Confucius Institute Scholarship

[emstarrz]

Thanks @fruitie and shuoshuo!

[shuoshuo]

@fruitie - I will apply for the F visa in my country, I won't be needing the admissions letter. I'll change this visa to a residence permit when I'm in China. At the moment the only thing I'm quite frustrated with is the fact that I haven't received my package yet. In fact, I have just emailed my host institution, asking them if they have mailed it already. If they sent it through EMS, then it will be trackable. I was hoping to book and purchase my ticket some time around mid-July, especially before the prices go up. I also need to make some arrangements in my country before I leave. I thought the CI did things earlier than the CSC but it looks as though many CSC candidates have already received their packages.

[ATkinG]

@shuoshuo yea same ere, got nothing from them either, nd btw my C.L administration is on China tour so i am not in contact wid them + host university's email isn't working, gotta wait, wait n wait... +_+

btw i wan to know that in China, whether there r 2 weekend holidays or 1?

Second thing i wants to know that the subject titles, which will be taught in 1 year program, because i am doing graduation in Chinese & French Language n Literature, so i want to transfer my credit hours if the subjects r matched...plz help

[shuoshuo]

@ATkinG - What do you mean by '2 weekend holidays or 1'? I'm not really sure what your question is. If you mean to ask how many weekends will there be for the summer holiday: 开学 is some time around early or mid-September this year. So the teachers will be off for about a month for their holidays. If your question is how many days there are during the weekends in China then the answer is 2.

Sorry, can't help you with the 2nd question. Have you asked your current university if the credits are transferable and what the requirements are?

Update: my university has replied and told me that my documents have been posted. I assume by regular mail because they told me I will receive it in 2 weeks! That would be around July 20th. However, they also told me that I have to be at the university by the beginnng of September, so at least there's some progress.

[ATkinG]

@shuoshuo well i didn't ask my university yet because i didn't get the documents nd i dun know that what subjects i am gonna study there in China, and my university might ask me about those subject titles. I think i should wait more till i get the relevant documents.

and yea, i talked to one of my friend, who got the scholarship last year via CIS, he told me that he got his acceptance letter nd visa form in late August. Lets see, when we gonna get ours..

[Jake_Cork]

Hi,

Thanks for the great thread, tonnes of info!

I'm still a little unsure about the nature of my scholarship. You guys seem to know what you're talking about, and I'd really appreciate some help.

In the "notice" module on my CIS homepage it says "申请进度：“奖学金资格评审中”- 授予奖学金

(意见：符合孔子学院奖学金要求，授予奖学金。)2013年度获得全额奖学金. 接收院校：上海大学". This seems to imply that I have a full year scholarship. But in the table on the "register" page it says "

学期:

秋季"...

which looks like it's just for the first semester.

If it's any help, I have only applied for the full year scholarship and neither my local CI nor the University I'm studying at next year have contacted me.

Cheer,

Jake

[shuoshuo]

@Jake_Cork - Email or call your university, they will be able to confirm this. Says the same on my page, but my host institution confirmed that my details indicate that it's a 1 year scholarship. So I assume that your application for 1 yr scholarship is successful, but best to confirm. Congrats on the scholarship!

[amvtop10]

(意见：符合孔子学院奖学金要求，授予奖学金。)2013年度获得全额奖学金。

This means I get the full scholarship right? After reading it again, I see that it said 2013 annual. Does that mean I will only be studying there for 2013? I applied for a year, not a semester.

[shuoshuo]

@amvtop10 - Chances are, you got what you applied for. So if you applied for a year, then you most likely have been accepted for a year. You can confirm with your host institution though.

[ATkinG]

update:- those who applied n BLCU, there acceptance letters r arrived in my Confucius, but i'd applied in Hubei province university, nd mine still didn't come..:3

[fruitie]

@ATkinG - I thought they would post directly to our address, rather than to Confucius Institute. Actually doesn't really matter, does it? Key thing is getting any acceptance letter.

[ATkinG]

@fruitie yea u r right, but i emailed to my host university nd it gave me some server error.. nd when i called them, they dun understand english. this 等一下 time period is so long lol

[shuoshuo]

@ATkinG - You need to make sure that you are emailing the right department. Many of these university websites are out of date. Remember that you should be calling the 国际交流 department, and most of the time the person who answers the phone should be able to speak English because they handle affairs with international students.

I'm also waiting for my admissions letter. I have been told to wait until the end of next week.

[amvtop10]

If we applied for a year then we get like a winter break right? That means school would not be in session, so are we allow to still live in the dorm or do we got to go rent an apartment to live in until next semester starts.

Like I hear some people say on here that there is a certain date until we can move into our dorm. If we fly in china too early, then we have to go rent a hotel.

Also, should I have my phsyical done before the admisson letter arrive or after. Like should I begin doing and preparing after the letter or before arrives. Is all the info we need in that letter?

[fruitie]

@amvtop10 - You're better off checking with the school. I'm going for just a semester so I don't know the answer to your question. My feeling is there's going to be a break in January (also for Chinese New Year which falls end of Jan next year) and recommence in March/April 2013; I remember when we applied for the scholarship they asked if you'll like to join in Autumn 2013 / Spring 2014.

On the accommodation, yes you can only move in after a certain date - in my case it will be from September. Suggest you check with your school on this as well.

On both the physical examination and visa, I haven't started the process yet. On the former, shuoshuo actually commented about it last week - you need to do it before applying for your visa; I think you don't have to wait for admission letter to arrive (shuoshuo, can you confirm?). On the latter, I had a quick look at the chinese embassy website <http://www.chinese-embassy.org.uk/eng/visa/qzxz/t1021833.htm>, it appears that they can take fax / photocopy / printout but they may ask for original letter as well as something called JW201 and JW202. It looks like it takes 4 business days to process for standard service...Just wondering which what type of entries are you guys applying for (single entry, double entries, multiple entries, etc)? So back to your question, yes I think you would have to wait for the admission letter to arrive, just to be safe.

[shuoshuo]

@amvtop10 - If you'll be there for more than a semester, then yes we get the winter vacation off! The Chinese New Year is during this time, so there will be lots of sales at the stores but travelling to another city might be hectic. So if you plan to travel, buy your tickets early. If you want to go to China early, contact your university and find out the earliest date you will be allowed to enter your dorm. This is different for each university. The last time I was in China, I was allowed to live 3 whole weeks before the beginning of the semester. This time, my university told me to come about only 1 week before registration.

You should do your physical examinations as late as possible. It is valid only for about 6 months, some places will only accept those that are up to 3 months old. So get it done right before you leave or do it in China. You will need it only when you apply for your residence permit, which will be in China. You won't need it for the visa before you leave. If you don't want to do it, you can do it in China (the cost is about 500 yuan). Besides, many of us will have to re-do it when we get there so you really don't want to end up having to pay for it twice.

I already did mine, but I only did it because it was a requirement for CSC applications. By the time I arrive in China, it will be about 4 months old so I might have to re-do them if the immigration department requests for it.

@fruitie - It depends on the type of visa you want to apply for. If you want the X visa (student visa) then you will need the documents (admissions notice and the JW forms). After that, you have about 30 days from the day you arrive to sort out your residence permit. But alternatively, you can enter China with an F visa (visit visa). This can be valid for as long as 180 days. You don't need the student documents to apply for the F visa.

Obviously, some countries aren't as generous when it comes to handing out visas. In some countries, you will need to fulfill all kinds of requirements to get a visa to China, so the X visa in this case is extremely necessary for those who want to process their visas with as little hassle as possible.

[ihcahieh]

I checked the REGISTER tab on the CISS website and found this:

学籍状态 - Enrollment Status

未报到 - No report

I have not contacted XiaDa since I found out that they are giving me one semester scholarship. Neither have they contacted me.

Should I be worried?

[amvtop10]

@shuoshuo If you are going for one year, then you get the winter break off. Will we be able to stay in our dorm without paying extra during that time?

Also, I emailed my university. All they told me is late august I can begin moving in. When I keep asking about the exact date, they don't answer. I think there is mis communcation. Their english must be off.

[shuoshuo]

@ihcahieh - Contact your university and ask them if they have sent your admissions package. That way, you won't have to worry about anything. The teachers will be going on holidays very soon so they may not be reachable until late August. That's just my suggestion.

@amvtop10 - Yes, you won't be charged for accommodation during the winter break. You are also paid your allowance for the winter break. When does your classes begin or when is your school's registration date? The teachers will be back at school around 1-2 weeks before the new semester begins so that's the best time to move in.

I actually want to leave earlier. But my school wants us all to be there only a week before classes begin. That's a bit of a bummer because I want to have a mini-holiday before I begin studying.

[ihcahieh]

@shuoshuo thanks for the tip. I did email them yesterday, but then I got an SMS from my Confucius Institute that my admission letter from XiaDa is already there for pick up. I guess this is it. It is happening at last, my first scholarship abroad!!

Anyone going to XiaDa? Do we have a separate thread or Facebook group so we could talk about stuff related to the university and the program?