CSC Scholarship - Archives

[menyawga]

I was under the impression that the DC embassy sends ALL legitimate application packages to Beijing. Beijing then checks them over and, if all the proper required things are in it, forwards it to the 3 universities who make the actual decision about the scholarship and forward those decisions back to Beijing who then makes the decisions "official". Where does anything say that DC makes decisions about which applicants aren't "up to par"?

[imron]

Where does anything say that DC makes decisions about which applicants aren't "up to par"?

Where does it say they don't The whole process appears to be a black box that no-one really knows anything about. I wouldn't be surprised if local embassies did their own vetting.

[caffeineaddict]

I'm so annoyed at myself for not finding out about these scholarships earlier...missed the deadline by about 2weeks grr. I'm wondering though how do you know if you at least have a chance? Just good grades or do you have to be the kind of person who could get a job with Mckinsey

[Bedan Adjuster]

caffeineaddict,

I feel very sorry for you. Now you have a whole year to prepare for your application documents.

You don't need to be the best to get the scholarship. You just have to show interest that you really want to study in China. The motivation letter may be the most important document according to extrapages.

Goodluck for next year.

[bigtops]

Some info from a few conversations today...

I don't want to say who told me this nor where s/he he works to spare that person a possible deluge of phone calls... But from the sounds of things if you applied for the language-only program then whichever university the CSC gives your application to will automatically accept you. If you applied for a degree program then your application will receive some scrutiny.

Also, universities have been told to send their final decisions back to the CSC by the end of June.

The CSC does not authorize its employees to tell you about your application status if you call their office. They're not being assholes, just doing their job (sometimes that's the same thing, eh?)

Somewhat related extra bit of info that I didn't see online... Might be useful for some of you who've missed deadlines: You still have until June 15th to apply for the Beijing City Government scholarship at BNU, and maybe elsewhere (I know that some universities, for example Tsinghua, closed their windows months ago). You cannot apply for this scholarship for plain language learning, but you could apply for a degree program such as a bachelor's in Chinese. If you apply for an undergraduate Mandarin degree you must have an HSK 3 or be able to document 300 classroom hours studying the language. More info on their website.

[menyawga]

Is it safe to say that the universities have been sent our applications by now? I emailed my number 1 university (been in touch with them on and off) asking, but have yet to hear back.

[bigtops]

Nope. Not all embassies' applications have yet to reach Beijing. Don't know the ETA.

[michael289]

Haven't thought about my application in a while... but delighted to find my name on the EU -window pre-selection list (http://www.chinamission.be/eng/lxzg/ofzz/t562524.htm)

As noted by previous posters there are exactly 100 names on that list, for the 100 available EU places. Does this mean I've got the scholarship for sure? Anyone else know what this preselection list means?

[Josu-]

ouch, I'm not in the list (neither 2 friends of mine) maybe it has to do with the fact that I'm still in Beijing (they told mr the chances of getting the schoolarship while being in china weren't as big as for those not in china)...

congratulations to those who are on it

[Meshaq7]

Still waiting impatiently for results. It is rather unsettling to be in limbo as far as next year is concerned. I have two slightly blasphemous questions for those who have already received this scholarship:

1. If I do get the scholarship for two years as I requested, I may be forced to leave for about a month before the end of the first school year. If this is the case, will I lose my second year? Will the wrath of the university be upon me? Is there anyway I can be arrange to finish or test out of the last month of classwork in advance?

2. If something happens that overturns my plans for the second year, will I be expected to back-pay the first year of scholarship since I didn't "complete my planned program?"

I am not planning either of these things (I am very psyched about spending two years in China), but it is good to know what I am getting into.

[Chrissy88]

Yes agree, that limbo is the worst! I am sitting here in China right now, on scholarship...and I can't speak for all of the schools, from my personal perspective, it would be very unlikely that they would do anything to you. Actually, what I've seen a lot people do is just get formal "medical leave" -- which consists of filling out a single sheet of paper. Regardless of whether they are actually "sick" or not, they just turn this into the main office -- and they are home free. In fact, most of the Europeans and Americans that are here on scholarship leave to go home several times a year. I know one personally who has left 4 times and has not even taken exams.

In an extreme case, if the administration board is totally 'out to get you', they might mess with your 2nd year scholarship, but in most cases...they probably won't care enough to do anything. If you tell them early or blame it on "medical leave"...and attend the majority of your other classes during the year, I doubt you will have a problem.

Overall, the administration at my university appears particularly lethargic when it comes to enforcing anything with foreign students. For example, exams are around June 8th...yet, we don't have to move out of the dorms until the end of July. They haven't even given students a notice of when they're supposed to leave. They aren't even expecting the 2 year scholarship students to even LEAVE for the summer. Many are just stay here and working (this may not apply to all schools, obviously - odds are it will be different at Tsinghua, Fudan, Beijing, etc because they have so many other programs going on).

At certain schools, you will learn very quickly that the Chinese won't "chase" after you to do much. And, its also very unlikely that they'd expect you to pay for that second year. Granted, if you decided to take that second year and "float" in China on a student visa - while NOT attending class...your school will definitely report you and your student status will be revoked. If you leave to go home, I doubt the Chinese government will bother sending you a bill.

If I had to go through it all over again, after seeing all of this, I would have chosen the 2 year option - as opposed to the 1 year. I was worried about the very thing you are asking right now - because I was used to a different standard of education.

[Meshaq7]

Thanks for the reply Chrissy88! It is a relief to hear that things are somewhat low key and flexible. And now for more waiting...

[hashbrown]

To Bedan_Adjuster

I've been lurking in this forum the past few days and too bad I missed the deadline.

I'm from the Philippines too and also interested in applying for the CSC Scholarship for Mandarin Language learning only. I was a language scholar too in the past (2006) but for Taiwan Mandarin Scholarships. Actually when I applied the scholarship that was stated there was for a year but when we got it, it was only for 6 months (maybe they were cost-cutting) so although I learned something, it wasn't really something that I can be really proud of as 6 months isn't really that enough.

The application procedure for China is almost the same for Taiwan. Right now I am currently working in Singapore and a Permanent Resident here so there are some changes but I feel like studying in Beijing will be a worthwhile experience for me.

Whatever happens and I also hope that you get the scholarship, please keep in touch. I will still be watching this forum from time to time. You may also email me at inqsider@yahoo.com YM: inqsider to exchange info. I have 6 months to decide on this and prepare for next year.

[airthus]

that was a nice list for the EU window, any news about the US front? sounds like in general July is the time to hear, but 5 months of waiting is a bit long for a simple yes or no....

Any news would be appreciated.

While we are waiting, why dont we post the three schools we choose. Mine:

Chengdu university, kunming university, shanghai university

note i forgot the actual names of the school i only remember the cities they were in

[menyawga]

My schools:

1. Xiamen

2. BCLU

3. Zhejiang

[michael289]

1) Kunming Normal University

2) Zhejiang University

3) Shanghai International Studies University

[ABQgirl]

1) Chengdu university of science and technology

2) Southwest Jiaotong University

3) Sichuan University

[erdbeerbaum]

1) tianjin nankai

2) nanjing university

3) wuhan normal

[fsutalltree]

Can't wait to see

1 Nankai

2 Tianjin waiguo yu

3 Jilin daxue

[erdbeerbaum]

@fsutalltree

as a language student or for a regular study?