2021 CSC Scholarships

[titisam]

Hello, I am considering applying for the csc scholarship 2021. I know i have to get my translted transcirpt and diploma notarized. However, i do not know if my original diploma and transcript should also be notarized? 

Thank you 

[pan.kasper]

Hey titisam, 
Thanks for starting the thread, I was wondering why there's no thread for CSC Application this year. Guess it's the virus.

If my understanding is correct, you should get your original diploma that you received from the school notarized and then send them the copy. Notarized copies are usually made out of the  original documents to ensure their authenticity.
 

[shepherdspie]

Hey everyone, 

I applied for the CSC Type B Scholarship to study at SJTU for their September 2021 Master's intake, am now waiting to be scheduled for an interview with the admissions committee. 

 

Anyone have any idea if it'll be harder/easier to clinch a scholarship considering the Covid crap show that is 2020/2021? Or if those of us in the 2021 intake will even be granted visas to enter the country? 

 

Also anyone have any idea what the "scholarship timeline" is like? I applied super early so i'd be considered under the first round of applicants for SJTU, which was why I assumed i'd know everything by March/April latest. But i was recently scrolling through past threads here and saw results for the 2020 batch only being released in like July/August??

[pan.kasper]

On 1/4/2021 at 7:26 AM, shepherdspie said:

Anyone have any idea if it'll be harder/easier to clinch a scholarship considering the Covid crap show that is 2020/2021? Or if those of us in the 2021 intake will even be granted visas to enter the country? 

 

Also anyone have any idea what the "scholarship timeline" is like? I applied super early so i'd be considered under the first round of applicants for SJTU, which was why I assumed i'd know everything by March/April latest. But i was recently scrolling through past threads here and saw results for the 2020 batch only being released in like July/August??

Nobody really knows. Could be easier, cause less people are likely to be applying for 2021. But also could be harder, as some people postponed their scholarship from this September 2020 to 2021. Really hard to say, but my bet  would be that it will be somewhat easier still - provided China will reopen for students by September!

As for the timeline, it doesn't really matter when you apply. It's not a rolling admission system, so they will review them all at once probably and in any case they will release all the result at the same time. And that's usually pretty late, I got mine 2 years ago about the end of July, so you gotta be patient. 

[芒果乾]

On 1/4/2021 at 6:26 AM, shepherdspie said:

Anyone have any idea if it'll be harder/easier to clinch a scholarship considering the Covid crap show that is 2020/2021? Or if those of us in the 2021 intake will even be granted visas to enter the country?

 

When I left Shanghai in the autumn (fall) last year, Chinese language lessons were still online and universities campuses were still in lockdown, including SJTU and Shanghai has been safe since summer 2020. So there could be a chance that teaching is still online even during Sept 2021 as management at universities in Shanghai are playing it safe. 

 

As for it being easier to get a place.. I reckon it should be slightly easier than in 2019 as the virus has caused flight frequencies to go way down and the requirements for travel to China such as having negative covid test results before flying to China and mandatory quarantine are making people rethink about applying.

 

Also, you need to consider if there are flights available to Shanghai in Sept this year, assuming China opens up to student visa applications during summer. 

 

Please note that scholarship places offered per embassy could have gone down. The EU Window has definitely gone down, it was more than 115 places in 2019, now approximately 101. 

[shepherdspie]

On 1/6/2021 at 5:43 AM, pan.kasper said:

Nobody really knows. Could be easier, cause less people are likely to be applying for 2021. But also could be harder, as some people postponed their scholarship from this September 2020 to 2021. Really hard to say, but my bet  would be that it will be somewhat easier still - provided China will reopen for students by September!

As for the timeline, it doesn't really matter when you apply. It's not a rolling admission system, so they will review them all at once probably and in any case they will release all the result at the same time. And that's usually pretty late, I got mine 2 years ago about the end of July, so you gotta be patient. 

Yes, praying hard they'll at least allow some students to enter (My country is doing pretty okay so far and we're all being progressively vaccinated over the course of this year, hope that gives me brownie points with immigration lol)... I would really hate to waste a semester (or more!) doing online learning like the current 2020 batch of students in the course i'm aiming for.

 

And oh I didn't know it's not a rolling admission system! The university told me that the earlier I applied, the more likely i'd be accepted/given financial aid and that they split scholarship applications into Round 1 (December) and Round 2 (March). Perhaps this has to do with their own internal scholarships, thanks for the information nonetheless. 

 

[shepherdspie]

On 1/7/2021 at 9:58 AM, 芒果乾 said:

When I left Shanghai in the autumn (fall) last year, Chinese language lessons were still online and universities campuses were still in lockdown, including SJTU and Shanghai has been safe since summer 2020. So there could be a chance that teaching is still online even during Sept 2021 as management at universities in Shanghai are playing it safe. 

 

As for it being easier to get a place.. I reckon it should be slightly easier than in 2019 as the virus has caused flight frequencies to go way down and the requirements for travel to China such as having negative covid test results before flying to China and mandatory quarantine are making people rethink about applying.

 

Also, you need to consider if there are flights available to Shanghai in Sept this year, assuming China opens up to student visa applications during summer. 

 

Please note that scholarship places offered per embassy could have gone down. The EU Window has definitely gone down, it was more than 115 places in 2019, now approximately 101. 

Wow I had no idea! Life seems to look so normal in the social media posts of my Chinese friends, didn't realise universities were still shut.

Do you know if there is a difference between a full government scholarship from the embassy vs. a full government scholarship from the university by the way? I was initially going to apply through the embassy in my country (China is not a mainstream study destination where I'm from, so I was told it's almost a given to get it as long as you have decent grades/academic background). However, I was told that the embassy route would only cover RMB25000 annual tuition, although the course I'm applying for at SJTU costs triple that amount. Whereas SJTU told me the full government scholarships they are offering, if one were to apply through them, would cover 100% of the fees. 

 

So I ended up taking the university route for SJTU, although the chances are def. slimmer. Just find it strange that SJTU in particular is offering full tuition, whereas for Tongji I was told that regardless of if I applied through the embassy or Tongji itself, the most they'd give me is the RMB25000 per year.

 

For flights, I'm not too concerned about that (at the moment anyway) as my country has weekly flights to major cities in China. Though the cost is another issue all together ?

[pan.kasper]

On 1/8/2021 at 7:48 AM, shepherdspie said:

Wow I had no idea! Life seems to look so normal in the social media posts of my Chinese friends, didn't realise universities were still shut.

Do you know if there is a difference between a full government scholarship from the embassy vs. a full government scholarship from the university by the way? I was initially going to apply through the embassy in my country (China is not a mainstream study destination where I'm from, so I was told it's almost a given to get it as long as you have decent grades/academic background). However, I was told that the embassy route would only cover RMB25000 annual tuition, although the course I'm applying for at SJTU costs triple that amount. Whereas SJTU told me the full government scholarships they are offering, if one were to apply through them, would cover 100% of the fees. 

 

They are not entirely shut. Most people in China have online classes, but I understand that there are some in-person classes going on as well. China has far less restrictions at this point than the rest of the world.
Actually, those are two ways to apply (A and B, don't remember which ones which), they don't really differ that much. Best thing to do is to send multiple applications, this is one way to improve your odds of getting it. 

 

On 1/8/2021 at 7:48 AM, shepherdspie said:

For flights, I'm not too concerned about that (at the moment anyway) as my country has weekly flights to major cities in China. Though the cost is another issue all together ?

The main problem right now is not that there are no flights, cause they do have some still. The problem is that most people are not allowed to return. As a masters student, i've been stuck outside of China for nearly a year now. Old visas are not valid anymore and they only issue new visas to workers who are able to get a special invitation letter from the employer issued - which is also not an easy thing to do. Last summer they did allow some people to come back, but that also did not include students. At this point, I wouldn't mind paying whatever it may cost for the flight if coming back was only an option

[Jellyfish]

Hey everyone, first of all good luck to everyone who's applying to CSC scholarships this year! Quick question - does anyone know if the EU Program still includes the UK? In the description it says quite clearly that it's open for "EU member countries" but I read on a different website that it still includes the UK. Does anyone here know for sure? (And could the fact that the UK is no longer included be a reason for there being fewer EU scholarships vailable this year, if they roughly allocate places per member country?)

[芒果乾]

On 1/8/2021 at 6:48 AM, shepherdspie said:

Do you know if there is a difference between a full government scholarship from the embassy vs. a full government scholarship from the university by the way? I was initially going to apply through the embassy in my country (China is not a mainstream study destination where I'm from, so I was told it's almost a given to get it as long as you have decent grades/academic background). However, I was told that the embassy route would only cover RMB25000 annual tuition, although the course I'm applying for at SJTU costs triple that amount. Whereas SJTU told me the full government scholarships they are offering, if one were to apply through them, would cover 100% of the fees. 

 

 

You need to look at the breakdown of the money offered for the embassy (type A) scholarship and SJTU (type B) scholarship. Its always listed on the application pages. If the cost of tuition fees for the course exceeds what is offered by the scholarship (on a per annum basis) then I guess you will need to pay the difference.

 

You can apply for type A and B at the same time but can only win one scholarship.

[芒果乾]

On 1/9/2021 at 8:13 PM, pan.kasper said:

They are not entirely shut.

 

They are not shut but access is restricted, in other words, only current students and staff can get in. This applied to SJTU Xuhui campus and Shanghai Normal University when I left at the end of October last year. 

 

On 1/9/2021 at 8:13 PM, pan.kasper said:

The main problem right now is not that there are no flights, cause they do have some still.

 

China has stopped direct flights from the UK because idiots (yes, covidiots) in the UK who think the virus does not exist made things worse than last spring ? 

 

15 hours ago, Jellyfish said:

Quick question - does anyone know if the EU Program still includes the UK?

 

Well, the UK is legally no longer part of the EU. You can try applying via the EU Window and see how far you get. I am applying via the UK Chinese embassy this year like I did two years ago.

[pan.kasper]

On 1/12/2021 at 1:28 AM, 芒果乾 said:

China has stopped direct flights from the UK because idiots (yes, covidiots) in the UK who think the virus does not exist made things worse than last spring ? 

 

yes, people who deny the virus or vaccines are prevalent all around, unfortunately.

I don't think that no flights would be that much of an issue, since you could potentially just go to another country and fly from there. Or, if you're adventurous, go through Russia and Siberia. But as long as the borders remain shut for foreign students, there is no way to get back and there's nothing we can do about it 

[yangyizhi]

Hello, I heard some universities in big city like Beijing and Shanghai don't provide single room for Ph.D. Students. Is this correct? if yes, and perhaps you know what university, please tell me。 I want to avoid them as I prefer single room and I heard living outside is pretty expensive in both cities

[Zosiaa]

Hello, do you guys know anything about pre-amission letter? Is it possible to get one without being in touch with any proffesor from China? Last year only five people from my country got a CSC scholarship so Im afraid without a letter there is no hope for me ?

[shepherdspie]

On 1/17/2021 at 6:40 PM, Zosiaa said:

Hello, do you guys know anything about pre-amission letter? Is it possible to get one without being in touch with any proffesor from China? Last year only five people from my country got a CSC scholarship so Im afraid without a letter there is no hope for me

 

There is no way to get a pre-admission letter without first contacting a professor. These are the steps to get one (At least for Master's Students):

1. Look at the faculty list of the programme you're interested in entering 

2. Select a professor whose research area matches yours/a professor you are interested in working with

3. Email the professor to introduce yourself, show them your CV/Accomplishments, and request for a pre-admission letter

4. The professor will probably email you to set up a wechat call or something to get to know you before agreeing to write you a letter

 

*P.S Don't be surprised if the professors don't reply, none of the professors I emailed ever replied so I just gave up and applied without one

[shepherdspie]

On 1/17/2021 at 6:40 PM, Zosiaa said:

Hello, do you guys know anything about pre-amission letter? Is it possible to get one without being in touch with any proffesor from China? Last year only five people from my country got a CSC scholarship so Im afraid without a letter there is no hope for me ?

 

Sorry, I just realised you might be talking about a pre-admission letter on the CSC portal and not the pre-admission letter from a professor that supports your university application.

 

If so, yes you can. 

 

A pre-admission letter on the CSC portal basically means the email or whatever that universities send you when they know they will accept you, before they actually send you the official admission letter itself by mail. It means your application to the university has been successful, there is a university that wants you, and you want CSC to know that. 

 

So to get one for the CSC portal without talking to any professors, you just need to:

1) fill in an application at the university of your choice

2) pay the application fee

3)do the interviews/exams or whatever (if any) that your chosen university wants applicants to do

4) Receive a confirmation email or whatever that the university has accepted you 

5) Upload this confirmation to the CSC portal 

 

 

[Zosiaa]

17 hours ago, shepherdspie said:

*P.S Don't be surprised if the professors don't reply, none of the professors I emailed ever replied so I just gave up and applied without one

 Did you get a scholarship without a letter?

 

Thank you so much for your help! ^^

[shepherdspie]

2 hours ago, Zosiaa said:

Did you get a scholarship without a letter?

 

This year is my first time applying for the CSC Scholarship and any Chinese university in general! So I don't know yet either haha. 

 

I do feel good about my application though, and these circumstances (which differ for each person) are why:

• In my country, China is not a common study destination, so it's maybe significantly easier for me to get an embassy scholarship (Chinese Government Scholarship - Bilateral Programme) as compared to you. Less people are competing for the places we have, we have about 10-12 places per year and between 40-80 people apply on average. 
• I'm a native English speaker applying for a degree in China where the medium of instruction is English
• I'm ethnically Chinese and speak Intermediate Level Chinese
• I graduated from one of the Top 20 universities in the world 
• My undergraduate degree and full-time work experience match the degree I am applying to study in China

You should try to highlight strong points like these in your application! I think they would really help CSC/your target university view you favourably (this is my personal opinion of course)!

 

Good luck to the both of us  

[芒果乾]

On 1/15/2021 at 5:17 PM, yangyizhi said:

Hello, I heard some universities in big city like Beijing and Shanghai don't provide single room for Ph.D. Students. Is this correct? if yes, and perhaps you know what university, please tell me。

 

You need to go to each university website and see what accommodation is on offer. When I was at SJTU Xuhui campus, the two dorms for international students had single (private bathroom) and double rooms (two people living in one room sharing one bathroom). Single rooms are just over twice the price of double rooms.

 

When I looked at Fudan, their dorms were something like one person having their own room but sharing a bathroom with another person.

[芒果乾]

4 hours ago, shepherdspie said:

• In my country, China is not a common study destination, so it's maybe significantly easier for me to get an embassy scholarship (Chinese Government Scholarship - Bilateral Programme) as compared to you. Less people are competing for the places we have, we have about 10-12 places per year and between 40-80 people apply on average. 
• I'm a native English speaker applying for a degree in China where the medium of instruction is In

 

Can I be nosey and ask which country you are applying from? From what I have seen, people in Africa and South Asia tend to apply for the scholarship. There are fewer applications from people in western countries.

 

4 hours ago, shepherdspie said:

I'm ethnically Chinese and speak Intermediate Level Chinese

 

As a person that looks Chinese and can speak Mandarin at intermediate level plus with a Guangdong/Hong Kong accent, I would advise you to improve your Chinese to an advanced level in terms of listening and speaking (that's assuming you get to go to China after winning the scholarship). When I was in Shanghai, I was assumed to be Chinese when people did not know my background.

 

If you are ethnically Chinese, then the expectation is that you speak Mandarin Chinese to an advanced level or even native level in the Mainland. My get out 'excuse' was that my parents were born somewhere in SE Asia when local Chinese people wondered why my Chinese was not at native level ?

 

Other Asians that look Chinese such as Japanese people or Koreans can get away with not speaking Chinese at an advanced level. Ethnically Chinese people cannot really.. except for Hong Kongers who are known for having poor Mandarin speaking skills ?

 

All the overseas Chinese (华裔) people in SJTU that I was hanging out with last year had advanced level Mandarin.. they were in the highest Chinese language class.. 高三！They made the most of their time in Shanghai by going to restaurants that had Chinese only menus and speaking in Mandarin only to locals.