mcytrynbaum Posted February 23, 2015 at 02:06 PM Report Posted February 23, 2015 at 02:06 PM @shuoshuo - Thanks for the information regarding the general scholars program that was quite helpful. Do you (or anyone else) happen to know if general scholars are restricted to taking courses in their major? For instance, if I am accepted as a general scholar in economics, could I also take courses in e.g. history, literature, etc... etc...? I am used to the American education system, where there are basically no restrictions on what types of courses a student can take, so I just want to make sure that I don't have the wrong idea about the general scholar program.
shuoshuo Posted February 23, 2015 at 07:03 PM Report Posted February 23, 2015 at 07:03 PM Voyager2014 - It's up to you to take their word for it. But I wouldn't suggest others in here to follow suit and just forget the pre-admissions notice. Most, if not all of us who got the university we wanted did so by obtaining the pre-admissions notice. In your case where you have already received the pre-admissions notice for your first choice uni, the 2nd or 3rd unis won't really matter in your application. Some universities require an award letter even for Masters degree application. I accompanied my friends last year and the staff who handles applications told us that. So I didn't hear that through a friend. I heard it directly from the teacher. Even now, I don't know if the teacher is aware that applicants should be allowed to apply without an award letter, or if she really knows how it works in that particular university. I'll just have to consider some universities an exception meanwhile: i.e. some require an award letter, while others do not. For the university that I am in right now, it was the same thing. I applied for a masters and the uni required an award letter. That's why I later decided to apply through my Chinese embassy.
Andreea Posted February 23, 2015 at 08:40 PM Report Posted February 23, 2015 at 08:40 PM Xiao wei, thanks for you reply. I sent an e-mail to the EUWindow and they said I couldn't apply for 2 different Chinese governmental scholarship. Now, should I apply for the Eu and University scholarship? Aren't they gonna reject both my application files?
New Members talhyw Posted February 23, 2015 at 09:48 PM New Members Report Posted February 23, 2015 at 09:48 PM @ZhangKaiRong I see. I have inquired at a lot of different places about this whole thing, and I guess this is what they don't tell you. It's kind of a bummer, becuase this has been my plan for months and now it doesn't seem like such a worthwhile endeavour anymore. I think I'm stil gonna go for it though.
diit Posted February 23, 2015 at 10:53 PM Report Posted February 23, 2015 at 10:53 PM Two general questions I have: 1) How long does it usually take to obtain a pre-admission notice, am I too late at this stage considering the deadline is at the end of April? (I want to send it in in March at the latest though) 2) Would I need to pay to obtain these pre-admission notices? Usually I find that they have application fees for their one-year language programs but could these be voided if I mention I am applying to the EU-Window scholarship?
洋人丹 Posted February 24, 2015 at 04:46 AM Report Posted February 24, 2015 at 04:46 AM I don't know if this will be helpful to anyone, but: I've noticed a lot of schools do things differently. Some schools require you to go through the admissions process and get admitted before applying for the scholarship. I applied to Fudan and it works like this: 1. If you want to apply for the CSC masters scholarship through the school or to the Shanghai government scholarship, you must first get an admissions letter from the university and then apply for the scholarship. The application cut-off date was in January. There are some other scholarships, (one for Americans) that you can apply to after that date, but still requires applying first to the school. If you go through an Embassy, they said that you need to supply an award letter from the CSC before getting accepted by Fudan. It seems like going through the school itself is a much better choice. 2. The process takes awhile. I made it through step one of the process (accepted by department and adviser), and then Spring Festival came so I have to wait until afterwards to know results on step two. It might be possible that other schools require this kind of application process. I would check school websites and contact people to be absolutely sure. Better safe than sorry! Good luck to everyone.
diit Posted February 24, 2015 at 05:29 AM Report Posted February 24, 2015 at 05:29 AM I see, the thing is though that I won't be able to obtain an award letter from the Chinese embassy in Brussels (Applying through EU-Window) before sending in my application of course and this application is strengthened by having a pre-admissions notice so it's something I would need to have before going through the embassy and not afterwards. It might be different for some other countries of course but I think this is how it works for those who live in the EU.
Nnedi Ugo Posted February 24, 2015 at 06:11 AM Report Posted February 24, 2015 at 06:11 AM @shuoshuo Thanks! I will definitely try that. I still haven't received an award letter from the study abroad program nor the school yet so regardless, I would need to wait before sending out my application. I still need to take my physical, but that will have to wait till next month. So much to do yet so little time.
洋人丹 Posted February 24, 2015 at 06:54 AM Report Posted February 24, 2015 at 06:54 AM @diit Sorry I don't know for sure, but I would at least try to get a pre-admissions to a uni if you are really set on going there. It should improve your chances greatly. I'd say try to contact them after the holidays are over. I don't think it will be too late to get one at this time, but every school is different. Hope it works out!
diit Posted February 24, 2015 at 07:51 AM Report Posted February 24, 2015 at 07:51 AM Thanks! Do you have any clue as to when their offices might be open again?
shuoshuo Posted February 24, 2015 at 09:46 AM Report Posted February 24, 2015 at 09:46 AM Mcytrynbaum - You will have to ask the university that you are interested in, what their limitations are for general scholars. Some universities only accept Chinese language students into their general scholar programme. Others (esp. The well-established ones) have more options. The person I know who did it, did a general scholar year and they were allowed to choose a major that was already being offered at the university. They were allowed to take modules from the specific masters degree major. So there were compulsory modules which was necessary for their certificate. But if they attended all the classes that the masters students did, and if they extended their time there, they would have been rewarded a masters degree. I met this person at the uni, and I also met a pre-PhD student doing the general scholar thing. Same rules. I don't know if they would have been able to take history or any other module. Because these were modules taught in English so the modules available were limited. 洋人丹 - I think you are spot-on with the application process! diit - You can start emailing or calling the schools on Thirsday or Friday this week. Although I suggest Monday next week might be better. The holidays for many teachers will be over after today, so they should be back at the schools tomorrow 25th or so. Although, I'd give them a few days to sort out their office, so start calling next week. By next week, everything should return to normal, including post offices, banks and whatnot, so you guys can start posting applications to universities by then. 1
moon24 Posted February 24, 2015 at 06:00 PM Report Posted February 24, 2015 at 06:00 PM hello everybody, I'm really happy to have found this page because I found out about this scholarship like two weeks ago I have many doubts but in my country almost nobody knows about this. I studied English in my country so I would like to study a master in linguistcs and applied linguistics or foreign linguistics (that would be better) and I like BLCU because some people from my country studies there but I read they ask for an application fee when you apply, does anyone know if that is really necessary? or if there are other universities that don't ask for an application fee? I hope you can help me.
洋人丹 Posted February 25, 2015 at 04:31 AM Report Posted February 25, 2015 at 04:31 AM @moon24 I would contact the university first to ask about the application process. They might not reply to e-mails, so calling them is the best bet. Some schools let you waiver the app fee if you are applying for the scholarship, some don't. If you can't get in touch with them, you can also browse their website. Most schools have an FAQ or a guide to the application process. We are at the end of winter holidays now, people should probably start heading back to work next week or so.
lfyin Posted February 25, 2015 at 09:25 AM Report Posted February 25, 2015 at 09:25 AM Hi guys, in terms of putting your application together, do you include only the documents they ask for, or would it be good to include other things you think may help your application? eg. Resume, any other supporting documents I think it could help my case by exhibiting for example, that i am committed to my education, volunteering, have some work experience etc. Or would that just annoy them to receive things they didnt ask for? Thanks,
shuoshuo Posted February 25, 2015 at 11:46 AM Report Posted February 25, 2015 at 11:46 AM Ifyin - leave out the resume if you've got a lot of certificates. Include the resume if you don't have enough certificates.
fourdgrace Posted February 25, 2015 at 12:38 PM Report Posted February 25, 2015 at 12:38 PM For the Hope certificate, can I get my head of programme sign instead of the dean? the dean is away
paperbagprince Posted February 25, 2015 at 03:01 PM Report Posted February 25, 2015 at 03:01 PM I applied to the scholarship last year and got it, but I had to turn it down. I was told I could reapply. I would like to reapply maybe this year, but there is maybe a 50% chance I would turn it down agian. I am worried if I do that, and turn it down agian, then I am just forget about applying a 3rd time. Anyone have thoughts on this. Also, when does the semester usualy start in china for grad school. When would I have to go to china by, usually. And finally, does anyone know if it is possible to apply for a grad school program and be able to start in the 2nd semester. thanks all
moon24 Posted February 25, 2015 at 09:49 PM Report Posted February 25, 2015 at 09:49 PM @洋人丹thanks for the advice. I have another question, do you think a year of chinese will be enough to study a master? I know it depends on the person and we all have different experiences but in general for the ones who have already been through this process? because I don't know anything of chinese so I would have to learn from the most basic things and it scares me to think that one year might not be enough.
lfyin Posted February 25, 2015 at 10:26 PM Report Posted February 25, 2015 at 10:26 PM Hey ShuoShuo, what do you mean by certificates? They only asked for the University transcript/diploma really. What other kinds of certificates would you put?
shuoshuo Posted February 26, 2015 at 12:49 AM Report Posted February 26, 2015 at 12:49 AM Ifyin, a diploma is considered a certificate. Other certificates would be, e.g. if you received a distinction or credit for an international mathematics competition, TOEFL certificate, HSK certificates, GRE, etc.
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