2018 CSC Scholarships

[heheszki]

Hi all! I plan to apply for an english-taught Master degree in China (not sure which uni/programme yet). As a non-native speaker, is it necessary/preferably to have an IELTS Academic or other English-proficiency certificate, to apply for a scholarship via EU-Window/Embassy?

 

Also, I'm no longer a student (full time employer here) so getting a recommendation letter from a professor/associate professor might be a bit hard task, is there a way to bypass that point?

 

Last but not least, how hard do you think it is to get a pre-admission letter from a university? What to include in the email to the uni asking for a pre-admission letter?

 

Thanks for replies and best of luck everyone!

[hitsuji182]

In my country sworn translation to English acts automatically as a notarized copy. Does it mean that I don't need to send copies of my degree/transcripts in my mother tounge or they are still required?

 

I'll be applying directly through university.

Thanks.

[Nnedi Ugo]

Hey all! I received the CSC scholarship and studied at Fudan for the 2015-2016 year with the Non-Degree Chinese Language program. I will be reapplying to do another year of Chinese so if any of you have any questions on the scholarship, let me know.

 

@ToussaintWilliamsYou don't need a pre-admission letter if you're just going for the non-degree, its more for students who are applying for the degree programs and really want to go to a specific school. It guarantees that you have a higher chance in attending if you do get that letter. As for the 4 year non-degree program, not too familiar with that. I would recommend you visit the school's website and contact someone about that by email to see if they can answer your question. Deadlines vary from school to school but also depends on your Chinese embassy's deadline as well. I would recommend you just apply as soon as you can and also inquire from both the Chinese Embassy in your home country and contact each school's intl school dept to inquire.

[D.Gu]

Hi all, thanks for contributing to this forum. I just so happened to stumble upon a mention to this forum on Reddit will browsing for answers (to no real avail), and I am extremely glad that I did.

 

A little overview of my current situation. I'm an American citizen who has recently returned to Beijing looking to apply for the CSC Scholarship-Bilateral Program through the China Embassy in the US. I'm currently in Beijing and have been looking at potential Universities. In the past few days I've visited the Chinese Embassy website but found that the links related to the scholarship have either been disabled or are broken. I've just sent an e-mail to the Embassy expressing interest for the scholarship, hopefully they get back to me soon.

 

My question is whether the Embassy does their own screening to select candidates they want to sponsor for scholarship before sending the application over to CSC, or does the Embassy only receive applications, sends it over to CSC, and leave the decision up to CSC who gets the candidacy for their Embassy? Ideally I'd like to go the embassy sponsorship and Pre-Admission Letter route. I know this is an awfully specific question pretty particular to the China US Embassy, but I'd really appreciate any and all help from anyone who has had experience with their native embassy.

 

P.S. More of a personal question directed towards @Angelina: You mentioned regretting your decision to study in China. If you don't mind me asking, why? I don't mean to pry, just curious and like to hear all the information and opinions I can get!

 

 

 

[Ampicillin]

@Nnedi Ugo

Do you know what's the procedure for Shanghai government scholarship? And, Can Shanghai Jiaotong University offer pre- admission letter (If, I have acceptance letter from one of the professor)?

[Angelina]

3 hours ago, D.Gu said:

P.S. More of a personal question directed towards @Angelina: You mentioned regretting your decision to study in China. If you don't mind me asking, why? I don't mean to pry, just curious and like to hear all the information and opinions I can get!

 

 

Before I applied for my master's degree I talked to one international student at Tsinghua. She told me that the university is good and that the professors are all famous. However, she had chosen a program made for international students, and her opinion, which I took into consideration when applying, was that this program was not as good as regular programs for Chinese students. This was when I was testing the waters at a language course in Beijing. 

 

Therefore, I applied and was admitted into a regular program alongside Chinese students. 

 

I realized that I need support when writing my homework assignments in Chinese. It was really painful for me and I wish I went to an environment where there was more understanding. 

I am still trying to graduate because I do not think that burning bridges is a good idea, yet: a) I wish I had paid more attention before applying; b) I am trying to decide what to do next. 

 

There are many scholarship opportunities and I did acquire the skills necessary to make it through graduate school, including language skills, but the whole experience was just too traumatic.

 

 

 

[jackbilton]

For those applying to learn Chinese for 1/2 years, are you applying for English taught or Chinese taught courses? I am only at level HSK3 at the moment so I would probably struggle with a Chinese taught course, but perhaps it is easier to gain admission to these?

[Nnedi Ugo]

@Ampicillin That scholarship is slightly different from the big CSC scholarship and I am honestly not too familiar with its requirements. Wish I could help, but ask around and hopefully someone can respond. I recommend possibly asking in the Shanghai sub form on this website. As for pre-admission letter, I recommend you apply directly to that school on their website and inqure about receiving a pre-admission letter after you submit your application and hear that you've been accepted to that school. Try looking for a email on their website for admissions and asking there. 

 

@jackbilton If you start in the beginning levels of the language, its taught in English but once students grasp the language (which is normally by the end of half of the semester) the teacher moves on to majorily Chinese. I recommend when you do go, ask to sit in a specifc level course and see what you're comfortable with before deciding on which level course you want to take. I wouldn't worry about that right now for each school is different and has different levels and requirements and its not a big concern while applying to the school. This can be handled once you arrive on site. 

[Hua]

Hi, @Angelina

 

I really hope I can help you with whatver I can do. I am sorry to hear about this adversity you are experiencing. I hope you haven’t lost your passion and I believe you can make it through ultimately, and most importantly, You are not alone on this.

 

When I was a freshman in an American university, I did not even quite understand what the professors were saying and I had almost no friend there. I felt down for a period of time during that semester until I finally figured out what I could do to make progress. I doubted if I would ever graduate, thought about going back to China and regretted learning English for all those years, but after I came over it, I felt as if I had discovered a brand new world.

[Nnedi Ugo]

@D.Gu I've applied in the past and no one really knows how the selection process goes. From my understanding, it looks like the Embassy just makes sure all the required documents are there in your application package (for I spoke with a lady at the embassy in DC) and they send it over to Beijing where they make the final decision. I went the Embassy route and it seems much easier than the other ways in going about it. I also called the embassy after I sent my application to make sure they got it and I called months later seeing if I was sent my acceptance letter. Good luck on your application! I recommend that if you are still confused, head over to last year's fourm. Someone there has probably answered your question.  

[Usher]

Hi guys,

Really looking for this type of forum. Thank you for every one, that I get answers for some of my questions.

I hold Bachelor's Degree with Petroleum Engineering from China University of Petroleum (2010-2015) and I have HSK - 5th level. Now I am getting ready to applying for Master's degree through CSC - University program. Regarding in my situation I have a two questions:

1) I learnt from this site that there is no restrictions about how many times if I apply to CSC. My question is if I apply several times and each application with new account, how the university notifies me about the result? Will they send the result to my e-mail?

2) My GPA point is 2.0 and I am deeply interested studying in china with scholarship, so is there anyone who knows which universities in china can accept me with low GPA. 

[hitsuji182]

I have a question regarding applying directly through university. 

 

So, in the application I can put 3 universities of my choice, first being the priority of course. Do I send 2 sets of hard documents to each one of them? I guess not and you only send it to your first choice. I'd like to confirm it though.

 

Then, if you somehow get denied by the university of your first choice and you sent documents only to them what happens next?

[ToussaintWilliams]

On 1/18/2018 at 1:13 AM, Nnedi Ugo said:

You don't need a pre-admission letter if you're just going for the non-degree, its more for students who are applying for the degree programs and really want to go to a specific school.

 

Thanks so much for this! The embassy is a little confusing when answering these questions.

 

In response to your response, I do indeed have specific schools in mind. I want to study Chinese for 2-years in Beijing at Tsinghua, Peking or BLCU. It is to my understanding though, that if I don't specify the university (through including the pre-admission letter) where I'd prefer studying Chinese , that I'lI be placed in any university in the country? I am only interested in studying in Beijing at Tsinghua, Peking, or BLCU, so its scary to think I'll be sent to another city that I'm not familiar with.

 

With this said, in getting my hands on a pre-admission letter, do I have to apply to each school and pay their application fees or does each school write me a pre-admission letter based on my interest (basically ensuring acceptance IF I am awarded the scholarship)? I am under the impression that I am not supposed to be paying application fees for the pre-admission letter I include in my application package to the Chinese Embassy in New York. Is this familiar or do I have it wrong?

 

Last thing, could you give feedback on a small section of my study plan? I find it very difficult to write without focusing in on a specific university's Chinese language program.

 

This is what it looks like so far...maybe you can give me some feedback on how to make it better:

• "Upon receiving the scholarship, I plan to enroll in a long-term non-degree Chinese language program, preferably in Beijing. To ensure my success, my studies will begin with language preparatory courses in the first year to further develop my ability to proficiently read, write, and orally communicate. In my second year, I look forward to taking Chinese-taught courses where my command of the language can be challenged and developed. During my tenure, I also look forward to participating in extracurricular activities outside of class such as taking part in city events and visiting historical city monuments to further facilitate cultural immersion and a deeper understanding of China."

Thanks in advance,

Toussaint

 

 

 

 

[Nnedi Ugo]

@hitsuji182 They pretty much just go down the list of your top 3. If you happen to not get accepted in any of those schools, you will get placed somewhere based on availability. Choose wisely. I recommend you choose like 1 reach and two safety schools for precaution. 

[hitsuji182]

@Nnedi Ugo Ok, thanks. But how about documents, do I send them to all 3 schools or just one?

[Nnedi Ugo]

Hey @ToussaintWilliams, from my understanding, that can be the case for obtaining a pre-admission letter, but only for certain schools. When I applied for the Chinese Language program two years ago having Fudan as my first choice, I did not bother getting a pre-admission letter but I got Fudan as my #1 choice. But also, Fudan doesn't give out pre-admission letters so you just have to apply through the embassy and hope for the best.

 

Also from my understanding if you are applying for the scholarship through the Chinese embassy, you can attach a pre-admission letter (if you want to) but if you apply directly to the school, then its not necessary. But with applying directly, you have to pay application fees (through each school) which can get expensive but depending on your preference go with what you feels is best for you. If you apply through the Chinese Embassy, you don't pay any fees. I recommend to apply through the Chinese embassy in NY and request for the pre-admission letters from each school by doing the following:

 

Quote

Yeah, normally you have to email or call the international students office of your choice universities. Depending on the university, some university is very flexible and that the procedure is pretty simple. For example, you email the person/department in charge of the admission process and they request you to send a scanned copy of your academic transcript, degree certificate and passport, then they will send to you your pre-admission letter.

 

Attach it to your application and mail it to the embassy. You'll hear back much later than applying through the school but its somewhat an easier and cheaper process.

 

Quote

Last thing, could you give feedback on a small section of my study plan? I find it very difficult to write without focusing in on a specific university's Chinese language program.

 

Also about your study plan, I recommend to introduce yourself. Talk about what's influencing you to study Chinese, why you want to go, what's attracting you to China etc. When I wrote mine (I can't find my old study plan unfortunately) I wrote a short story on how I met a close friend of mine who came to study in America and she introduced me to Chinese language and culture (gave examples like how she cooked me traditional Chinese food, watch Chinese movies, and even show me how to write some Chinese characters). Get creative with it. It doesn't have to be so technical. I think you should keep the part you have so far but also use my suggestions and add that to the beginning of the study plan. I think you have a great start and you just need to add a few more lines. I hope this helps. Let me know if you need anything. 

 

I'll be reapplying as well so we'll see how it all goes down. 

 

I also encourage users to visit last year's forum. A lot of users have answered questions from what was said here before. If you feel like you haven't heard your question being answered, you can check it out here and also just wait till more people visit the forum for your question to be answered. 

[Nnedi Ugo]

@hitsuji182 Depends on how you're applying. Applying directly to the school? Send both copies to each individual school. Applying through the Chinese Embassy? Send your documents to them and it will get sent to the corresponding schools. 

[Nnedi Ugo]

Hey @Angelina I think a lot of people will be asking for this and maybe you should include in the first post but here's a pdf of the Foreigner Physical Exam and the agency numbers

[hitsuji182]

@Nnedi Ugo Thanks for being really helpful so far. I have one more follow up question.

 

How about the agency number then? I'll apply through university route. You can only put one.

[Nnedi Ugo]

@hitsuji182 Put your top choice and hope for the best. A complete list of agency numbers are here