First semester goal of HSK lvl 3

[Brian US]

Just settled in at BLCU on the long term program and I was looking to apply for the BA program next year. My understanding is I must have a HSK of 3 or more to apply. I "studied" Chinese in the states for two years and did not take it seriously. I figured I will have to start from scratch as my reading and writing skills are terrible/non existent.

I believe the deadline for the degree program at BLCU is at the end of January. Browsing through the posts I think the only time for HSK at BLCU is at the end of November. I am concerned I would not be able to get a level 3 in three months, so my roommate said other universities may provide exams in December or January.

Question 1: To give me the most time to study, where/when should I take the exam to get the results before the January deadline?

Some of the study materials I have found have 2k-3k words for level 3, yet I thought you needed to know less than 1k for level 3.

Question 2: Should I study level 3 lists with the 2k-3k words, or am I looking in the wrong places?

I appreciate any guidance and apologize if most of this information is already posted. I figured the worst that may happen is I spend an extra semester in China for the one year, which I won't lose sleep over if I plan to study 4-5 years.

Edited September 8, 2009 at 09:00 AM by Brian US

[Scoobyqueen]

I think given the short time you have to prepare, focus on mock exams and pick up vocab from them plus working on patterns and exam tricks.

[Brian US]

I spoke to another student last night that is doing the four year program. He said he was in my shoes with little Chinese training and took a semester or two before being accepted into the BA. Yet, he also mentioned that I don't need the HSK results right away and they can accept you anyway. For example, this would extend my deadline where I may apply before January and take the HSK in February or March. The worse thing is if I don't get a level 3, I just take another semester. May anyone else confirm this?

[muyongshi]

I think what you should do is talk to your uni and see if you can apply for the degree program, get accepted and then go for the spring sitting of the HSK. If they let you do that it gives you a few extra months to really buckle down. Just remember that a test can't accurately reflect your ability to make it in the real classroom so while for passing the test I agree with scoobyqueen overall, you may really want to make sure you are balancing yourself so that when you get into the program you don't feel utterly lost in a classroom setting.

[James Johnston]

To achieve Level 3 on the HSK test you need to get the top grade available on the basic level HSK test. There is no precise number words you need to know, but according to the official website to get Level 1 on the basic HSK test you need to have a grasp of about 600 words, so that's an indication of the absolute minimum you need.

On the unofficial vocab lists that are available online, there are usually just over 1000 words for the basic HSK level. While this certainly doesn't cover all the words that might come up, you wouldn't need to know several thousand to achieve Level 3.

With regards to the vocab lists you've seen, you may be confusing Level 3 on the test with the third tier on the HSK exam hierarchy. It is a bit confusing, but the this table might make things a little clearer.