Attending High School in China

[thailiving]

My daughter, who will be 16 this summer, wants to go to China this August/Sept and attend high school for two years. She and her brother have learnt Chinese for many years and have attended summer camps in Beijing and been to Keats in Kunming three times.

She says she’s determined to be become more fluent in Chinese and to do that she wants to come to Beijing. I agree that she needs to be in China but I visualized her doing it after secondary school.

Attending an International School is out of the question as they are too expensive for us and in order to improve her Mandarin she needs to be speaking Mandarin all day.

A friend sent information about one American company that runs a high school programme in Beijing (www.sya.org) which sounded wonderful. They didn’t respond to my query but after I saw the prices, I realized it was beyond our means.

My daughter searched the Internet and found this site (www.chinaeducenter.com). I’ve seen a thread on Chinese-forums that discusses this company and the reviews were positive. I’ve corresponded with someone at the company and am continuing to get information from them.

The school my daughter is interested in is LIZE which is attached to Capital Normal University. She would be in a dorm for foreigners and could study HSK in the mornings and then do other subjects in the afternoon. She has done some HSK study with her current Chinese tutor but I don’t think she’s done enough as yet to sit the exam.

China-edu make all the arrangements and the company has someone at the school 24 hours a day.

My daughter was born in and has lived all her life in Asia but I’m hoping she’s not going to be completely overwhelmed by this.

I’m just wondering if anyone here has attended a high school in China (not an International School) and can tell me about their experience. Or if anyone knows someone who has done something similar, I’d like to hear the details.

[imron]

Here are a couple of previous threads on the topic.

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/12200-going-to-china-for-a-year-and-in-need-of-suggestions

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/13090-chinese-high-schools-strictness-and-rules

If it's a local Chinese school, expect lots of studying and preparation for the Chinese University Entrance Exam, and little to no free time.

[roddy]

My question would be - what then? An average Chinese high school isn't really going to prepare them for much more than the 高考, which I'm pretty sure she won't be eligible to take. I don't know what view universities and employers overseas take of a Chinese high school diploma, but . . . well . . .

There is an American program run at the middle school affiliated to Beijing Normal University, but I think it's run by specific high schools in the US, who send over their own teachers to ensure the students don't fall behind on their 'proper' classes.

I don't know how something like this works out for costs - that's a Chinese private school teaching the IB curriculum, which would be internationally recognized.

[Lu]

She wouldn't be interested in doing for example a summer course in Chinese in China? Then she could improve her Chinese, and then just return to school in your home country. And it would give her (and you as her parents) an idea of what it would be like to live in China long-term, on her own.

[Meng Lelan]

Don't forget she needs to take the SAT and or ACT exams to get into a good college in the US. You would be well advised to discuss what expectations you and she have in terms of post high school plans - where to go to college, what major, when to apply, etc. before you commit her to a long term high school level program in China. Also many good universities in the US are specific about what courses she should have had in high school - for example, four years of science, four years of math, two years of history, etc they vary from college to college.

[yonglin]

I suggest you look into some non-profit organizations such as AFS or YFU which organize exchanges at the high-school level to China. They're a bit pricy, but nowhere close to the SYA program you were looking at. I believe that if you're going as young as 16, you probably need the type of support networks provided by these organizations, so it might be worth paying a little bit more.

I was an exchange student with AFS in Hong Kong 2002/3 and found this absolutely life-changing. I've been a volunteer with AFS since and met a few students who went to Mainland China and had a great time.

Oh, and your daughter probably wants to repeat the high school year she missed out in her home country since she probably wants a non-Chinese high-school diploma.

[peekay]

Then again there are something like 60,000 Chinese foreign students enrolled at U.S. universities. In fact in the U.S., there are more foreign students from China than from any other country in the world, except India.

So I wouldn't be too worried about the value of a Chinese high-school diploma outside of China. I had quite a few Chinese 同学 when I did my undergrad. (As an aside, I went to a IEEE conference last year where most of the presenters were grad students working on their PhDs... almost all were Chinese nationals or overseas Chinese.)

[fanglu]

Then again there are something like 60,000 Chinese foreign students enrolled at U.S. universities. In fact in the U.S., there are more foreign students from China than from any other country in the world, except India.

And how many of those are American citizens who took a Chinese year 12?

In Australia at least the application process (and tuition fees) for local and international students are quite different. Australian students generally must have completed a local high school diploma or the IB, if not you have to 'contact your institution' rather than go through the normal application procedure. Sydney University for example requires previous tertiary study for anyone wanting to enter an undergraduate course with a Chinese year 12.

Edited March 30, 2009 at 05:07 AM by fanglu
Crazy grammar

[peekay]

And how many of those are American citizens who took a Chinese year 12?

By definition, zero.

The U.S. defines "foreign student" as someone who holds a student visa and enrolled in a U.S. educational institution. As of 2007 (the latest data I have) there were 60,000 Chinese nationals holding U.S. student visas.

[roddy]

The majority will be post-grads though, no?

It's no doubt possible to go Chinese high-school > overseas university, but it needs to be looked at pretty carefully. Assuming our teenager in question actually wants to go to university.

[peekay]

Yes, in the U.S. at least, typically about 80% of the Chinese students are grad students, mostly because grad students can get funded (through grants, or working as teaching assistants, researchers, etc.) The ratio is leveling-out now that more Chinese families can afford to self-fund their children's education abroad.

According to this article, the number of Chinese foreign students in the U.S. jumped to 81,100 last fall. So maybe 16,000 are undergrads and 65,000 are grad students, using the old 80% ratio.

And yes we're all assuming thailiving's daughter wants to attend a western university someday. Who knows, maybe she'll want to continue studying in China, or elsewhere in Asia...

[miss_China_so_much]

Don't forget she needs to take the SAT and or ACT exams to get into a good college in the US.

She probably is not American:

My daughter was born in and has lived all her life in Asia

[Meng Lelan]

She probably is not American:

No way we can 100% assume that right now. Her parents may be US citizens, but still admission to the undergrad program of a US college will depend on coursework and college entrance exams.

Then again we don't know if she's going to a Chinese college, US college, whatever college.

But the suggestion about AFS seemed a good idea. I've got a 17 year old student right now who is in Taiwan on a Rotary Club exchange scholarship and he's in a real high school with real Taiwanese 同学.

[zerolife]

Sorry if I'm missing something but why does everyone assume that her parent or she is American or/and she plans to attend an American university? They could very well be an European or Australian...

But I do agree that your daughter and you should consider really carefully whether a Chinese highschool is a good choice for her. I believe it's much harder for international student to get into an American or European university due to limited space availibility, at least at the undergrad level. If she wants to go the Chinese university path, I don't know what the chances are that your daughter will get a high enough score for a top university as the Gaokao is not piece of cake.

[carlo]

If she wants to go the Chinese university path, I don't know what the chances are that your daughter will get a high enough score for a top university as the Gaokao is not piece of cake.

I don't know about the rest, but if she is not a Chinese national, she will be admitted to Chinese university as a 留学生, hence she won't need the gaokao. In fact, I think there are Chinese high school students who try to get foreign passports through their family connections etc just in order to avoid having to sit through the Gaokao.

[peekay]

I believe it's much harder for international student to get into an American or European university due to limited space availibility, at least at the undergrad level.

This part isn't generally true either. Foreign students bring a ton of money to the university system, so schools have a huge incentive to recruit them -- often accepting students with less than perfect academics. Speaking from personal experience.

E.g., in the US foreign students pay around $10 billion a year just in tuition and fees. Plus having lots of foreign students adds "diversity" to campuses, which universities tout to entice domestic students to attend their school.

It's the same here in China. Foreign students are like ATM machines to Chinese universities.

[heifeng]

I don't know about the rest, but if she is not a Chinese national, she will be admitted to Chinese university as a 留学生, hence she won't need the gaokao. In fact, I think there are Chinese high school students who try to get foreign passports through their family connections etc just in order to avoid having to sit through the Gaokao.

oh yeah, didn't we have a thread on here somewhere about that.

I remember that my huaqiao friend from Indonesia had to apply to colleges as a foreign student, but somehow she wasn't admitted to the major & university she wanted. there was actually some sort of weeding out process involved. (maybe the number of foreign students, or specifically Indonesian students, applying to that major..I can't quite recall) Anyway, poor her, she ultimately had to leave China anyway after graduating from college last year, despite living there most of her life. One of those situations where it's her home...but then again, not really.

[roddy]

Yep, two and a bit years ago.

[Cinman]

I am planning to arrange something similar for my youngest son. It may be a good experience for him to spend more time with local students before he reaches grade 10. If he chooses to study in college in US or Australia, he can switch to IB or international school in grade 10.

I have similar difficulties as thailiving. It's not an easy decision to make. There are lots to worry to send my kid away from home. I have checked few US based non-profit organizations, they are quite expensive and some only take students from age 15 to 17. What bother me most is that these organizations are not able to make me feel comfortable to have my kid studying in China without my presence.

Friend of mine also recommends China Education Center. They provide guardian services for kids studying in local Chinese high schools. His kids had studied one semester in China as language exchange students. His comments are very positive. I have contacted with China Education Center and spoke with the gentleman who handles the guardian services. He is definitely good at what he is doing, something you can tell as a parent. I probably will use their service this year or next year.