Tsinghua University Fall/Autumn 2010

[Posche]

I posted pretty much all the stuff they sent me in that other topic "MID Tsinghua", but its nothing all too exciting of course.

I booked my flight n will be in Beijing at august 30th, flights got damn expensive in that time, its horrible. Well not that bad from Malaysia probably... I´m German btw...

I applied for the Tsinghua scholarship I think, but what I got now is the CSC scholarship, so I guess I applied for that too

But no idea about the Tsinghua one...

[Irumi]

@MGMT - Did they tell you about CSC scholarship along with the admission package? I was only told that I did not get it when I emailed to enquire last week. The office replied that I did not get it, and that information is with my admission package which has just been sent out. And I'm still waiting for the package to arrive here....=/

Perhaps I just happened to be forgotten. ==" Although I only got to know I was offered a place in mid June. And I was told then that when the scholarship results is out I'll be informed by email - but obviously they have failed to email me immediately when the receivers list is known. =/

@Posche - I see! Arriving on 30 August? I would think it's too rush - the registration dates are 30 and 31 August, right? Anyway, the fares are quite high too here, but I saw that there is a cheaper flight fare offered on 27 August, so I'm guessing I'll take that.

My letter is still on its way to my home (hah...>.<). I think my last resort would have to be bank loans...though the interest rate is so high. But...oh well.

[MGMT]

Irumi, FSAO told me a few weeks ago by email. It was an extremely informal, two-lines email basically just saying "congrats, you got the scholarship, please give us your address so we can send you your package" (which I'm still waiting for...) Honestly, I think they would never have told me if I hadn't sent them a bunch of emails for weeks beforehand begging for any kind of news. They probably just wanted me to stop bothering them and decided an email was worth the peace it would bring them. And I have to say I find FSAO very bad at replying to emails, generally speaking, so your story doesn't surprise me. I hope you can work something out with your bank.

[Posche]

Haha yeah absolutely! All my emails I ever got were all just 1 or 2 lines, not even real sentences! And always takes around one week to get a reply so at least there is some constancy about that

@MGMT so did u get the full scholarship? Do u know which kind of dorm rooms we get with that? I heard u´d normally always get the cheapest so that would be the shared room one... But then I also read that at some unis u may pay the difference between the shared one and the single by urself if u dont want the shared one.

I have actually been to a single room at Qinghua dormitory in april this year and hey that really is nice! So clean, not tooo small, quite bright room, own bathroom, that might be worth the difference of 1000RMB or something a month. Because then I have also seen the shared dormitories (but that was at Beida which obvious has really fucked up dormitories) and the shared bathrooms really were horrible! But maybe its not that bad at Qinghua of course...

But I guess u havent got any closer information about all the scholarship stuff yet either?! I wanna know how it exactly works how u get the money, what the medical insurance covers and all that

@Irumi but the registration just means hopping into the office doing some little paper stuff and thats it, isnt it? I dont know, I dont wanna hurry too much. But we definitely should meet sometime then and see if we can do all that shit together or something!

[MGMT]

Yeah, I have the full scholarship -- do you, too? But as you guessed I have no clue about anything either, and all my questions have been met with a "It will be indicated in the admission package"-answer. Except one: I asked our MID secretary (or whatever she is) if I could upgrade the room to a single one (since I read the same things as you regarding the shared one), and I was told that:

- she didn't know if I had the CSC scholarship yet (good job coordinating, guys, considering FSAO had told me two weeks before...)

- if I did have the scholarship, I would get a single

- and of course: everything will be explained in the admission package.

I am not sure at all that I believe this at all, though. I decided I'd wait until I got the damn package and send a list of questions I still have then, to avoid the "it'll be indicated in..." answer. But from the CSC thread, it seems the medical insurance covers only the very basic of basic needs, so I'm planning to get a private one, too. And I asked a few days ago if anyone knew how the money would be handed out, and someone said they open a bank account for you and give you an ATM card... I'll let you know if I learn anything more, I'm really curious about all that, too!

[Irumi]

Looks like we all face the same inefficiency problems of the office with emails! Heh.

And MGMT, I can totally understand your feeling with the "damn package". Lol. I've been waiting since mid June when I got an email informing that I am accepted. It's been a month now! And I'm getting anxious too, since only when the admission package arrives then I could confirm everything once and for all. >.<

Thanks, and I'm still trying to figure a solution here.

Posche - Sure, when we do get there we have to meet up for the registration stuffs!

[Posche]

Haha I really dont wanna sound like the pessimistic one here but these kind of... lets call it "lacks of information" really do happen a bit too much for my taste! Doesnt it sometimes make u wonder if it really was the right choice to study in China? I mean what I hear from Chinese friends who are studying at Chinese universities, that is nothing but unmotivating! Totally unorganized organization, not-well-thought-out schedules, unmotivated teachers, even more unmotivated students who r doing nothing but killing time in uni without any effort to ever really learn anything and even less apply their gained knowledge...

Aiya, I know it sounds exaggerated, but that´s really what I heard. I just hoped a degree for foreigners would be different! I´ll try to stick to that hope but they really dont make it easy!

Well anyway the thing with the single room would be great news of course, but unless your MID people really do their stuff very differently from the MIR people then I have to disappoint u about the “everything will be explained in the admission package” part! I really was disappointed about that whole package, it didnt mention anything about the scholarship except the fact that on the admission letter it said what u read at other places before (full scholarship covering accomodation, tuition, medical insurance...).

I wrote another email to the FSAO some days ago with some more questions, will let u know if I get a reply (its not a week ago yet, so probably will still take a while )...

About the medical insurance... I think somewhere here on the forum someone said something like "its damn third world medical treatment" or something like that, which surely doesnt sound too good, but then I have spent so much money on stupid insurances in China already and damn it I never ever used it! Maybe its time for taking some risks, be a gambler, adjust to the Chinese lifestyle! Be a fish in the water

[asianguy]

Hi all

Glad to know that there are some other people in this forum that are not language and exchange students.

@Irumi and Posche and MGMT: So will the course you be attending be English medium? Just wondering who else may be taking English medium based course in Tsinghua.

By the way, the admin package really does not say much any the CSC scholarship; they mention that there will be also some learning materials allowance as well. Do anyone know what does it mean?

[MGMT]

@Posche: you were absolutely right!! See my post in the MID thread for my reaction to the completely uninformative admission package. I'm gonna write a long email this afternoon to both FSAO and the MID secretary -- and explicitely mention I have the admission package and the answers I'm looking for are not in it. I'll let you know if I get anything back from them, probably in two weeks or so. (I wish I could put a smiley here, but it's not even funny, it's the truth! )

I have high hopes for the MID program, but I admit this is really unmotivating. I applied to other universities in other countries at the same time that I applied to Tsinghua, and I received from all of them a big enveloppe with a bunch of information months ago already. I don't think I'm asking so much, but knowing when will be the first day of classes would be nice for instance!

Anyway, here's hoping you get an answer soon! *fingers crossed* Yeah, medical insurance is not something I want to gamble on -- especially in a country that's not my own, and probably even more in China! I understnd where you're coming from, but I have to say I'd rather share a tiny room with 2 people and eat soup 3 times a day to save money than not have MI!

@asianguy: I don't know about MIR, but MID is 100% in english (good thing, since I can't even say "hello" in chinese...) And I read the same thing but have no clue at all -- maybe they'll pay for books we need? Library allowance? Hell, papers and pens if we give them a receipt?

[Irumi]

Does it really seem that bad? Though Tsinghua is a prestigious university, I believe there should be some quality to the education there. Maybe efficiency in sending information isn't their best area, that's it. lol.

Btw, about the English medium part, in fact I'm a little confused here too. I mean I applied for Master in International Relations under School of Humanities and Social Sciences, but later I found out that Master in International Relations is also under the Master in English programmes. Unless they really offer that master programme in separate courses of Chinese medium and English medium, I assume mine would be taught in English.

Though I read somewhere else that some of the materials may be in Chinese, and students are supposed to understand intermediate level of Chinese. Anyway, either way I'm fine with it. Heh.

Well, on another note...I think I'm finding it hard to fund myself to study master degree this year. Too bad I may not be able to meet people here. =/ I'm considering to delay registration, anyone has the idea how or whether it's possible?

[Posche]

@asianguy: so what r u doing? MID? MIR? Or just language?

@Irumi: Wah, stop confusing me with that English/Chinese stuff I dont exactly remember if it was under that humanities school or the English programmes... Anyway on my admission it says MIR (English), so I hope thats what I get. Although it would be interesting if we´d be allowed to just take a long at the Chinese MIR courses, I wonder if they get taught totally different stuff. I just recently talked to a Chinese who studied politics at Sichuan University (which is considered one of the good unis in China too) and he said what they told him seemed like total government lies and everyone knew but noone dared to critize it. Haha that does sound interesting to me!

Hey and u cant just run away now from studying! U cant leave me all alone here! Makes me feel like I´m boarding the sinking ship!!!

Oh and here is one more thing I got by email some time ago, I didnt post before cos I thought its especially for MIR, but maybe it applies for MID at least in parts too. I thought u might have got that with ur admission too, but telling from MGMTs encyclopedic listing of all things being in the package, u seem to not have got anything like it. But I guess the dates at least should be pretty similar for u guys

Orientation Schedule for 2010 Incoming Students

Master’s Degree in International Relations (English)

Venue: Rm. 353, Xin Zhai, Tsinghua

Sept. 2 Thurs.

2.00 – 3.30 pm Welcome Remarks

Hosted by Dr. Zhang, Chuanjie (Confirmed)

Curricular Arrangements

Professor Sun, Xuefeng (Confirmed)

Life on Tsinghua Campus

International Students

Sept. 3 Fri.

2.00 – 3.30 pm Introduction to the Department

Dean Yan, Xuetong (Confirmed)

Department of International Relations

Sept. 6 Mon.

2.00 – 3.30 pm How to Design Your Academic Path and Pace at Tsinghua

Professor Li, Bin (Confirmed)

Sept. 7 Tue.

2.00 – 3.30 pm Research and Activities in and outside the Department

Professor Sun, Zhe (Confirmed)

Sept. 8 Wed.

2.00 – 3.30 pm International Scholars and Students in Tsinghua

Dr. Matt Ferchen (Confirmed)

[MGMT]

Ohhh, interesting, thank you! I may just crash the MIR orientation week if MID doesn't get one (or if they don't inform us we have one!). ;)

I can say I know for sure that MIR was in the Master in English Programs website, because a friend of mine almost applied to it before finally chosing MID, so I guess your classes will be taught in English. But I also suspect that some MID (and probably MIR?) courses will be taught in Chinese, such as optionnal ones, but since they want to attract foreigners they're not saying it so clearly.

Irumi, that's too bad, are you sure you can't find a way? Aren't there any private scholarships available in your country?

And about information, I think everything could be solved if only they had a good -- english -- website. Something clear that would explain all of the application/visa/physical examination/tuition/dorm room procedures, that would be updated with a few details about courses, the academic calendar (specific to the program), etc. I almost want to make one myself next year forthe MID program just so future students won't go through what we're going through now.

[Irumi]

I hope I can make it this year too! But I'm still calculating...

Btw, Posche, would you mind telling how much is the tuition fees for the first semester in renminbi? That should be in the admission package, right? And how long is one semester? I'm not even sure how many semesters there are in 2 years of the course!

@MGMT - Most of those private scholarships application have closed now. I'll have to wait till next year for the chance again. =/

In spite of circumstances I now face, I wish all of you good luck in Tsinghua! Blessings.

[MGMT]

Irumi, I'm not Posche but I was on the FSAO website, so I checked the MIR section and it says the tuition is 30.000rmb/year. And there are always two semesters in a year, so you should have four semesters (MIR lasts two years if I remember correctly?).

So the website to book dorm rooms, is anything else explained about it? Any detail other than the time at which it'll open? I want to make sure I get all the information I can get from you guys, since it seems I won't get any officially. (I just can't understand why both language and Masters students have gotten this information in their admission package, and MID students haven't; it makes no sense at all.)

[nazreal]

@MGMT: not sure if it helps but I had tons of questions the FSAO hadn't answered within a week and so I thought screw it, I'm calling! Granted I woke up at stupid hour to call them but I did get through to someone who answered my questions fairly quickly and responsively. That might be a way to go? Also I used planet talk which keeps international phone calls at an all time low

Interestingly the Chinese Visa Centre here is different - you could either wait on hold for 30 minutes on the phone or get an email response within 5 minutes....bizarre I tell you...

Good luck with the finding more info though!

Having finished my masters in the UK and getting confused enough with all the paper work, crazy organisation etc over here, I must say, I commend all you MID/MIR guys undertaking a masters abroad! CRAZY! but good stuff hehe ^_^

[MGMT]

nazreal, thanks for the tip, I might end up doing just that... Do they speak english well enough, though? Because otherwise I smell another communication disaster coming. And thanks for the encouragement!

I already did a master abroad, and Dear God I hadn't realized how amazingly smooth and easy everything had been then! Makes me want to send flowers and chocolate to their International Office now that I understand how it could/would have been without their hard work! But on the positive side, I guess by the time we all meet, having all gone through all that will have created a deep bond between us!

[calif90071]

For those of you in the United States who have not yet decided where you're going to get your visa, I would wholeheartedly suggest using mychinavisa.com. I received my visa today, less than two weeks after mailing it to their Chicago office. It was super easy and everything you need to send in is listed very clearly on their website. They also respond to emails quickly and helpfully. I hope the visa process is going well for our friends in the United Kingdom and elsewhere, as well

[Wangzi]

Hi everyone. I'm supposed to be starting at Tsinghua in September too (language program). Looking forward to it, has anyone applied for the accommodation yet? Plus, I'll need a 'physical examination' since I'm planning to go for the whole yr---is it better to get it done there or from home (UK for me). Thanks

[Shantaram]

Hi all,

I'm heading for China in the end of August. First I will spend a week in Shanghai to visit friends and maybe see the world exhibition.

1st of September I'll arrive in Beijing and I'm looking for somewhere to stay right now.

Regarding healthtest I went to Beijing this April to do the test "the China way" to be sure everything will be how they want it to be. Everything was done in 25 minutes and it cost me approximately 400Yuan, 30Y for delivery of the results to my hostel 5 days later.

I guesss that many students apply for tourist visa first and do the exam after arriving to be able to change to another visa in Beijing. But you better check for your self.

I also went to Tsinghua to apply for Mandarin language course "manually". They took copies of what they needed and gave me a promise that I would be accepted. That was why I needed to go the whole way to China for this, I needed to tell my employer I would be away from work one year. I had no possibility to wait till the papers arrived in late june.

Now, I'm working on letting my apartment in Stockholm to someone else during this year.

The visa am I waiting for and I was surprised it didn't cost as much as I thougt, only about 220 Skr - 204 Yuan. Multiple entries for a year.

Well, I guess I will see lots of you in September!

Happy travels!

[ScarlettWan]

Hey guys... my documents from tsinghua FINALLY arrived! ^^ Will be reading over them tonight and hopefully off to London to get the dam visa done on monday =.=

Regarding the admissions notice thing...can someone tell me what it is? Is it some kind of email or another letter we're suppsoed to have recieved? It says we can find our student ID on there that we need for applying for accom etc, but i havent received any emails or letters :/