amphivera Posted June 21, 2008 at 08:41 AM Report Posted June 21, 2008 at 08:41 AM Thanks extrapages! It seems like I won't be able to get my visa processed until mid-August anyway because new regulations may make it necessary for me to return to my home country (US) in order to get the new (student) visa. I've been trying to find alternatives but either way I can't get away from the mainland until then due to work. And zmblum's update (thanks by the way) leads me to believe I'll be hearing from the CSC folks pretty soon.
Chrissy88 Posted June 23, 2008 at 04:45 PM Report Posted June 23, 2008 at 04:45 PM Hi Everyone! I just wanted to take a second and post the latest update about the CSC Scholarship process (I applied for the full-time Chinese language; 1 year). Today, I just got an email from the embassy in Washington D.C regarding the CSC Scholarship---which I thought was fantastic, as I now have confirmation that they actually received my application. yay. Below is the actual email they sent: Greetings from the Chinese Embassy! Thank you for your patience in waiting for the Chinese Government Scholarship admission result. As you know, in the past, the result usually came in July and the registration time is around the end of August. When the result comes, I will send the materials package to you or your school administrators accordingly so as to let you initiate the visa application process. So in order to save time, could you please reconfirm with me your mailing address in details now? Before you raise any questions, please take the following answers for your reference to the commonly concerned ones: 1. Do I need to apply for the visa to China by myself? Yes. Every student needs to apply for the visa to China by herself or himself. In the admission package which I will send you if you are admitted, there is a form called JW201 that is specifically for you to present to the visa office in either one of the five Chinese General Consulates in New York, Chicago, Houston, Los Angles, San Francisco or the Chinese Embassy in Washington DC. The telephone numbers and address can be found on the internet. 2. Do I need to book the airticket by myself and what is the best time to do so? Yes, the airfare is self-sponsored. (The Chinese government will only cover international air tickets for those who come from the developing countries that signed agreement with China.) I know that many students are concerning the high prices of the airtickets partly because of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games season. However, it is suggested that you may ask the relevant travel agencies nearby what is the best way to book the ticket. Some agencies can hold the ticket and not print it until you give the final confirmation. (FYI: I found some great deals at www.USChinaTrip.com...and ended up booking through them. It's a travel agency out of San Francisco, AND, unlike all those other websites you see, their flight prices are quoted WITH the taxes and fees INCLUDED. It's not one of those "$637 RT without fees, that ends up being $1220". If it says $637 with USChinaTrip, it ACTUALLY IS (something which I find ridiculously refreshing). After a little research, I also found out that this particular company is one of the few that actually has legimate contracts with every major US-China route/airline...whereas most will have side-deals with a couple airlines, or a few particular routes. They all also speak solid english and offer both domestic chinese flights and roundtrips departing from China.) 3. Can I know which university admit me now? No. Some students will not know which university admit them until the admission letter come from China. Certainly, if the Embassy get the result earlier in fax, I will inform you at the first time by email. May you enjoy your summer while waiting for the result and let me know if you have any questions.
hepingrob Posted June 23, 2008 at 11:06 PM Report Posted June 23, 2008 at 11:06 PM I also just received this email from the embassy in Washington. It is good to know they received my application. Good luck to everyone and let's hope we don't need to wait much longer!
zmblum Posted June 23, 2008 at 11:25 PM Report Posted June 23, 2008 at 11:25 PM Chrissy88 -- thanks for posting that! It seems like they're telling you and hepingrob that you guys are in without officially confirming anything. I wish the SF Consulate would send me something! Chrissy88 and hepingrob -- Which schools did you apply to? If I get in maybe I'll see you in the Fall... All -- I'll post if I hear anything from the consulate Extrapages -- shoutout for being awesome (thanks again for making this forum) Cheers
hepingrob Posted June 23, 2008 at 11:46 PM Report Posted June 23, 2008 at 11:46 PM I'll second that shoutout to Extrapages! You have made the process a heck of a lot easier. Zmblum, I applied at BNU as my first choice, with BLCU and Beida as second and third. Let's all keep our fingers crossed!
amphivera Posted June 24, 2008 at 01:53 AM Report Posted June 24, 2008 at 01:53 AM I got the email too. It is nice to know that at the very least my application was actually received. By the way, that USChinaTrip website is amazing.
zmblum Posted June 24, 2008 at 03:17 AM Report Posted June 24, 2008 at 03:17 AM cool... i applied to beida, qinghua, and blcu. i know this is getting a little off topic but on the flight subject... air canada has cheap fairs and they stop through vancouver, bc. so if thats not too far out of the way for any americans check it out. (tip from my chinese friend)
Chrissy88 Posted June 24, 2008 at 03:24 AM Report Posted June 24, 2008 at 03:24 AM agree on the air canada note, they do have decent prices, but their after tax price isn't pretty...you can get them cheaper through a wholesaler that has a contract with them.
extrapages Posted June 25, 2008 at 03:09 AM Author Report Posted June 25, 2008 at 03:09 AM im still waiting to see what happens... but i dont know if ill get the second year of my scholarship. ill know in a couple weeks. will update you guys. maybe itll be around the same time you get your confirmations. but if i DO get it - id be completely shocked... because then we'll know for sure that these guys really dont know what theyre doing. this is the situation: i never went to class. i didnt take two of my three finals. i really cant do the student thing anymore. ive been working as a freelance pr consultant and event planner instead! but i was told that i might actually still get the second year! because my teachers loved me and apparently wrote a good annual review? how insane is that? will keep yous posted! im glad that this forum is helping people get this scholarship. its a phenomenal opportunity. i may not have taken advantage of it the way i was expected as a scholarship recipient, but it has changed my life - and china and i have built a beautiful partnership. haha! yall need to get over here so we can throw a csc party!
smh254 Posted June 25, 2008 at 03:17 PM Report Posted June 25, 2008 at 03:17 PM Myself and my girlfriend also received the emails from the education minister Question about flights: Should I buy a roundtrip flight or just a one-way? I have no idea when I will be returning to the US, so I'm inclined to just buy a one-way flight. However, I am concerned that the Chinese border agents will give me a hard time if I only have a one-way flight. I know that the government has been restricting visas on foreigners, so I don't want there to be any problems. Thanks!
Chrissy88 Posted June 26, 2008 at 02:03 AM Report Posted June 26, 2008 at 02:03 AM In regards to the flights...that was a concern of mine too. I ended up just grabbing a one-way...but, you have to prove your "student status" first. My reasoning for the one way? I had no plans to return to the US, or at least had no idea when I would. At the same time, I had only applied for the CSC scholarship, I had no hard proof that I was yet a "student"...I was still waiting for my admissions letter and JW202 form to find it's way back to the US via standard postage. The Ministry of Education will issue you a JW201 for the CSC; the JW202 is for self financed-students. I just went ahead and applied as the latter because I had little desire to wait around and guess as to my scholarship status. If I ended up waiting until booking a ticket until july--the cost of the flight would have increased to nearly the equivalent of a semester of (chinese) school anyway. My conclusion? prove you are a student in the quickest way possible -- with or without the scholarship. Admissions will change it when you get there...and with the proper approvals, you can even go home on the holidays (which was news to me--I contacted three different schools just make sure I was hearing things correctly. All gave the same answer.) Now, moving on. Some consulates give you the impression that you "have" to wait for the "official documents" before you can apply for my 'student' visa. That's bogus and totally illogical. All of the consulates will you a different answer, if they even answer the phone. Copies of the documents worked just fine. Also, when looking for a visa service if you don't live near a consulate, some people seem to be concerned that a few of these companies appear a bit "sketchy"-- half of this, I'm sure, is do to poor marketing. So, how to fine a decent one? One way is to look at address of the company...and grab the one that is literally is located in the same building as the consulate. Many are not located in the same building and work just fine. But, before you apply for your visa, the question then becomes: how do I obtain get "copies" if all the documents are still en-route? Email the international admissions at the school your planing to attend and say "hey, ms. admissions lady, in order to get a visa, I have to prove to the consulate that I am a student and I can't afford to wait another 2 weeks for my admissions letter/JW202 form to show up, can you email me a scanned copy?" Every time I requested this from a school, to my surprise, they actually did it. And, to top it off, the consulate seemed perfectly content with a print off of the scanned copies. As it turns out...students do not have to have proof of a round trip. But, you better have proof that you are student (not sure about super short-term students in this regard though). The school should be able to get you an admissions letter quickly--the JW202 takes a bit more time...but, if you're just trying to get out buying a roundtrip, the admissions letter should suffice (assuming you don't get an anal retentive consulate guy-- even so, explain the situation to the visa service people, and they'll explain it for you) Conclusion: Proof of Student Status = One-way is ok. No Proof = You're just another tourist.
extrapages Posted June 26, 2008 at 02:26 AM Author Report Posted June 26, 2008 at 02:26 AM i had just a one way flight and it was fine. =] but that was also last year before the crazy pre-olympics restrictions.
zmblum Posted June 26, 2008 at 06:01 AM Report Posted June 26, 2008 at 06:01 AM smh254, did you and your gf apply through the Washington DC embassy or through a consulate? I'm so happy for you guys! which schools did you get into? i'm also a little nervous for myself since I haven't heard anything except from my friend call the MOE. if you two did apply through the DC embassy, then I guess I can relax since the embassy probably has to forward any information on me to the SF consulate where I applied..... ahhhhhhhhh the lack of information from the CSC is rough. How much are you all finding one way tickets for? and is that website chrissy88 mentioned proving to be the cheapest? she seems like she knows whats up
jmchen3@hotmail Posted June 26, 2008 at 11:04 AM Report Posted June 26, 2008 at 11:04 AM are the letter acceptance out for the csc scholarship? iam still waiting on my thanks
Chrissy88 Posted June 26, 2008 at 12:18 PM Report Posted June 26, 2008 at 12:18 PM www.USChinaTrip.com has consistently some of the best deals (to China) I've seen. Prices will spike July 1-2 to September. Jet fuel and oil are making all time time highs so as far as October is higher than usual as well. - SFO and LAX are the cheapest gate cities. United just cut back on their number of flights to China (meaning Chicago is now more expensive). - Beijing flights seems to be cheaper than Shanghai--if there's that much of a price different, you can consider flying into one and taking the sleeper train to the other for $100-200 USD - Cities with direct connections and decent deals: Wash DC, ORD, DFW (to Shanghai), SFO, ATL, ORW, new york, toronto, and i think another just started from seattle--but that's more expensive. Sometimes you can fish for a cheap domestic flight (or use any free domestic flights you've earned) to fly into one of these key cities through Southwest, or that other budget airline, the name eludes me at the moment (their hub is out of ATL though?). - Check JetAirways too. They rock. They have some of the best round trip prices from SFO. They only fly from a few US cities, then specialize in connecting India and China. Up until jet fuel prices spiked, they were offering a $657 Round Trip from SFO-PVG, but that may have changed now. They offer consistently low prices. Other Good Sites: www.airfare.com (includes fees and tax; bought many international tickets through them) www.vayama.com (includes fees and tax) www.flychina.com (includes fees and tax) www.flightsfirst.com www.smartertravel.com www.skyscanner.net www.travelpapa.com www.bt-store.com www.cheapflightsales.com www.icheapairfares.com www.consolidated-fares.com www.bookingbuddy.com
Don_Horhe Posted June 26, 2008 at 01:26 PM Report Posted June 26, 2008 at 01:26 PM Do you think it'd be OK if I emailed the universities I applied for and ask them if I'm accepted? Because, like everyone else, I simply can't wait anymore.
zmblum Posted June 26, 2008 at 03:30 PM Report Posted June 26, 2008 at 03:30 PM thanks chrissy! you're jamazing
smh254 Posted June 26, 2008 at 09:39 PM Report Posted June 26, 2008 at 09:39 PM Just to be clear, the email we received was NOT a notice of admission. It was from the education minister in the Washington DC embassy. All he said was that our materials had been received, they were reviewing applications and that we would have a decision in the first week of July. He also asked that we confirm our permanent mailing address. That's it - no decision as of yet We applied directly to the Washington DC embassy via mail.
mateos Posted June 27, 2008 at 06:11 PM Report Posted June 27, 2008 at 06:11 PM Is here anybody who are waiting for the acceptance letter for CSC Scholarship (EU WINDOW)?
Chrissy88 Posted June 27, 2008 at 06:48 PM Report Posted June 27, 2008 at 06:48 PM Correct. The email was definitely not an admission letter. The next thing to look our for is something from the CSC. On another note, I've been in contact with some of the same schools I applied to for the CSC Scholarship...simply because I wanted to get a jump start and take classes in the summer. And, one of them just informed me yesterday that the CSC Scholarship Council had just contacted their admissions department...so, that at least gave some further confirmation that things are rolling...
Recommended Posts