Zhejiang University

[heff]

Language Program Registration days would be on March 5-6, 2018. Classes starts on March 12, 2018. 

[Ampicillin]

@Alex_Hart    @heff

 

Hi, Guys, I would like to apply for the PhD program at Zhejiang University. I got an acceptance letter from the prof already. However, I am an existing CSC student and will graduate in 4 months. Zhejiang university accepts CSC application within the same year? or I need to opt for any other scholarship? Thank you guys

[Dhananjay Rawat]

Hi there! How can i apply to Zhejiang University through HSK or Confucius scholarship? Thank you!

[Nnedi Ugo]

Hey @Alex_Hart Thanks for sharing your story. I studied at Fudan for a year and I have heard very similar yet same stories like your own. I've already reapplied for the Chinese Government Scholarship again for another year of language study. I placed Zhejiang Uni as my second choice for school choice. Do you or anyone maybe even @heff have any experience studying in their language program? 

[Angelina]

21 hours ago, Ampicillin said:

Hi, Guys, I would like to apply for the PhD program at Zhejiang University. I got an acceptance letter from the prof already. However, I am an existing CSC student and will graduate in 4 months. Zhejiang university accepts CSC application within the same year? or I need to opt for any other scholarship? Thank you guys

 

For PhD students, your options are: 

 

• Zhejiang University Scholarship 
• Two - High Doctoral Program 
• Chinese Government Scholarship - using the agency number of Zhejiang University 
• Chinese Government Scholarship - using the agency number of the Chinese embassy in your country ???????????
• Various different scholarships such as the Marine Scholarship of China, if your area of research is covered ?????????

 

Since you are a CSC student right now, you cannot apply to Chinese Government Scholarship - using the agency number of Zhejiang University.  I have heard from the office how the university might leave a couple of spots available just in case an outstanding CSC student wants to stay at Zhejiang University, but this was what I heard last year, might not do it all the time, and we are only talking about a couple of spots, if there is an emergency. In short, don't apply for this. 

 

Chinese Government Scholarship - using the agency number of the Chinese embassy in your country ??????????? - Maybe, you have to check the requirements, low chances for you, but still check for your country. 

 

Various different scholarships such as the Marine Scholarship of China, if your area of research is covered ????????? - Maybe, you have to check the requirements, high chances for you. 

 

 

Zhejiang University Scholarship 

Two - High Doctoral Program 

Welcome to apply for this two. Two - High has a better monthly allowance, I recommend that. 

[Angelina]

5 hours ago, Nnedi Ugo said:

Do you or anyone maybe even @heff have any experience studying in their language program? 

 

I don't have experience with their language program, but according to my friend who tried both the language program at BLCU and the language program at Zhejiang, the language program at BLCU was better. She learned more in class. I don't know anyone who has experience with both the language program at Fudan and the one at Zhejiang. All of these programs were made after the original program at BLCU, so I would not expect much difference in quality. 

 

However, she was much happier at Zhejiang overall and Hanghou is a nice place to live. I am not sure if the language program would be that different from what you might get from Fudan. 

[Ampicillin]

@Angelina  Thank you. I have looked at the high doctoral program but it requires top 500 universities graduate. So, I don't have a chance even though I have a prof. acceptance letter.  I can apply for University scholarship.

 

I have few friends doing PhD in Beijing and they said even though university says that existing students cannot apply but sometimes if they want then they exclude that criteria. It depends upon how many PhD applications they receive. So, I was thinking to give it a shot in both CSC and university scholarship. I have friends telling me that you can apply for multiple CSC scholarships with different accounts to increase the chances.

Also, My program is in Chinese medium but I don't have latest HSK certificate. I have older HSK certificate prior to 2010 and I am not going to get new HSK certificate. I would like to know how strict ZheDa is with it?

 

I cannot apply through bilateral program though embassy because my country doesn't provide the scholarship in CSC other than Chinese language program.

 

Thank you, Angelina. You are doing a wonderful job for guiding us. 

[Alex_Hart]

7 hours ago, Nnedi Ugo said:

Hey @Alex_Hart Thanks for sharing your story. I studied at Fudan for a year and I have heard very similar yet same stories like your own. I've already reapplied for the Chinese Government Scholarship again for another year of language study. I placed Zhejiang Uni as my second choice for school choice. Do you or anyone maybe even @heff have any experience studying in their language program? 

Hi Nnedi, 

 

I posted a long discussion of the language program here back on page 21. Having been out of the program for six months now, I'd say it was okay. Some teachers were absolutely great, maintained a good learning atmosphere and learning pace. Other teachers weren't particularly good. Students were a mixed bag. Some were just here to drink, others were here to study hard.

 

On how ZheDa's program compares to Fudan's, I have no idea. My guess would be similar to Angelina's: pretty much the same, so figure out what kind of city would improve your experience. Shanghai is a massive, western city full of foreigners and foreign cultural influences (shopping, food, entertainment). Hangzhou is much quieter; we also have a more interesting cultural environment thanks to West Lake, which is surrounded by many temples and parks. 

[Alex_Hart]

1 hour ago, Ampicillin said:

Also, My program is in Chinese medium but I don't have latest HSK certificate. I have older HSK certificate prior to 2010 and I am not going to get new HSK certificate. I would like to know how strict ZheDa is with it?

 

I'd call or email to ask. I would venture that they might not care because they often discard their own requirements (one of my classmates never even took the HSK, but our major requires HSK5), but I would double-check because you don't want to get here and be told you need to do another year of Chinese classes.

[Angelina]

6 hours ago, Ampicillin said:

I have few friends doing PhD in Beijing and they said even though university says that existing students cannot apply but sometimes if they want then they exclude that criteria. It depends upon how many PhD applications they receive.

 

Yes, this is what I was talking about. At the office here, they told me that they leave some spots for these students, at least at Zhejiang it usually happens for those who are already studying at this university so that they don't have to relocate.

 

 You always have the Zhejiang University Scholarship, the money might be less than the CSC, but since you have found a professor, you can have Zhejiang University Scholarship as your back-up plan. This is literally the worst thing that can happen. Good luck! 

 

BTW Don't forget about the publications, maybe other universities in China are less strict about this for their PhD students. Every single PhD student is forced to publish, the number of publications and other details depend on what you are studying. You can talk with your professor if you have any questions. 

 

[Nnedi Ugo]

@Alex_Hart Oops yeah sorry about that. I thought I looked. I've gone through so many of these forum posts that I forget what I've looked at already. Sometimes, I read the same thing 5 times lol. That was a very detailed write-up. Great job! I feel like it could be similar to Fudan maybe slightly better? Who knows...I didn't really like the language program there. I felt like the majority of the teachers didn't care about the students (and the ones I had I felt weren't that great either) and some students like you say are there for different reasons (which is fine) but if you want to have an allover great yet immersive environment, the classroom alone can't be the stopping point which was a problem for me while in China. But then too, I wasn't really there to really get down with the language. I was honestly just having a good time and taking my time with everything. But this second time around, I want to go and get more involved so we'll see. 

 

Like I said, I have this school as my second choice, Sichuan as my first and Shanghai Jiaotong as my third so we'll see. I didn't submit a preadmission letter so I guess I'll find out where I am going very soon I hope. Thanks again. 

 

I also applied to study in Taiwan so we'll see. I may just do that one if it comes down to it. Or I may even do a semester there and a semester in China. Lots to think about..but I won't know for sure till I get all my results back. 

[Ampicillin]

@Alex_Hart Thank you mate. I will enquire. 

 

@Angelina  Thank you. Yes, ZheDa university stipend is very less anyhow something is better than nothing. What I am afraid of is that ZheDa has many departments so university scholarship PhD competition would be higher than that of CSC scholarship.

Yes, I have one article under publication with SCI index of 2.05 so will definitely submit my application along with the manuscript review paper. My prof seems very friendly because he was very humble to give me acceptance letter the very next day and in fact he said if there is any mistakes I can edit (PDF) myself. Haha

[Angelina]

57 minutes ago, Ampicillin said:

What I am afraid of is that ZheDa has many departments so university scholarship PhD competition would be higher than that of CSC scholarship.

 

No, if you are good enough to be accepted into a doctoral program, you can at least get the Zhejiang University Scholarship. Rest assured! 

 

1 hour ago, Ampicillin said:

Yes, I have one article under publication with SCI index of 2.05 so will definitely submit my application along with the manuscript review paper.

 

This is good for getting admitted. 

 

However, this publication won't be considered, you would have to publish again while a PhD student. Some departments need one paper, some need more, you have to check with them. You have to publish at least one paper. You won't be issued a (PhD) degree until you publish. 

[Alex_Hart]

12 hours ago, Nnedi Ugo said:

Like I said, I have this school as my second choice, Sichuan as my first and Shanghai Jiaotong as my third so we'll see. I didn't submit a preadmission letter so I guess I'll find out where I am going very soon I hope. Thanks again. 

 

I also applied to study in Taiwan so we'll see. I may just do that one if it comes down to it. Or I may even do a semester there and a semester in China. Lots to think about..but I won't know for sure till I get all my results back. 

I went to Sichuan University for a summer course several years ago. I'm not sure about the quality of their regular semester courses, but the summer course was definitely more challenging than ZheDa's semester courses. I was studying maybe 50 characters per day in Sichuan compared to maybe 50 a week here. The teachers at ChuanDa (in my program) were all PhD students studying Chinese linguistics. 

 

I've heard amazing things about NTU in Taiwan. I have met several people who attended courses at NTU, including some former professors in America. All of them said the program is extremely rigorous and the students are rather more focused than what you find in mainland universities. It is also the university of choice for aspiring academics in fields related to sinology or foreign affairs; several of my professors back home went there and could not talk enough about it. I seem to recall that it is considerably more expensive, however. Also, I guess you will be studying traditional characters, but after meeting language students from all over China, I'd go to NTU if I had the chance to redo the last two years. 

 

Anyway, ChuanDa, ZJU, Fudan, and Taiwan are all good choices if you make the best of them. While I found the courses to be too easy here, that just means you need to put in extra effort on your own time. A lot of your fellow students are here to take a break from their undergrad or to have fun for a year after graduation, but you are still in China. Wherever you end up, you can find an immersive environment. I've also met people who skipped a grade (from 3rd to 5th), and would suggest that if possible! That means you need to self-study another semester of vocabulary and grammar while you're enrolled in whatever grade they assign you.

[Nnedi Ugo]

1 hour ago, Alex_Hart said:

I went to Sichuan University for a summer course several years ago. I'm not sure about the quality of their regular semester courses, but the summer course was definitely more challenging than ZheDa's semester courses. I was studying maybe 50 characters per day in Sichuan compared to maybe 50 a week here. The teachers at ChuanDa (in my program) were all PhD students studying Chinese linguistics. 

 

I've heard amazing things about NTU in Taiwan. I have met several people who attended courses at NTU, including some former professors in America. All of them said the program is extremely rigorous and the students are rather more focused than what you find in mainland universities. It is also the university of choice for aspiring academics in fields related to sinology or foreign affairs; several of my professors back home went there and could not talk enough about it. I seem to recall that it is considerably more expensive, however. Also, I guess you will be studying traditional characters, but after meeting language students from all over China, I'd go to NTU if I had the chance to redo the last two years. 

 

Anyway, ChuanDa, ZJU, Fudan, and Taiwan are all good choices if you make the best of them. While I found the courses to be too easy here, that just means you need to put in extra effort on your own time. A lot of your fellow students are here to take a break from their undergrad or to have fun for a year after graduation, but you are still in China. Wherever you end up, you can find an immersive environment. I've also met people who skipped a grade (from 3rd to 5th), and would suggest that if possible! That means you need to self-study another semester of vocabulary and grammar while you're enrolled in whatever grade they assign you.

 

Ah yes, thank you so much for that. That's great to hear for I am looking at going to either NTU or NTNU. I have heard highly of both school's programs so we'll see. I am actually at home now finishing my undergrad at the moment. I wanna go back abroad and do another year of Chinese before I come back and start working for I went to Fudan for the 2015-2016 school year. It was fun while it lasted, but ready to do it again but in another space and different environment. I've thought about it and I don't mind learning Traditional characters. I got accepted to go to a summer program through a US/Taiwan Program so I am looking forward to that and then hopefully fingers crossed I get the Huayu scholarship so I can stay in Taiwan for another 10 months. I would prefer that at the end of the day.

[Ampicillin]

@Angelina 

 

Yes, This publication is just under my master degree and for a better chance of getting admitted into PhD program. I have enquired about PhD criteria and some of the schools require one or two paper with SCI index of more than 3.0. 

 

I would like to know since I am planning to apply for CSC scholarship NOT just in ZheDa but a couple of different universities as well would it be wise for my prof. to write it in a recommendation letter that I managed to get CSC scholarship with hard work under masters program and wish to do the same for the PhD program. (Even though I know some universities don't accept existing students). 

Also, Should I attach my existing old CSC acceptance letter along with my applications or it wouldn't be necessary? 

 

Thank-you

[Alex_Hart]

19 minutes ago, Nnedi Ugo said:

Ah yes, thank you so much for that. That's great to hear for I am looking at going to either NTU or NTNU. I have heard highly of both school's programs so we'll see. I am actually at home now finishing my undergrad at the moment. I wanna go back abroad and do another year of Chinese before I come back and start working for I went to Fudan for the 2015-2016 school year. It was fun while it lasted, but ready to do it again but in another space and different environment. I've thought about it and I don't mind learning Traditional characters. I got accepted to go to a summer program through a US/Taiwan Program so I am looking forward to that and then hopefully fingers crossed I get the Huayu scholarship so I can stay in Taiwan for another 10 months. I would prefer that at the end of the day.

Good luck to you! If you do end up at ZheDa, welcome! I really loved my teachers my first semester here. I still go out with them for lunch. My classmates that semester were also really driven. Hope you end up with a positive experience wherever you go. 

[Angelina]

34 minutes ago, Ampicillin said:

Also, Should I attach my existing old CSC acceptance letter along with my applications or it wouldn't be necessary? 

 

It won't be necessary. It is better to save space for other documents, you can attach the paper you have published, this will definitely help. 

 

 

35 minutes ago, Ampicillin said:

would it be wise for my prof. to write it in a recommendation letter that I managed to get CSC scholarship with hard work under masters program and wish to do the same for the PhD program. (Even though I know some universities don't accept existing students). 

 

 

I am not sure about this, maybe your teacher should decide. 

[Ampicillin]

@Angelina

 

Thank you for clearing my doubts.

[heff]

@Nnedi Ugo

Yes, I have experience taking the language program at Zhejiang University. Is there anything you wanna know about the program?