Is Engineering Study in China worth it?

[morison20]

Hi,

I have received CSC scholarship this year to do my Master's on Computer Application Technology at Central South University, Changsha, Hunan.

At first I was glad and excited as my Chinese language teacher said that is a very good university. Also I was relieved to know that this particular program is completely in English. So, I won't have to learn Chinese first.

But the more I search and get confused if my journey to China will be worthwhile or waste of time,energy and moral. So far I can see, people goes to China specially to learn Chinese language, not Engineering.

Is someone attending in Engineering program in China? Can you give me idea (better if comparative) how are the Engineering education in there? Are the courses theoretical only? Or masters programs also have active research program?

I was planning to do better in there and then apply in Canada or US universities for PhD. So, how are chinese degree and course performances evaluated in good US or Canada universities?

And overall, does engineering study in China worth it?

I appreciate your experience and advice.

Thanks in advance for you time.

[gato]

Probably a bad idea. Most Chinese graduate and undergraduate programs are diploma mills. You would be better off going to graduate school in the U.S.

[sebhk]

I more or less agree with gato. The university you mentioned is in the top 200 of the asian university rankings though (no. 181), so it is probably not a diploma mill:

http://www.topuniversities.com/worlduniversityrankings/asianuniversityrankings/asian_university_rankings_top_200_universities/

Another option would be to go to one of the universities in Hong Kong. (Almost China). Their engineering degrees are definitely internationally recognized (got one myself). Also, the three big universities in Hong Kong (Hong Kong University, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology) are usually in the top 100 (and often in the top 50) of the worldwide university rankings:

http://www.topuniversities.com/university_rankings/results/2008/overall_rankings/fullrankings/

If you get admitted to a research masters program (M.Phil.) in Hong Kong, you will automatically get a monthly studentship of around 13,000 HK$, which is more than enough for hostel, tuition fees, and other expenses. But in return you are expected to perform some teaching related duties like marking exams and giving tutorials (all in English - even at the *Chinese* University).

Edited August 4, 2009 at 07:17 AM by sebhk

[morison20]

Thanks a lot gato and sebhk for your suggestions.

sebhk, How competitive it is to get into any of those 3 Hong Kong universities? Are engineering courses taught in English or Chinese? How should I approach to them for admission in M.Phil program?

Will it increase my chance of getting admitted in any of those 3 Hong Kong universities if I join Central South University and then apply from there for fall 2010? What do you think will be better?

I would love to hear from people who are already attending Engineering programs in China.

[BrandeX]

pick a few sample universities you may be interested in. Doesn't matter who really, call or write them and ask if a Masters in CAT from CSU in China (or whatever university) is acceptable for admissions into their PhD programs. Likely they will tell you that you need to have it evaluated at a foreign credentials evaluator, like ECE, first, but it is worth a try.

[jbradfor]

WHY do you want to go to China to study engineering?

I don't mean that in the sense of "why in the world would anyone think about doing that?", but rather, "what about it interests you?".

Is it just that you have a scholarship and want to save money? Or is there something about it that interests you. [since you write "I was relieved to know that this particular program is completely in English. So, I won't have to learn Chinese first." I assume that you don't want to go there for the language.]