CSC Scholarship - 2010

[ivana]

hellooo i am from indonesia and i just got a call from my embassy about a week ago. it is said that i got accepted for chinese gov full scholarship for undergraduate this year! haha yeaah well it surprised me a lot! since i applied in march and i've waited for like two months without any sign of confirmation, i thought i didn't got accepted this time. but it turns out that i was wrong

then, my embassy told me that i have to come in 28th to sign on the admission notice and etc. well, i am really waiting for that day lol.

happy? oh yess! nervous? indeed

[Jonnynue]

someone mentioned there is another forum to talk about the schools we got into and ask question regarding the specific school. I looked around and couldn't find the specific forum for this? Admins any help?

[m000gle]

@Jonnyue

The cost of a long-term, single occupancy room at BNU ranges from 55RMB to 85RMB per night while the double room, included free with the scholarship, is normally 40RMB per night. Since they only asked me to pay the difference between the two rooms, the upgrade costs ranged from 15RMB to 45RMB per night depending on the building and amenities.

These numbers could vary greatly between universities, and availability at this point in the summer could be an issue (e.g. there are currently no single rooms left, according to the BNU website), so you'll have to contact your school. It should give you some idea, though, and even if worst came to worst and there are no spaces left, you could still live in a double and upgrade after a semester.

[Jonnynue]

Posted 23 July 2010 - 12:26 PM

There's another thread discussing universities on this board - might want to give that one a try.

;)

@Ricardo can you point me in the right direction, I search but came up empty here.

[vkim67]

I also got accepted to heilongjiang university for 1 year language study but had to decline as i have already accepted another scholarship back in may. I wouldl ike to apply for this scholarship again but the contact at the DC embassy said no matter how early we apply we won't get an acceptance/rejection until around the same time.. mid July is much too late for me to plan to stay in China for another year. Didn't a lot of people get acceptances in between January thru March as well???

[m000gle]

Didn't a lot of people get acceptances in between January thru March as well???

There were a handful of us who got lucky and received notice in February, after having applied in December. However, we all went through the same consulate and seem to be unique, so unfortunately the late-July results should be expected. Everybody else only just heard back.

My best guess, as to why this anomaly exists, is that our consulate probably has some sort of placement quota to fill. That, or another special agreement allowing the selection/approval to be done locally with our info only passed onto the CSC for the university placement.

[Jonnynue]

@vkim67 The Confucius institute explained it this way, that CSC works out arrangements with various institutions and set aside scholarships for these. The rest are left over for the others who are not sponsored by such institutions to fight over. As long as the institutes pick individuals that qualify then they will be accepted. They will in fact inform them of their preliminary acceptance quite early as it is as if a done deal. Since they (the prearranged/pre-approved institutions ex: http://www.scholarships.uwa.edu.au/home/postgrad/international/china_sch,http://www.isc.hokudai.ac.jp/www_ISC/cms/cgi-bin/index.pl?page=contents&view_category_lang=2&view_category=10237&allmenuopen=, http://china.provost.georgetown.edu/csc/) directly send the information to CSC before the deadline. Of course you can ask any of these individuals and they will tell you that they did not however get the official paperwork until June or July. That is because CSC didn't officially recognize and approve them until sometime in May after they received all the applications. But from what Confucius Int said they need to verify and confirm all the prearranged ones before they work on the extra ones (ones such as us applying thru the embassy).

Anyway how many on this forum with thru prearranged programs?

[nightsmoker]

I did..and four of my colleagues..we know the answers for aprox. 2 months..we knew that we ar accepted...but the papers we received last week...

[Peiruo]

So, bit of a weird scenario that I would like your learned opinions on:

I applied for a year of language study and I have just received a notice of award. my admission notice (apparently) says (I say "apparently" because it is in Australia with my parents and I am in Beijing) that I have been admitted as a General Scholar in the School of Politics and Law, in the program of Law, TAUGHT IN CHINESE.....

I'm not sure that "eek" expresses the degree of surprise I am feeling right now.

I mean I studied law in Australia, they have those results on file... but my chinese isn't good enough to attend as a general scholar and I expressly applied (I THINK!) for a language course.

I'm hoping I am going to be able to arrive at lovely random university in middle of zhejiang province and ask them to allow me to switch programs (or attend remedial classes as well, to get me up to scratch to take the law course).... But the law course is actually not of very much value to me since I have already studied chinese law in another program 2 years ago....

Anyone in a similar scenario in terms of being put in a different course to what they applied for?

[Patpat]

Why, yes, now that you mention it. I was at least placed in the same category of applicant (senior scholar) that was on my form. But I applied to study Chinese linguistics and have been admitted to a major in modern and contemporary literature (also to be taught in Chinese, oh joy). I'm contacting the US university rep I applied through to ask if it is worth the trouble to try and get a new admission and JW201 with a new major. Who knows, maybe I will like it.

In your case, though, there is a clause in the description of the scholarship where it says something like if it turns your Chinese isn't good enough for whatever program you are admitted to, you can be bumped down to a language student...(no. 2 at the bottom of http://en.csc.edu.cn/Laihua/11678d1ad1114276a296ca1f3da38f99.shtml) I don't know how well that works in reality. Who knows, when they figure out I don't know jack about Chinese lit mayhaps I will get bumped in this manner...

Anyway, I'm just planning on going with it and seeing what I can make of it all.

Pat

[tcvu]

HELP --

I applied to Peking, BLCU, and Nanjing University... I got placed at Central South University?! Does anyone have experience with this situation? I was assured by my professor at the University of Delaware that I'd be admitted to BLCU (because that's where applicants from UD have gone for the last 4-5 years). BLCU isn't even ranked in the top 20 (where as CSU is?)... why was I admitted into CSU? Has anyone even gone to Central South University in Changsha, Hunan? I can't even find a forum for it... I'm dying here. Any advice would be appreciated.

[Brian US]

I think I voiced my concerns earlier when I asked for two years of language study and then a masters taught in Chinese, but my scholarship only gives me an one year study of language. Maybe they saw that I just finished one year of language at BLCU, but I don't think my Chinese will be good enough with just one more year. Looks like I'll be spending many a night in the library this semester.

[ricardo]

@ Patpat and Peiruo:

Similar thing happened to me too.

Applied for: Language Student at Beihang

Given: Two year Senior Scholar at Beijing Keji Daxue (that institute wasn't on my preference list).

Reasons why I'm confused:

(1) my scholarship is two years as a senior scholar(that exceeds the maximum senior scholar term of one year)

(2) area of study is listed as something that translates like "foreign Chinese" (study area is written in Chinese only, I asked a native Chinese speaking colleague to interpret and she also found the term confusing). My previous areas of post-grad study are chemical physics and law, so I'm clearly not qualified to be admitted as a senior scholar in Chinese!

(3) Beijing KeJi University's specialist area of research is exactly what I did my PhD in - I'm wondering if they're planning on sending me to a research lab in my second year (thus getting two years as a senior scholar, first year is language study and second year is senior scholar year in a research group).

In any case, I'm just walking into it expecting anything... I"d actually be happier if I got some time in a research group anyway.

While a little different to your cases, I'm glad to find I'm not the only one to be given a senior or general scholar position when I applied as a language student.

@Peiruo

Glad to see another Aussie here... hello from Sydney

@Jonnynue

Here's a good starting point for discussion about various universities: http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/forum/30-beijing/ and http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/3039-definitive-guide-to-studying-in-beijing-updated-4112005/

[ricardo]

@vkim67 The Confucius institute explained it this way, that CSC works out arrangements with various institutions and set aside scholarships for these. The rest are left over for the others who are not sponsored by such institutions to fight over. As long as the institutes pick individuals that qualify then they will be accepted. They will in fact inform them of their preliminary acceptance quite early as it is as if a done deal. Since they (the prearranged/pre-approved institutions ex: http://www.scholarsh...37&allmenuopen=, http://china.provost...etown.edu/csc/) directly send the information to CSC before the deadline. Of course you can ask any of these individuals and they will tell you that they did not however get the official paperwork until June or July. That is because CSC didn't officially recognize and approve them until sometime in May after they received all the applications. But from what Confucius Int said they need to verify and confirm all the prearranged ones before they work on the extra ones (ones such as us applying thru the embassy).

Thanks for that info, I don't believe that's been posted before and sheds light on how the scholarships are distributed.

I'd like to add that furthermore to what you said, there's a quota for each application window out of those "left over" scholarships being fought over by non-sponsored applicants. For example, "x" number of scholarships for people who applied through the U.S., "y" number who applied through the E.U. window and so forth. I believe that quota is established by mutual agreement between your country and China (like Australia give xxx number of Chinese students scholarships, so CSC gives out some similar number of scholarships to Aussies going to China for example).

[ricardo]

The date stamp on my JW-201 is in May (I submitted my application in December) and the admission letter to the university was also dated May. I heard results back in June from the Consulate I applied through. So it seems like my application was floating in the ether in either China or my home Chinese consulate for about 5 months, then I got it back promptly once a decision had been made.

I imagine there must be a *lot* more applicants applying from the U.S. than from Australia (like me) or Canada (like m000gle), maybe that's why ours were processed faster... (?)

[ivana]

Same here!

I applied:

1. Renmin University of China

2. Peking University

3. Wuhan University

Given:

Jilin University

at least it's still on top 10 in china

[Jonnynue]

@tcvu In the past only BLCU and a few others were allowed to give the language course for Chinese. If you were taking a BA then other schools could accept you. Now CSC and MOE have increase and are increasing the number of schools allowed to receive foreigners in the CSC program. Perhaps at this event they signed an new agreement - http://www.udel.edu/udaily/2010/apr/chinareport041210.html

Either way I don't think you have anything to worry, after all according to the article you have been accepted for the "prestigious Chinese Embassy Scholarship, a highly competitive program that provides one year of full tuition, room and board, medical care and a monthly stipend" ;)

The UD delegation also had a unique opportunity to meet with five UD students who have been participating in an internship program in China for the past seven months. According to Prof. Jianguo Chen, “currently, 10 UD students are studying in China on the prestigious Chinese Embassy Scholarship, a highly competitive program that provides one year of full tuition, room and board, medical care and a monthly stipend.”

Perhaps a Wikipedia citation will help?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_South_University

Seems to be a newer school (since 2000) formed by combining 3 together. Part of the Project 211 and the Project 985 with strength in engineering and medical science. Ranking (http://rank2008.netbig.com/cn/rnk_1_0_3.htm) put it at around #22. According to this list BLCU is way down at 182. I have a friend who attended BLCU and qinghua and Nankai and said BLCU was way below these so perhaps the list is accurate.

To their credit their English website is pretty clear. http://www.csu.edu.cn/english/subject/index.htm

I would also check your school perhaps they are doing a student exchange with that school. Other than that I don't see much of a connection. Well this is your first cultural lesson with China!

[wstanto12]

I just got my acceptance information through the mail and will be studying Chinese at University of Science and Technology Beijing. Wasnt my first choice or top three but I happy its in Beijing. Does anyone have any information about the school or the language program?

[wang]

Hey seems like a few were assigned to USTB this year. What course and program will you be in? I had already worked out my PhD research study plan and had actually applied through a different University and instead got sent here. The course I was approved for in the other school was very specific so if USTB doesn't offer the exact one I will need to ask to be transferred. The other University is a bit confused as to how this happened, but will only fight it if the other school doesn't offer the program.

[ricardo]

@wstanto12

I'm studying Mandarin at USTB too. I don't much know about it (since it wasn't on my preference list)... The most detailed info I've been able to find online (other than on their website) was on cucas.edu.cn.

I visited the USTB campus in March this year, all I can say is that it looks very well funded, highly organised and the dormitories are brand-new. It's a big and positive contrast to many other campuses I've visited, so initial impressions are good...

I didn't see any other foreigners on campus while I was there, so I guess compared to BLCU (for example) we'll be a minority. The food in the cafeteria was really good and really cheap. That's all I know. haha~

A friend who did her Masters at USTB speaks really highly about the university in general, according to her most of the international students there are from Africa.

@wang - what are you studying your PhD in? I found they have pretty detailed information about their courses on the website (edit: can't find the link, sorry... I saw some pages earlier with the detailed research interests of each group). Strange they'd send you here randomly, since starting a PhD usually involves having a previously agreed research project with a professor before even making an admission application, as you said... baffling!

I'm hoping to get a post-doctorate here after I've finished my language course... *fingers crossed*

Even though I did my PhD in Australia, I did the majority of my work for it in Taiwan. USTB has much more of a 'big university' organised and "cashed-up" feeling than those places in Taiwan I worked at (which were four of major scientific research institutes and universities there).