CSC 2016 Applications

[Breaknet]

@Angelina

Well, so far things are not looking so good. Every single teacher is silent about that issue and they just keep telling me: ''that you should not worry about it''.

I mean, it is excruciatingly stressful to live in such conditions and I have the feeling that my studies are suffering due to their gimmicks.

 

Therefore, I plan to open some talks with other universities in order to see if I could move somewhere else. Clearly, this university does not offer any decent environment for learning and I still want to continue my studies in China for personal matters.

[Angelina]

my studies are suffering due to their gimmicks

 

 

Relax, there are no gimmicks or conspiracies working against you! 

Is this a one-year course? Unless the conditions are just impossible, you can try to finish your studies there and leave. I think your teachers prefer teaching to dealing with bureaucracy. They care about your well-being, but the reason why they keep silent is because they don't know how to help you when it comes to questions regarding your scholarship. If you ask them language-related questions, they will be more cooperative. 

[Breaknet]

Well, it is a bit more complicated than that.

I enrolled for a prep year + a 3 years MA degree.

However,the school administrators have shipped us to another campus ''in order to promote the cultural visibility... and blablabla... and attract foreign students who will be self-funded.''

Therefore, they literally use us as guinea pigs: they put our faces everywhere they can and they try to make us participate to as many activities as possible (my picture has been taken with the university Dean and put all over the website),

But the worst part is the ''special conditions'' that they enforce upon us... especially when it comes to our stipend or our liberty of housing (we are forced to live on-campus despite the CSC guidelines).

So yeah, basically, it sums it up.

[Angelina]

However,the school administrators have shipped us to another campus ''in order to promote the cultural visibility... and blablabla... and attract foreign students who will be self-funded.''

Therefore, they literally use us as guinea pigs: they put our faces everywhere they can and they try to make us participate to as many activities as possible (my picture has been taken with the university Dean and put all over the website),

 

 

 

This is really sad, you should not feel objectified. Can you make a list of all the things bothering you?

 

Is the MA supposed to be at the same school? 

​

[Breaknet]

It would be a big downer to make a list of all the things that are bothering me right now.

For the MA, we should be sent back to the main campus in Shenyang. However, I never chose that city (in fact, I have been dispatched over there during the selection process) and I will try to open some talks with other universities in China (in order to move out... hopefully if it is possible).

[Angelina]

ahhhh I got my number one choice, be careful what you wish for 

 

you can always use the weather as an excuse for moving somewhere else (the more diplomatic way) or complain you are not satisfied with the quality of what you are getting there 

[Breaknet]

Well, this university wasn't even part of my three choices (I have been randomly assigned there). 

By the way, have you ever heard about somebody who successfully moved to another university after his/her language year (and preferably while keeping his/her scholarship?)

[Angelina]

Only one person. Confucius Institute Scholarship after one month of MA last year. Also, he did not tell anyone about it. One day a Chinese friend of mine (who we know outside of school) tells me that the guy suddenly left. He went to the university he had previously studied at. Have no idea how and why this happened. 

[Angelina]

When I think about this, there was one student at BLCU years ago who was supposed to start a BA in Beijing (not BLCU, one other school) after his language course. He went somewhere else in China instead. He didn't talk about it too. I remember he would complain on how expensive Beijing is. I tend to think he wanted to go somewhere cheaper, but did not want to ask him if this was the reason why he moved because I did not want to make him feel uncomfortable. He finished his language year at BLCU and moved to a new city over the summer even though originally he had been assigned to a Beijing school for his BA. 

[Breaknet]

Many thanks for your quick reply: I will definitely talk with some other universities and see how I could sort out my problem.

[Angelina]

Make sure you are not bothering all the other students. If you don't like it, try to leave, just don't be the person with the problem. Also, try to check what other universities offer. You don't want to go through the hassle of moving to a new school, only to realize that you are facing the same issues. 

[tarignabeel]

hello every body

i am a Sudanese student.. i would like to apply for the 2017 CSC to study information and communication engineering 

my question is : can i only choose my three universities and apply online from the csc website or i should make direct contact with my desired universities ?

 

thanks in advance

an thing will be appreciated.

[艾墨本]

Damn, Breaknet. That's a shit situation. It's really hard when the school turns you into a prop for their advertising. It's not okay that they are doing that. You not liking something is perfectly find justification for deciding not to do something. Sometimes, “入乡随俗" can go fuck off. Other times, there are useful culturally appropriate ways of getting out of situations.

 

Having been in similar situations and currently being in a similar situation:

 

1) work on the soft-no: Can you came to this banquet with the Dean? Sorry, I told my mom I would call her. Sorry, I'm not on campus (and promptly leave for a coffee shop). Excuses that would fly back in my hometown are very different than what has worked while I've been at this school. This might take some experimentation.

 

2) Set clear boundaries: I am always home by 9 PM and can't be reached. 

 

3) You have a lot of character flaws. "我不习惯" is a great catch-phrase to get out of situations. Do you want to drink baijiu? No, I'm not used to it. Do you want to meet the dean? No, I'm too shy. Can I take a picture with you? No, I don't like pictures. You might need to repeat yourself several times. Be consistent with these, though. 

 

3) Ask for advice about the situation from several people that might come into contact with the person that is the cause of the problem. If you are their precious foreigner, you can be confident everyone talks about you. This is a good way of letting them know you are bothered by their actions

 

4) If you can't think of anything else, just say yes and don't show up. 

 

5) Sometimes, confronting the issue head-on is appropriate, but you need to be very cautious of "face." In this context, if you want to tell a person they are stepping out of bounds, do so while no one else is around. Use the "In the culture I'm from..." "back in my hometown..." etc. to lessen any "blame" they might feel. 

 

I hope  this helps.

[Breaknet]

Yesterday, I made that foreign student rep talk. She has confirmed that yeah, our scholarship will be suspended if we fail the January exams.
It seems perfectly illegal, but they don't seem to give a flying f*ck.

Furthermore, they have told us that this city (Qinhuangdao) has a ''special local regulation'' concerning ''foreigners desiring to live in apartments''.
It smells bullshit from kilometers away and this is why, tomorrow, some friends and I are going to the police station to confirm what they have said.
In the meantime, they just refuse to allow us to live outside nor receive the 700 yuans according to the CSC regulations. Again, they bend rules as they please.

Recently, we have identified the member of the staff that seems to be in command of all those gimmicks. She's a control freak and, according to what Chinese local students have told me, there is absolutely no boundary to her control over foreign students and over foreign language majors.

So yeah, stay tuned about what could probably be the worst (...I censored myself) university of China.

[Breaknet]

Many thanks 艾墨本 : however, the local staff here are totally insane. They expect us to be ready to be summoned at any time of the night or the day.

Yesterday night, at 9 PM with a few minutes notice (like, 10 minutes), we have been summoned to the meeting room. Every single person had to state if his/her roommate was present and, if not, he/she had to be personally held responsible for finding him/her. Fortunately, my roommate was there, but it is still a disgusting environment.

PS: as previously stated, ''being home'' means being in the dorm, so it doesn't count at all for them.

 

[艾墨本]

If it's any consolation, based on my experience and many coworkers experiences across several provinces, your experience and the "crazy" things that you are describing are very common stories among us. 

 

If there is one thing China is good at teaching, it's how to "give zero f***s." That said, props on you for taking the time to go to the police station and investigate.

[Angelina]

BLCU once called my family (back home, as in: they made an international phone call) because I did not spend enough time on campus... 

 

Also, today at the library I was not able to reserve a seat. A few days ago when I made a reservation, I went in, saw that someone else was already there so I left the library. Somehow, I got punished for making a reservation without using it. Got banned for a week, but talked to the people in charge today and they lifted the ban with the warning that next time they won't do me a favor. 

 

Things like this happen all the time. My campus card is pretty much 万能的 though. Rules are okay, as long as they don't go too far. 

[QueenTut]

Hello. Does anyone here know how to apply for a transfer between schools while on the scholarship?

[OBY]

Hello guys it's been quite long since I checked up on the platform. I'll like to know if another forum will be opened for the year 2017 and if not will the platform be maintained for it? Because I have lots of questions I'll like to ask with regards to the applications. And I'll also like to follow the information people will put up here.

For starters do I need to send a separate application for the school and the scholarship if I want to apply via the school for the scholarship or I'll have to send the documents for the two together to the schools.

I'm confused please help.

Thanks

[LinZhenPu]

Jesus, Breaknet. To me that's downright criminal. And all this time, it felt a safe assumption that the scholarship council is responsible for dishing out the dosh (money) to scholarship recipients rather than the university. You're telling me that there is an employee of the university who is responsible for administering the scholarship money and not the CSC? That seems just so very wrong to me, it really seems like something that should obviously be centralized. I'm not saying that I don't believe you. I just really feel that it's an unfair system that is wide open for unscrupulous universities abuse as they please, with very little to no repercussions at all.