BNU-no reply??

[panny]

I am planning to app;y for BNUI have tried emailing this university a couple of times but I have not recieved any replies, does anyone know if the staff understand english there? Are all the universities like this in China?

Does anyone know if I apply for the full academic year for the mandarin course what certificate/qualification will I be getting at the end of the day? I have tired accessing their website it sooo slow, some page wont even load up to the point where I can't even hardly get any information, as I want to apply for on campus accommodation aswell.

Do they send brochures regarding courses or anything? I'm planning to apply for Sept 2007

Can anyone whos been to BNU advise?

[adrianlondon]

From experience, they don't reply to emails or faxes. The admin department is either crap or busy. I think it's a bit of both. If you ring, and someone answers (they usually do) then you'll be fine. If you don't speak any Chinese then either find someone who can to call for you, or just be persistent, speak slow English, and wait until they get someone to help you.

If you're just trying to apply, then you need to follow the online procedure from their website. It works, albeit it can seem a bit confusing at times.

As far as I know, they don't send brochures. Oddly, they send one after your application has been successful though!

I went to Beijing before I applied to any universities to have a look around (I looked at a few places) and grabbed brochures while there. I'm sure if you fax your full address and then call to say "please send a brochure to the address I've just faxed you" will work.

[panny]

Hi Adrian

Thanks for the reply, will keep a note of it, although I'm starting to look around for other universities too .

The BNU website is not very convincing since I can't seem to find much information on the courses for mandarin, plus having no replies in english does not really convince me on the quality of the courses there..........

Any recommendations apart from BLCU?

[FyKnight]

Hi panny,

I also emailed BNU and received no reply. However when I rang them (when not durng the holidays!) I got through to a very helpful person who had excellent English.

So try ringing them.... ni hui shuo yingwen ma?

[Lu]

having no replies in english does not really convince me on the quality of the courses there...

I understand your concern, but keep in mind that things are different in China: that the organization seems unorganized doesn't mean they don't get things done. And you're not going there to study English now are you?

[yonglin]

panny, do not get upset.

Usually, if you write in Chinese, there will be a lot of people around to reply, but if you write in English, there may be only one or two, and those people might be very busy. I've heard a few good things about BNU, and I think you should note Lu's response. Honestly, I don't quite see the link betwen English speaking office staff and splendid Chinese classes.

On the side, I've tried contacting a number of universities and government agencies in the west on a variety of occassions without getting speedy replies (or any reply at all), despite writing to them in the official language. Try alone contacting the international office at my English university in Chinese!

[crow610]

I'm currently studying at BNU so if you still have not been able to contact the office I could definitely help you out.