Forfeiting Government Scholarship- Mid year

[tamir302]

Hello,

I just got notified that I had won the government scholarship for one year of language studies.

Though I'm of course happy, I'm also disappointed about the intended location- Changsha, Hunan. I'm a little bit afraid that life there will be dull, and maybe even lonely with very foreigners around. And all I hear about this city are bad things: polluted, dull, poor, etc...

Anyway, I do have a general question: let's say I go to Changsha, and after one semester (or even earlier), I decide I had enough and I want to forfeit the scholarship for the second semester.

Does anyone know whether I can simply explain the situation to the University, and take a flight back home? Or Is there any fine involved, or paying the tuition fees (for the studying spot you "wasted")?

Any answer will be appreciated,

Tamir.

[anonymoose]

Changsha is very dull as a city from a tourism point of view. However, when you live and work or study somewhere, you're not going to be visiting tourist attractions on a daily basis anyway. I have only been to Changsha for a couple of days, and I may well have missed the better parts of the city, but from what it did see, it ranks amongst one of the most uninteresting places that I've been to. On the other hand, I don't think that living there would be too bad. I mean, if you're the kind of person who likes a copious social life with other foreigners, then you might be in a bit of a squeeze (although you will probably have many foreign classmates), but on the other hand, if you can be content with integrating into the local life, then at least in terms of learning Chinese, Changsha is probably quite good.

I personally wouldn't choose to live in Changsha, but if I got a scolarship to go and study there, I certainly wouldn't turn my nose up at it either.

[HusbandOfWuhan]

It's not a particularly flash or clean city, however, if I was offered a scholarship, I would still go. It'll at least be a new experience. You may meet some nice people there.

[tamir302]

Hi,

Thanks for the quick replies.

You are both right, I may end up having the time of my life. I do intend to go there, and I'll try to keep your encouraging words in mind.

However, I do want to know what can be done about my studies if I won't like it there.

[msittig]

Also, if anybody has any interesting resources about Changsha (especially historical) that might help the OP to have a better perspective on the city, I would also be interested in learning about them.

[ZhangKaiRong]

I suggest you to stop whining about the place and be glad instead that you were lucky enough to get a scholarship You can't imagine how many Chinese learner would like to have this kind of problem, but they didn't get a scholarship...

You are going to learn the language, and cities considered dull are the best spots to do this, because you are not going to be distracted by anything. You will have a lot of Chinese friends, and it will be favorable for your language skills. Out of all of my acquaintances who got a language scholarship, those who went to "dull" cities speak Chinese the best, managed to have a very good and wide 关系, some of them later ended up doing business with these citizens.

Honestly, I don't like this board's mentality, because it perfectly represents the mainstream western point of view that China is nothing more than Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing and the other top-notch cities, and you are doomed if you get your scholarship to smaller places. I think this is total BS, these cities might be entertaining, but if you are not a degree student and you would like to improve your Chinese language skills, it doesn't really matter where you are, and smaller - or as you said, "dull" - cities can be better for this purpose. You will not be the only foreigner in the city, so your small international group will be responsible for feel yourselves good.

But, to answer your question: if I know correctly, CSC scholarships can be interrupted without consequences. I have a friend who had same family problems and decided to end his scholarship in December, and there weren't any kind of fines.

[jbradfor]

Honestly, I don't like this board's mentality, because it perfectly represents the mainstream western point of view that China is nothing more than Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing and the other top-notch cities, and you are doomed if you get your scholarship to smaller places

WTF????

Both people that posted an opinion about this, anonymoose and HusbandOfWuhan, encouraged the OP to go, and explained why it might not be so bad. Why this negativity from you?

[ZhangKaiRong]

I didn't make this opinion from this specific thread, but this idea of going to just Beijing/Shanghai/etc reigns in most of this board. Look how many people applied for these cities' universities... Most of these people get disappointed if they end up elsewhere, in spite of the fact those other cities can be better for them.

Of course I'm talking about language students, degree students should go to top-noth universities, because just like in any other country, bigger and more famous universities usually teach better, so the quality of education is higher there. But as a language student, you should do quite the same anywhere.

It's not negativity, it's just something I experienced.

[imron]

but this idea of going to just Beijing/Shanghai/etc reigns in most of this board

Perhaps you are talking more about the various CSC and scholarship threads? I'm guessing most regular members here tend to ignore them (I mostly do, and judging by jbradford's reaction he does too ), and so wouldn't be aware of this bias. These boards are far more than just those threads however and I don't think that bias exists so much outside those threads - in fact more often than not people seem to want to go to the smaller cities.

[Guest realmayo]

because it perfectly represents the mainstream western point of view that China is nothing more than Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing and the other top-notch cities

In my experience most Chinese people think you're a bit peculiar if you go to China and choose a second-tier city over a top-tier one.

[ZhangKaiRong]

@imron

I'm reading the Life, Work and Study in China in General subthread only, but here I see that the supporters of top-tier cities are quite overrepresented. But it's good to know that not everybody is on that side

@realmayo

IMO it's a chicken and egg problem. When the Westerners went to China at the end of the 80's, and during the 90's, most of them could only attended universities in top-tier cities, because only those unis participated in the scholarship programme. But after the world realised the economic potential of China, more and more scholarship schemes were founded and smaller universities joined as well. It is the last ten years' trend, so I guess the Chinese need to get used to the thought that more and more 外国人 will spend their language course year in second and even third-tier cities.

I also have doubts that the Chinese really understand your intentions with your scholarship, I experienced that most of them thought you would have a great time there and enjoy yourself, but they did not actually believe that you went there and wanted to improve your language skills. Sadly, there are foreigners who are likely to support this idea, they are mostly in top-tier cities. They get a scholarship, but they just take the money and enjoy themselves with their foreigner friends, as well as missing classes and failing exams. I wish there had been some requirements for scholarship recipients, but it seems there are reqs only before you apply for the scholarship, after that you can do anything you want, which is bad.

[Guest realmayo]

All I can say for my own situation is that I spent a couple of years living and having a great time in a second-tier Chinese city many years ago, and when I went back to China more recently for another couple of years I could have gone anywhere in the country but chose to return to the same city -- however almost all the Chinese people I knew said I should choose Beijing or Shanghai instead, so in my experience, Chinese people have the same attitude as the people on these forums who you're criticising.

[ZhangKaiRong]

Yeah, I see your point, but I refered to the fact that this attitude you experienced with the Chinese might be caused by Westerners - they were mostly in top-tier cities, so the Chinese think that foreigners feel themselves comfortable in those places.

It's just a mere guess, but I also think it has to do something with avoiding 丢面子: top-tier cities are the closest to the image of developed Western cities, so the Chinese would like to see Westerners in these top-notch places, and not the second and third-tier cities, which are obviously poorer and not-so-developed. They tend to think that the way foreigners see China is hugely biased by the city they live in, and this is why inhabitants of smaller places ask us why we didn't go to Shanghai or Beijing.

Long story short, I encourage everybody who got the scholarship to second or third-tier cities to accept the offer and learn Chinese there, it will surely be a lot of fun and they can experience something about the "real" China.

[jbradfor]

Perhaps you are talking more about the various CSC and scholarship threads? I'm guessing most regular members here tend to ignore them (I mostly do, and judging by jbradford's reaction he does too ),

What's the CSC? [When you're more than a couple years past the age limit for the CSC scholarships, one doesn't really pay much attention....]

I see your point, that scholarship students, the vast majority of which I would guess don't really know that much about China and probably haven't spent much, if any, time in China, would have that attitude. However, I would guess a lot of that attitude comes from the fact that they only cities they have actually heard of are those cities -- don't you think it's a bit scary to "be sent" to a place one has never heard of?

[jkhsu]

Chiming in here… Disclaimer: I’m not applying for any scholarship, just a forum member.

The main issue I have with ZhangKaiRong’s argument is in his/her view of “choice”. (post #6) First of all, I think everyone pretty much agrees with these two points:

1. There’s no disadvantage to learning Chinese in Changsha. For many people, it can prove to be a better option than 1st tier cities because there are fewer foreigners there.

2. For the sake of learning Chinese, the OP should stay the full year instead of quitting mid year.

However, I see nothing wrong in the OP or anyone else wanting to be in 1st tier city for whatever reason. Personally, if I were to spend a year in China, I would spend it in a 1st tier city. That’s just my choice and there’s nothing wrong with that. And I can learn Chinese there perfectly fine (I’ve done this before). Of course, I would take trips to other places in China but I’d still prefer to live in either Shanghai or Beijing. Again, these are my own personal preferences and there’s no reason why I should feel ashamed because I enjoy living in 1st tier cities in China.

I also disagree with the argument that the OP should not quit because he/she was “lucky” enough to get a scholarship. Lots of people give up going to top Universities after being admitted or even quit in the middle. As long as they got in fair, they have every right to make choices/decisions based on personal reasons. In the USA, there are people who transfer out of good Universities because they don’t feel safe living in the area where the University is located. Others may not enjoy the social life in a small University and transfer to a bigger school located in a major city. Still, some make choices that may not make sense to others but makes sense to them. There’s nothing wrong with that.

Finally, I think the OP’s post and concern is very valid. The OP basically wanted to know if he/she would receive a fine or be forced to pay for tuition if he/she decided to quit for whatever reason. I don’t think the OP should be “schooled” for wishing he/she had gotten into a 1st tier city.

[ZhangKaiRong]

Don't misunderstand me, I didn't mean to be offensive, and I didn't want to lecture anyone - it was just my opinion, that maybe it's not reasonable to complain about the place.

However, I still stick to my opinion that scholarship recipients can feel themselves lucky. Maybe the USA and Western Europe has good scholarship schemes, but there are other countries where the situation is not that good, though there are a lot of students who learn Chinese, but they have to wait 2 or 3 years in order to have a chance to get one - and they are working on their language skills as hard as any Western European or American student. You can believe me, most of us would be happy to be in any Chinese city as long as we have a dorm room to sleep and a university to attend. This is why complaining about the second- and third-tier cities annoys me. But I see your point, of course, if someone has the chance to go to top-tier cities, feel free to go, they are good. But don't pity the smaller ones, because for language students, they are as good as the top-notch megapolises.

[Olle Linge]

This is just my personal opinion, but I've always felt that the notion of a "boring city" is completely meaningless. It depends entirely on what you do, who you are and who you hang out with. Naturally, if you like doing something which doesn't exist in the city you're going to live in, you'll have a problem (let's say you like playing tennis and there are no tennis courts in the city), but apart from that, your experience of living in the city is not very closely related to the city itself, it's all about attitude and what you choose (or happens) to do. In other words, if it were possible to reverse time and go to the same city a hundred times and do it slightly differently each time, I'm sure the experience would be radically different. Sometimes you'd think the city was boring, sometimes not. The point is that the city itself isn't boring or interesting. Your life in it might be, but that's not very closely related to the city.

I wouldn't worry too much if I were you. If you try, I'm sure you can lead a meaningful and interesting life in Changsha. Just don't go there with the attitude that everything sucks and that it's the city's fault. Just my two pennies.

[amandagmu]

Maybe the USA and Western Europe has good scholarship schemes

You're joking, right? Look, I don't know where you get your information from, but the days of ample, government-provided money to go study for a year in China are long gone for North American citizens, and I would venture to say that's also true for those from Western Europe. The only way you can get any scholarship to do language study for a year in China these days is fierce competition (based on a superb application with recommendations you might get lucky). This is also true for those "scholarships" that require entering a government position upon graduation (e.g. Boren fellowship requires something like four years of service to the U.S. government after you graduate).

Scholarships for *research* in China require you to have *already* obtained at least intermediate to high intermediate level Chinese - something that many of us spend years of time *and our own money* to obtain. In other words, most U.S. student who end up going to China to study did so via our own resources. Some have savings like I did, others take out loans, a few have rich parents, and some teach English while there. I would never have received the Fulbright if I hadn't already spent my entire savings going to China and Taiwan for language study.

In sharp contrast, if you're from a country in, say, Eastern Europe or Africa, you might have a better chance of winning a Chinese government scholarship because of quota numbers, which is one of the ways they dish out those scholarships. I could be wrong, but my guess is that the original poster is probably not from a North American or a Western European country, because otherwise he/she would be feeling lucky to have even received it in the first place!

[ZhangKaiRong]

@amandagmu

I don't think so, competition is fierce here as well. My country has a quota of 20 scholarships, but they are shared by 5 universities, so if you are not from a specific university, you don't have a chance to apply. But even if you attend one of those universities, you have 3-5 spots, and there are an awful lot of students learning Chinese.

It's true that we have the EU Window scholarship, and from this year it has 200 spots, but this year only 25 scholarships were awarded altogether, and according to previous years' statistics, my country usually has 10-12 spots. So it is 32 spots in total, but 20 of them with very strict req. And more and more students learn Chinese here as well...

[amandagmu]

That was precisely my point - I presume you're from the EU when say "we have the EU Window scholarship"? If so, then you fall into that group of students I am talking about from North America and EU... I am talking about other parts of the world, where learning Chinese is not quite as popular.

With that said - I have to tell you that 20 scholarships for 5 universities is actually not a bad ratio of scholarships: students studying Chinese, at least compared to the stats I'm used to seeing the U.S.!