BLCU: Fall / Summer 08'

[Hanna P Tanjung]

Hello Maybe84...

I'm glad 2 know u

I'm Hanna and i'm from Indonesia.

I'm also joining the 6 weeks program (July 10-August 20).

Well I think it would be nice if we can meet first before the class starts. So we can pay the tuition fee and take the placement test together What do u think?

By the way, I'll be arrived in Beijing on July 6 and i'll stay in BLCU's dorm. What about u?

Oh yea, may i know where r u from?

Thanx anyway...

[kaming]

I wish I'd thought to check this site earlier. some of the information here has been helpful!

can anyone give me the direct link to the application form for BLCU? I keep going around in circles on the website!.

I'm thinking of applying for the one year course, but I'm not sure whether i'm intermediate or beginners, since i know chinese, but only traditional and not simplified. If I've applied for teh wrong course, would they let me switch?

also is it possible to switch from short course to long course after i start. or vice versa? Is the one semester course essentially the same as the one year course, so that i could just take another semester to continue on. Or are they completely different programs?

and aside from the language courses, is it possible to take on other things while at BLCU

and another question. Is it better to live in the dorms, or find my own accomadation. I've read some not good things about how dorm rooms are meted out. Should I expect trouble?

[dotzy]

Hi everyone! I'm a 22 year old girl from the Philippines going to study in BLCU for a 5-month (20 hrs/week) course in Mandarin.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a150/dotzy_wotzy/n7307926_3312-1.jpg

I'll be arriving this September! Maybe we can meet up.

I have some questions about my application though. I've tried to contact BLCU using zhaosh5@blcu.edu.cn but I haven't received a reply. Does anyone know another email address?

[imron]

Try contacting them by phone instead of email. Phone calls are a lot harder to ignore.

[MelissaBarrows]

They have replied to me using this email address before.

zhaosh4@blcu.edu.cn

sometimes they take a long time but sometimes they have responded within a day or so.

good luck!

[eddie9684]

well they took very long to reply to me and it wasnt very useful, i had to ask some friend in beijing to ask the status for me by that time, thank God im here already, in a sucky dorm (9 block) but at least here, hehe..

[kaming]

I gave them a call in the end, and managed to get all the info I needed in one day! I've sent my application fee and and form!

How long does it take for them to reply?

I'm going in september, so when should I start thinking about finding out about having a place to stay?

And would I need to go to Beijing a few days earlier?

[eddie9684]

like 1 week at least earlier i would say because its hard to get a dorm room.. and also u need to register which is usually some days before the class starts...

[kaming]

so if i want to find out whether i got a place or not when should I start phoning them up? I sent back my form 30th June, should I give it another week or so?

[Romana]

Kaming, I think you can call them at the end of this week, or at the beginning of the next one..

Btw, I don't think that arriving one week earlier before classes will help, cause, on the contrary, the dorms will be still full with the students who finished their august course and they will sart leaving around 27th or so..

[Ju_de]

Hi, I'm having problems paying the 75 USD application fee using BLCU TT instructions. I went into my local bank and they advised that the instructions shouldn't have so many Accounts/Banks involved. I called BLCU about this they just repeated what was mentioned on the website.

I just wanted to know how everyone managed to pay this? and also which bank did you use?

Many thanks!

[Romana]

bank of america..i didn't have any problems, though they seemed to be confused with all that info about those banks.

[Ju_de]

Many thanks for the reply Romana.

Yeh, HSBC and Nationwide are also unsure of the format of the instructions and advised they will not process the payment!! Unfortunately, I dont have access to BoA here, so I will try other alternatives.

[kaming]

I'm having trouble with the telegraphic transfer too. >.< When i showed them the bunch of addresses, the people at the counter were confused, so I tried the chinese one. They sent it off to that number, but I just found out that it hasn't worked. But I've already sent off the application form with the receipt!

the beijijng office is closed already, so I'll have to call tomorrow.

For other people who did it via the english account details and managed to get it sorted. When you sent the money, do you know if they had to use both, or they just used the beneficiary details?

[spades]

There's another thread on this forum somewhere, but don't worry about the intermediary citibank one, just use the blcu account information at the bottom.

i was able to do this successfully with washington mutual. (they have free outgoing wires if you have a free checking account open with them)

[kaming]

I called again, but it was vexing. The woman insisted that there was nothing wrong with their account number for sending by RMB, which I agreed with, but she refused to hear me out and raised her voice when I tried to tell them that their website gave me two different bank names for the same account >.< which might be why the money isn't going through. She just said 'I'm too busy'.

Also when I told her that the money wire place could send via the intermediary bank and if I could just the last account the Hua Xia, she said I HAD to send it via the Citibank account first.

So that's what I'm going to have to try today.

Will the battle for the housing be the same??!!

[imron]

For the housing, don't wire money. China is still a predominately cash-based society. Bring traveller's cheques, or an ATM card that you can withdraw money from over here (bearing in mind there is a limit on the maximum amount you can withdraw in a day, so you might need to space withdrawals out over a couple of days).

Don't know about BLCU and if they specifically require a TT, but several other universities are more than happy to just accept the application fee in cash, included in an envelope with your application.

[Manny101]

Hey guys, I've just started summer course at BLCU. I was wondering if anyone else is here, I don't really know anyone so it would be great to meet up.

Also I've been reading some posts about accommodation. I am currently living in building 6 on campus and it seems to be pretty empty. When I called before they told me there were no more single rooms left but when I arrived there were! There seems to be quite a few spares in this building.

Look forward to hearing form you.

Cheers, Manny

[zmblum]

Hi all, Just got word I'm in for Fall. I called the foreign students office and they told me to get there a few days before classes start to move into dorms.

I'm from Los Angeles originally, graduated from UC Davis in December, and now I'm going to BLCU for a year (or two).

Anyone else going to BLCU this Fall for at least a semester? If so, where are you from?

See you there.

[eddie9684]

btw has anyone had problems applying to summer course while studying a current summer course at blcu?

they seem to have that ''apply 2 months before class starts thing'' for current students as well... i dont even know why they even have app deadline ...

anyways if anyone see this... is there any other institution similar in price that i could go for 1 month ? near blcu of course.