Life in China on CSC: Financial and Language issues in English taught programmes

[burhan]

I intend to apply this year for CSC, I had a few queries which have worried me despite having willingness of professor

 

I intend to apply at HIT for PHD programme and the programme is English taught

 

Will i have issues in learning and research guidance if i dont know chinese

 

and second is regarding CSC scholarships financial side is monthly allowance to live a decent life with family ( A wife and a kid) 

[ZhangKaiRong]

Hi burhan,

 

Welcome to the board!

 

I guess you need to give more inputs from your end in order to get meaningful answers.

 

Which country are you from?

Which study field do you want to attend?

Why did you plan to go to China for an English-taught programme?

 

Generally speaking, most English-taught programmes in China lack depth as most professors have issues with the language. Research has its clear limits due to censorship (Great Firewall of China), so academic freedom is not available (might not be an issue depending on what you want to study).

 

For the financial side: define what is a decent life. If I remember corretly, PhD monthly allowance is 5k RMB, and standard housing fee is provided for a dorm room-kind of expense, and not for a flat. If you want to live off-campus, you have to pay for the cost gap between the dorm and the flat. Harbin is not Beijing or Shanghai, but it is getting more and more expensive. 5k RMB suits for one person only, and not for a family, but it's up to your lifestyle whether it could be enough or not.

[burhan]

Thanks for the reply ZhangKaiRong,

 

I am from Pakistan and I have selected a supervisor at HIT on advice of my Masters supervisor. 

 

Supervisor i have selected has good command over English as he has obtained his Masters and Doctoral degrees from Germany. His research interests are parallel with mine.

 

Decent life for me would be fulfilling daily needs of me and my family aptly.

[burhan]

My field of study is Control engineering and control theory

[roddy]

Burhan, you should probably read this topic
http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/47339-you-wanted-me-to-come-back-this-forum-and-tell-my-experience-should-i/
 
He also went to HIT to study an engineering course, in English, and found it very disappointing. I think perhaps he had some unrealistic expectations, but some complaints are quite serious:

my acceptance letter says English taught program, in the end, was not true.... but few available where  professors speak English

Hopefully this won't be an issue for you, and it sounds like you have good contacts there, plus you're doing research, not a taught course (is that right?)

[kdavid]

The CSC stipend for PhDs is only 2000 RMB/month, or at least that's what it was from 2011-14.

 

This is not enough for rent and utilities, let alone food, school for your child, clothing, transportation, etc.

 

You should also note that the HIT area is very expensive due not only to HIT's presence, but also a very good private middle school. It's also a very well-developed section of the city.

 

I applied to HIT prior to HeiDa and was very disappointed with the application process, professors, and administration. Granted, this was for history, but I still wasn't impressed.

[roddy]

There's a chart here that shows what they give you - for a doctoral student its 42,000Y a year, plus 12,000Y for accomodation - not sure if you can get that in cash or if it has to be spent on university dorms. 

[ZhangKaiRong]

kdavid: monthly stipend for CGS scholarships was raised starting from this year.

[emmanuel]

Guys, it's a basic math. roddy gave link to the chart, you can see that "Stipend = 42000". 42 000 / 12 = 3500; Or you can go through CSC description and find information about an allowance per month. 

[burhan]

emmanuel

So is 3500 CNY  enough for a family of 3 people or it has been designed for supporting 1 person?

[imron]

I think it would be difficult for a family of 3 to live on that a month, especially if you only have a 1,000 allowance for accommodation (which as roddy mentioned may or may not just be a free dorm bed).

[emmanuel]

I agree with Admin, it would be difficult. 

[burhan]

Thanks for the reply admin

 

So 3500 CNY would be enough for 1 person, I have the option of leaving my family in Pakistan 

[imron]

If you were not leading an extravagant lifestyle e.g. you were living in dorms (which will almost certainly involve sharing a room) and eating at student canteens it would probably be enough.

[emmanuel]

@burhan I suggest you contact International Student Center of HIT and ask them about living conditions, because HIT has a big problems with free rooms in dorms, thus all new CSC students live in Hotels which located near HIT. (there are some advantages of it: free wifi, hot water 24/7, free electricity).

3500 might be enough for a family of 3 to live, but we know nothing about your lifestyle, moreover you need to rise a kid.  I suggest you to go to HIT and have a look round and then you can bring your family.

[christineh]

I'm in an English-taught masters program. It's a very mixed bag. Even if your professor/thesis advisor has excellent English, you may be taught individual classes by professors who cannot speak it and struggle to even understand it, when reading. 

 

However,  I also think the student's own level of English will have an effect. A very fluent person or a native speaker will end up bored or frustrated, like the others have said, because many professors will lack the ability to speak with much depth about a subject. 

 

If you're not very fluent or strong in English, however, it may be helpful to build your vocabulary in your chosen field, and improve your English altogether. Even if the teacher's English isn't so good,they may be able to fill in your gaps, and/or the textbook and other students will help develop your abilities.

 

In my program, the non-native speakers all  had varying levels of English, but the improvement each of their English has had over the year has been very notable. They also haven't been as frustrated with the lack of...education, let's say, as the native-speakers, because at least they're learning *something." 

 

As for bringing a family, I would imagine that it would be very difficult to do so, and the college is not likely to provide any extra assistance. They may not even be able/prepared to do so, as there are very few "full-time" students attending college, even at the graduate levels, at least in my experience.