Should i try to get a bach. degree in China?

[kevinBBBBBB]

I'm thinking about doing the HSK 4 and then applying to Guiyang Uni (as that's where my gf lives) for 2016. I'm wondering if anyone has done a whole Bachelor degree in China, and what it was like? How was class? Did you just skip because you couldn't understand? Did you write by hand? Etc...

 

I assume it's difficult, but I'm wondering how difficult. Hard enough to not even bother? The other option is just do an online degree while I work here...

 

Thanks for any info.

[ChTTay]

How easy would it be for you to find a job here without a degree? Do you have a lot of experience in a certain field that would allow you to find work?

For something like English teaching, having a degree is one of the requirements.

You usually need HSK 5 before you can start a degree in Chinese. From what I've read on here though, this seems like its no where near enough to actually do the degree. It's just a starting point.

[kevinBBBBBB]

@chTTay

 

Hey, thanks for the reply. No unfortunately I have nothing to offer China skill-wise... So, basically my only option is to get a bachelor. I thought about online (from Canada) but that makes my soul hurt. I'd rather go to class with humans more than sit at home on a computer by far...

 

My plan is to teach English. It's the default thing for foreigners to do, but it also has many benefits. So, that's the plan. Just need the degree first...

 

Also, I looked at the 贵大 website and they only require HSK4 + high school to study there, which is my plan. I believe HSK5 would be for masters. Anyways, thanks for your reply eh.

[陳德聰]

The entry requirement for Fudan when I was there was HSK5, and no, it was not enough for actually being successful.

 

The lucky thing for you is that if you don't mind having poor grades, you will likely still be able to graduate even with disastrously poor Chinese, so there's that. My suggestion is to make sure you keep all your course outlines so that if you find it doesn't work for you (the school or the relationship or both), you can come back home and potentially transfer some of those credits.

 

Depends on what field you choose. In theory, if you do an arts degree you will find it less difficult. I actually think you could take English literature haha that would be entertaining. But keep in mind for Chinese universities you will need to prepare an undergraduate thesis to graduate.

[Lu]

I think a Chinese bachelor's degree would be pretty useless in finding work, and to my knowledge Guida is not even one of the famous universities. What's your long-term plan? Could you get a degree back home and visit your girlfriend (or have her visit you) during the holidays? Could she get into a Canadian university? Could you go to uni back in Canada and study in China for a semester/year? All of those options have better future outlooks.

 

If you decide to get a Chinese bachelor's degree, you better make sure you have amazing Chinese by the time you finish, because that will be the one thing that will set you apart from many other Canadian graduates and also the one thing people will expect you to have. This will not be an easy feat by any means. You cannot skip class because you can't understand, you cannot skip the homework because it takes you five times as long to read the textbooks, and you will need to write by hand. And your degree will still not be worth much.

[LiMo]

I agree. I cannot speak from experience but I've been on the forums a while, and I've researched most of the usual ways to get to China for myself, and whenever these topics come up the general consensus is that you have to either have serious skills and experience, or at least amazing Chinese to get anywhere in China beyond English teaching (outliers and crazy good luck stories withstanding). 

 

Think about it this way. After the degree you'll be competing against fellow graduates who have native level language skills, local contacts, and may have still graduated from a better university than you in both global and local terms. If you combine that with not actually having learned Chinese, the prospects aren't good. As Lu said, most people, in China and beyond, will expect you to at least be base line fluent, e.g. lots of small mistakes, but by most peoples standards you're a prodigy, however, if you leave with nothing but a bachelors degree from China then you won't be competitive anywhere really. At least that's how it seems from the things I've picked up from my own forays into the China related anglophone internet. I could be talking out my **** for all I know. Good luck

 

(I realise that this assumes you don't intend to learn Chinese to a high level, please correct me if I'm wrong)

[kevinBBBBBB]

@陳德聰

Yeah the website for Guida said HSK4, which I obtainable. I'm about a 3.5 right now, if could guess... As for me, yeah I don't mind poor grades. Is that wrong? I basically am simply looking for a degree, that's all. And the Thesis isn't a concern, to be honest. I'd simply write it in English and then just translate it. It'd take longer, yes, but, mei ban fa....

 

@Lu

 

Yeah Guida isn't what they'd call a 'good' University. But that's ok by me. My long term plan is: to not leave China, basically. Married in a couple years, and then graduate and work. (Teach English: just need the degree.) Of course, I'd try to improve my Chinese always while I'm here. I figure in 4 years of school; listening, writing, reading etc... it'd improve drastically. Especially if I have some Chinese people helping me. And yeah, I'd definitely bust my butt to acquire it. I'd be doing it all. And in the end, if the degree isn't worth much, I only need it to get a job teaching English. In guiyang I already have about 8 job offers from good schools but they can't hire me without the degree. Legalities...

 

@LiMo

 

Hey, thanks for the reply. In fact, I don't plan on doing much more than teaching English. t's a good gig. Free house, good money, low hours, and fun! I'd like to have my own business one day perhaps, but, to be honest, just need the degree to teach. If you think about it that way, then it's not a huge deal if my Chinese skills aren't super good. I mean, I'd obviously still want them to be good, but what I'm mostly aiming at is the mere degree. 

 

@all

 

From what I'm understanding is, you all are saying it's doable, which is good. But difficult, which I figured. And I need good Chinese, which I assumed. And I'll still ting bu dong most everything during class, which I figured. But it's a challenge I really feel would be good for me right now in life. It will give me an opportunity to have 'school life' and really motivate me to work hard. After all, the degree will determine the rest of my life I suppose...

 

I'm still aiming for it. I will do HSK 4 in wuhan this spring, and then apply for a scholarship and then schooooooool!Thanks

 

Thanks for all the replies guys! Really is helping me know more. *fist pound*

[Flickserve]

@KevinBBBBBB

I will just chip in to confuse things more. I get your long term objectives. However, life throws up many different problems along the way and plans may change. Doing a degree in China solves some short term problems for you. That is clear.

How about further down the road? What if you had to return to Canada for as yet unknown reasons? You should always have a plan B if something goes wrong. If you do not have a plan B, then have a plan C! At the very least, the principle is to keep your options open for the future. Life can change.

I agree you best have some amazing Chinese by the end of a degree in China. After that, think about other things that can help you overseas if there was some reason you cannot stay in China. Even teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language masters might be useful!

I am an overseas Chinese who practically knew no Chinese at the age of 23. I went to some Chinese classes during high school but didn't really learn anything and couldn't carry out any conversation in Chinese.

Never dreamed I would be in Asia but two years later I suddenly ended up in HK and ended up staying for many years. All my relatives said it was a complete shock for me to be in HK (that time everybody was trying to leave) and even more surprising was I stayed and made a long term career here.

I have been always mindful that I might have to return to the UK one day so I have built up my CV that that respect. It would be much harder to compete with people in the UK after being away for so long but I pretty much out qualify a lot of people now. So any interview board in the UK that brings me along for a chat better have some bloody good excuses for not employing a nice person like me.

[kevinBBBBBB]

@flickserve

 

Yeah I never really plan anything in life as it never really goes how I think. I suppose I ought to come up with something however incase poop hits the fan. If I had to go to Canada, I'd probably end up doing some menial job or teaching Chinese or something... ha! To be honest, I'm not so concerned with my resume. By the end of this year I'll have 3 years teaching exp, TESOL, and then hopefully in 4 years a degree or something probably useless anywhere except China. But, it is what it is. 

[Flickserve]

Understood. Just do things that will help keep options open for you in the future.

[Simon_CH]

If these are your ambitions I'm pretty sure there are faster/easier ways still to get the qualifications you need to teach/live in China? 4 years in Guiyang Uni sounds like an extremely long time for a degree that is worth... well, not all that much really. I'm no expert on the matter but I'd research on how to get the necessary papers in another way. (I'm not advocating forging documents or anything like that by the way - there simply must be a way to fast-track getting any, rather than a good degree. 

[kevinBBBBBB]

@flickserve 

 

yeah.

 

@Simon_ch

 

Man, I wish I knew a better easier faster way. Like I said above, perhaps I could do online, but maybe I could shave a year off if I try super hard, but I'd still have to work and play on a computer all day. I've been thinking and asking friends and looking in the net for other means. I'm really out of options, as far as I know...

 

I also wouldn't want to get a fake degree for many reasons. Otherwise, I'm not sure how to do anything else... Especially with no money to play with. I could do a business, but all my buds here (in China) say it's not really worth it as it's a lot of work and not much money. 

 

I'm open to recommendations, but bottom line, I wanna be with my girl, so I'd rather do four years for a mediocre degree and be with her than something else. I know 4 years is a long time but hey, I said that 4 years ago and it's already 2015. So might as well start sometime eh.... ha!

[Simon_CH]

I would have thought that Guizhou is a bit more relaxed when it comes to requirements for English teachers? Could you not find a school willing to employ you with a Z-Visa? 

[kevinBBBBBB]

@Simon_Ch

 

Man, I tried everywhere. I mean, everywhere. I was there 2 years (as a volunteer (actually I "studied" at guida 6 hours a week but often would skip the classes as i was busy with taking care of orphans but that's a long story)) and I made tons of contacts. Literally know (via weixing/wechat) almost every waiguoren in the city. I had about 8 good schools agree to hire me. The bummer part is I have 2 year exp and TESOL, and I'm a good teacher. I just think it's dumb China will take a nerd physicist (no offence to them) who can't teach good, before me... merely because a piece of paper. Lame.

 

Bottom line. They all couldn't get around the 'no degree' law China is enforcing quite strongly. I knew some who got a fake one, but not a risk I'm willing to take. But yeah, guizhou isn't a 'rich' province by any means, so there's that. But I love it there. 

 

(Side note. I had some schools offer a job but then they didn't realize all the guff involved in hiring a foreigner. So that sucks. If I could have got in earlier maybe and then just kept renewing my visa, but alas, I'm stuck.)

[anonymoose]

I did a bachelors degree in medicine at Fudan University.

i think even with an HSK6, it will still be very tough going. You definitely need to be able to read Chinese and write by hand competently. Of course you will improve during the process, but don't expect that your Chinese will just become fluent by itself. You will still need to put a lot of active work into improving your Chinese, which can be very difficult if you are having to spend most of your time battling with your major.

It is often said that you are virtually guaranteed to graduate. I'm not sure how true that is really. I guess technically not many people are formally awarded a fail, because most people headed in that direction drop out before they reach that stage. And I do know that dropping out is not uncommon. So don't expect that just by being there, you will get the degree. I know you said you don't care about poor grades, which I guess is a pragmatic attitude to take, but don't expect to be able to take things easy and then be content with poor grades. You will more than likely have to work your butt off and still get poor grades. Having said that, the competition at Guiyang University will probably be lower than at Fudan.

So it is possible. But it's going to be a challenge that you really have to have the heart and soul to contend with. If it is merely a way to be in Guiyang and get the piece of paper needed to stay in China, then it will probably be a lot tougher than you are mentally preparing yourself for.

[kevinBBBBBB]

@anonymoose

 

Hey thanks for the reply. Lots of wisdom there, so thanks for that. Yeah I definitely understand your points, and they all make sense. I fully expect to work hard for bad grades. Of course it's not ideal. I'd like to do good and get good grades! But as you say, if I'm only HSK 4 right now it won't be a walk in the park by any means. To be honest, I never went to university, so I'm not entirely sure what I'm getting into. But I do know that people do it, in fact most of the world, so I'm sure I can cope. 

 

And while it is 'merely' a way to stay in Guiyang, it's for the best of reasons, and one that would give me enough heart to make it through. I believe that one is capable of much for a girl. It's good motivation, especially if she is Chinese and willing to help me along. I know that's a fickle reason, but it's not less true. So, I can understand you saying that, and would agree for the most, but in this case I'm confident it's what I want. As I said before, at this point not many options...

 

Thanks again for the reply eh.

[gato]

Does a bachelor's degree from China meet the bachelor's degree requirement for an English teacher work visa?

[kevinBBBBBB]

@gato

 

That's a question I've asked some friends and have yet to find a solid answer for. I am going to call around this week to find out... Obviously no sense on doing a degree in China if they won't let me use it in China, but then if they didn't, that'd also be silly. So, my guess would be 'it's good enough to get a job in China'. But that's my assumption, and you now what they about those...

[roddy]

What might suit you is the 'Chinese for foreigners' degrees. There's one at Guiyang University. What might suit you even more is that it has been possible at other unis to skip the first two years with a good enough HSK score. I couldn't see that mentioned on the GYU site, but get in touch and ask, and if they say it can't be done look for other unis where it is possible, then go and tell them if they look into it and get it set up, they can have your fees for two years. Then get the necessary HSK score. 

 

Normally I wouldn't recommend those degrees - I think you're better off doing 6 months to 2 years language study and then getting on with something else. But if you don't have a degree, want one, and can muster the HSK score, it might be a fast-track to a degree. 

 

However - I don't think this is a long-term plan. Even if your degree in Chinese, from China, gets you a teaching job, how long until rules get tightened up again? Then again, if you're planning to get married that's an easy visa while you figure stuff out....

[kevinBBBBBB]

@roddy

 

Dude, I thought HSK only goes to 6. What's this 8 business? No matter, I still need to study for my Level 4 so, that's probably out. 

Otherwise, yeah I could see them changing the rules eventually, as they often do. But to be honest, it is what it is. At this point, not so many options. I definitely don't wanna do it on Canada. Maybe online, but that'd be a nightmare. My eyes would go square. 

 

In fact, I'm looking into other jobs here  'not teaching English', so we'll see what comes up. Thanks for the reply man, and that link! *fist pound*