giving me very good service. But, he's never asked for anything other than my money for that! .