CSC Scholarship - Archives

[extrapages]

This is the ARCHIVED posts thread.

Go here for the CURRENT thread

But you should stick around and read/search this thread because it will answer lots of your questions.

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PLEASE READ THIS FIRST and SEARCH THE THREAD BEFORE POSTING!

I've REORGANIZED everything and laid it out on this first post - I want to thank everyone who's participated in this thread so far. They all threw in their two cents and made it possible to have all this information in one place. I also would like to thank people who will post in the future and help me update and add to this post. - and I'm sure that it's not perfect, but I hope it helps lots of people get the CSC scholarship and make their way over to China. Once you make it out here, give me call if you end up in Beijing. =]

LAST UPDATED: March 30, 2009 - NEW INFO FOR 2009 APPLICANTS!

Look for [uPDATED] sections and jump to page 30 to see posts from people who just got the scholarship for 2008! Yayayayay!

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Personally, I have experience that applies only to American citizens. However, there are number of people here that have applied and received the CSC scholarship from many different countries. (For EU applications, look towards the bottom.) I recommend that you post your experiences so far and ask/encourage anyone else who has applied or is applying from your country to also post their experiences. Also, this is a thread generally for the CSC Chinese Government scholarship for those learning Chinese (not the scholarships for the Chinese Culture Research Fellowship, Teachers of Chinese Language, Distinguished International Student, etc.).

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I'll start with some basic information:

The (brand new) CSC website: http://csc.edu.cn/

The English version: http://en.csc.edu.cn/

And here is where you download the applications: (thank you, roddy! <3)

http://en.csc.edu.cn/Lianhua/?cid=277 - all applications download page

http://en.csc.edu.cn/Lianhua/7f046a8107b8456c8ada42d6c1ad427a.shtml - CSC application download page

Normally, applicants are to apply though a partner/joint program of CSC. From what I remember, they were almost all university programs that have China study abroad programs. I did a Google search for "CSC joint scholarship program" once and two of the few listings I got for the US (just so you can get an idea) were CSC-Georgetown University Fellowship Program and UMich-China Scholarship Council Agreement. There has also been news that some Confucius Institutes have become partners and will handle CSC applications for their students. Having a joint program to apply though is the easiest and fastest method.

But most people in general and almost all of those in this forum are not part of any partner organization or program and do not have the luxury of being able to apply through them - it is for these individuals that this forum exists.

For those in the States - there's word that you can apply through your local embassy as your "joint program." However, we've already discovered that there are still many embassies that are unaware of the scholarship and wouldn't know what to do or who to forward you to if you asked about it. I recommend people to first contact their local state/city embassy and follow their directions as EACH embassy would have it's own deadlines and rules. (a special thank you shout out to jawshoowa).

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Eligibility and basic information can be found here:

http://en.csc.edu.cn/Lianhua/c1e7463d02704511940e91faa7ba7942.shtml

It has a lot of new and updated contact information on the bottom - but I don't know if that will actually help anyone. All previous experiences from everyone in this thread, including myself, points to not putting too much hope into someone picking up on the other end.

[uPDATED] Those currently in China are ELIGIBLE for the scholarship.

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When you call CSC and ask for someone who can speak English... don't be surprised if they put you on hold for a long time before you realize that you've been hung up on... and don't be surprised if it keeps happening over and over and over again. Once you get through, they know very little anyway. Spend your time and energy on finding the right contact within the Chinese embassy of your country.

Yes, that is what I said - Individual applicants must apply to the Chinese embassy of the country of their CITIZENSHIP, regardless of their current locations. For example, If you are an American in, say, Europe or Asia somewhere, you have to apply to a Chinese embassy in the States (either in your home state/city or in Washington, D.C.). If you are an Indonesian citizen in America, you need you apply to the Chinese embassy in Indonesia. You do NOT apply at the embassy of your citizenship of whatever country you may currently be in. This is for a two main reasons:

1. This is a Chinese scholarship run by the Chinese Scholarship Council under China's Ministry of Education. Non-Chinese embassies will not know anything about it or even know of it's existence. It's like going to the shoe store to buy books; it doesn't make any sense.

2. Each country has it's own contract with the CSC - and these contracts are very different. Some countries' citizens get their airfares covered (developing countries), others' do not (US, Europe, etc.). Some countries can send more students - others, only a handful. And each country's Chinese embassy will ONLY deal with the citizens of whatever country it is in.

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None of us know the chances of getting a full/partial scholarship. All we know so far is that no one has applied for the partial scholarship, and no one has yet been rejected from a full one. We also don't know if you are automatically eligible for the partial scholarship if you don't get the full. The same goes for the amount of time you apply for: 1 or 2 years. I applied for the full 2 year scholarship - and that's the one I got. And except for the scholarships awarded to those in EU, we don't even know how many scholarships there are to be given out.

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The CSC Application:

1. FILL IN ALL PARTS OF THE APPLICATION. LEAVE OUT NO SECTIONS!

2. STAY ON THE SAFE SIDE WHEN IT COMES TO MATERIALS/DOCUMENTS.

3. RECOMMENDING ORGANIZATION/PERSON

List an organization (or a person with a high position within one - president, dean, CEO, etc.). The easiest would be your university (any school or educational institution) or company of employment. As long as it's non-religious and non-political, you should be fine. Have someone from the "organization" write you a letter of recommendation on paper with the letterhead with a formal heading. This recommendation doesn't necessarily need to be academic - it just needs to talk about how you're a generally good person who would do well in China.

4. LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION

The application asks for two letters of recommendation. Be safe and include a third, if possible. One of them will be from your organization/person that is recommending you (see above). Another should be a personal recommendation that praises your character. The third should be an academic one from a current or past teacher/professor. If you're no longer in school - one from a boss or colleague on your work ethic, etc. should be good.

5. ADMISSION LETTER (More on this all the way by the bottom.)

Only attach one if you already applied to the school of your choice and received the admission notice. If you didn't apply, just fill in your top three choices in the CSC application, and they will choose and register for you.

6. TRANSCRIPTS/DIPLOMAS

Do not send your original diploma. That is not what they want. You only need to send an official copy (or notarized copy of the original). The same goes for your transcript - and an unofficial transcript is fine - which means you can just get a copy from your school and not be required to have them send it directly to CSC).

7. PHYSICAL EXAM

You MUST complete the Physical Exam when you apply - because the CSC will also take care of part of your visa process - which requires the Physical Exam. If you don't send it, you could get the scholarship and then be disqualified because you didn't send all the required information - making it impossible for them to help you with the visa - in which case, I honestly believe that they'll just dump your application. (THIS DOES NOT APPLY TO EU APPLICATIONS.)

You can get it filled out by your family doctor, internist, or a doctor from a clinic. It usually takes no more than 20 minutes. You don't need a "seal," as stated - the signature of the doctor and a stamp with the doctor's name and address and contact information of the hospital/clinic is fine. Those are done automatically anyway.

NEVER send the ORIGINAL Foreign Physical Examination Form with either the CSC application or your visa application. Send notarized copies. You need to keep the ORIGINAL with you - treat it like your passport.

8. STUDY PLAN [uPDATED] (Thank you, Rubjar!)

Without that study plan, you wont get the scholarship. It's an important part of your package and your application would be incomplete without it.

It's basically a proposal/personal statement introducing yourself and explaining why you want to learn Chinese. You should write about why you think learning Chinese is important, why you think learning Chinese in China is important, and how you hope to use your new knowledge in the future. Talking about Chinese culture and how China's becoming a major world power wouldn't hurt either.

Write as much as you can - the CSC application requires NO LESS THAN 200 words. I remember writing a freaking book basically on why and how I'm so awesome, why all the goals/intentions of study I have are so awesome, and why the Chinese government would become infinitely more awesome than it already is by giving me the scholarship.

Rubjar was able to find this online regarding the personal statement - it includes some o the criteria your essay should address:

• The reasons for which you want to study under such scholarship.

• Your academic, work and personal interests.

• Your work experience, and its relevance for what you want to accomplish.

• The Particular objectives that you wish to accomplish

• What are you expecting of the program

• The benefits of the scholarship in it's hole that you would obtain in case you where accepted.

• Other Information that you may consider relevant or distinctive and that presents you as an excellent candidate to obtain the scholarship.

• Make sure your interests and abilities are alike to those of the university and the program itself.

• Be brief and to the point, and try to explain in the simplest way the motives that are encouraging you to part of one of the chosen universities.

• Any advantage that can put you above the others that are interested in the scholarship.

• Any personal situations that may be prudent to mention.

9. COPIES/NOTARIZATION (another shout out to jawshoowa) [uPDATED]

You don't need everything to be a notarized copy. The only things that need to be notarized are documents that have only one original copy - like your diploma and the Physical Exam form. For things like transcripts and letters of recommendation, for which there can be multiple originals, just send multiple original copies. Make sure each copy of the letter of recommendation is hand-signed by the recommender and that you get two unofficial copies of your transcript from your school... The application form and study plan can just be regular photocopies. This will save you a LOT of money, as notarization is expensive and can cost about $10 USD a page at some places. However, cheaper or free notarization can be done at banks, AAA (for members), etc. You should try to find out what options are out there for you. For those who need more information on getting notarized copies, please search this thread.

ORIGINAL SET:

Application (Original)

Letters of Recommendation (Original)

Study Plan (Original)

Transcript (Unofficial Copy from your school)

Diploma (Notarized Copy)

Physical Exam (Notarized Copy)

(Optional) Acceptance Letter (Photocopy - You keep the original for your visa application if you are going to China anyway)

(Optional) Other Documents - Essays, Articles, etc. (Original)

COPY SET: - We're not sure if the copy set needs any notarized documents, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

Application (Photocopy)

Letters of Recommendation (Photocopy - but try to get real signatures for both the original and copy sets)

Study Plan (Photocopy - just print out two, one for the original set and the other for the copy set)

Transcript (Unofficial Copy from your school - ask for two)

Diploma (Notarized Copy)

Physical Exam (Notarized Copy)

(Optional) Acceptance Letter (Photocopy)

(Optional) Other Documents - Essays, Articles, etc. (Photocopy - print out another copy)

10. Some loose ends:

- FILL OUT EVERY POSSIBLE PORTION OF THE APPLICATION!

- You are applying as a Chinese language student (not undergraduate, general scholar, etc.).

- You do not need any prior experience or education in Chinese to apply.

- None of us really know how this works - and we've all come to the conclusion that the embassies don't really know either... and even the CSC people themselves don't seem to know. There isn't really one specific thing or another that will screw up everything or make it a sure win. Just follow the directions and stay on the safe side. Tons of people have gotten the scholarship without applying through a joint CSC organization, and no one knows what was done wrong or right.

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APPLYING TO THE SCHOOL - Does it make a difference?

Attaching an admissions letter is not mandatory. Just listing your top choices on the scholarship application is fine. If you get the scholarship, CSC will apply and register to the school chosen for you. We don't know how the CSC people chose which schools. Some people get their first choice, others get their third. Shrug.

Although the application states that you might have a better chance if you apply beforehand, get accepted, and send in your letter of admittance - we have no proof of this. Most people I know did NOT send letters of admittance and they all got the scholarship.

Even though they encourage applicants to apply to their school of choice independently, I, personally, HIGHLY recommend that you DO NOT apply yourself because it could potentially cause a lot of confusion - and you will DEFINITELY end up having been registered twice at the school of your choice (once by yourself and again by CSC), and you'll have to straighten it all out by proving that they are both you and that you want to nullify the one YOU did - because only the one that the CSC created can be used if you want to receive the scholarship. Save yourself the trouble and just let them do it for you.

The only time I would recommend someone to apply to the school first is IF THEY ARE GOING TO CHINA ANYWAY, REGARDLESS OF THE OUTCOME OF THEIR APPLICATION. With the acceptance letter comes other documents with which you can apply for a student visa and prepare to go to China without the scholarship.

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CHOOSING A SCHOOL

This is not a post about comparing schools or getting advice on choosing a school. There are many existing and very informative threads that you can search through at chinese-forums.com. Please be aware that all posts regarding this subject will be removed.

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DEADLINES/DATES [uPDATED]

Deadlines are different depending on country/region, but everyone is notified around the same time towards the end of May/beginning of June.

- USA Deadline - April 30 (If you are applying through a joint-program or your local Chinese embassy, the deadline will be EARLIER (about two weeks) because they also are subject to this deadline.)

- EU Deadline - March 30

- Australia (Melbourne) Deadline - April 14 (I think. I forgot what eloper sent me before I deleted the message....)

- Those who know of definite deadlines of other countries (or if this information isn't entirely correct), please PM me.

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AFTER YOU GET THE CSC SCHOLARSHIP:

Soon after you are notified that you got the scholarship, CSC will send you a package filled with information on the school, an admission letter from that school, a letter reminding you that you must register at the school between certain dates, and the Visa Application Form for Study in China (JW201) already filled out by CSC. All you need to do is get the visa, book your flight, and come to China.

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AFTER YOU GET TO CHINA:

Your school most probably has an airport pick-up service for new students. You'll have to find that out yourself. Once you get to school, registration should be super easy after you make it known that you are scholarship student. The system set up at the majority of the schools for CSC scholarship winners works - and it works well.

TUITION/STIPEND

The CSC must have some in-house, direct system set up with their universities because the schools know who the scholarship students are - and they are never asked to pay any kind of dorm, tuition, or book fees... EVER. You can live like they don't really exist. They even register for you every semester for how long you're covered under the scholarship. The only thing that I could think of that I needed to pay for was the housing deposit which was like 200 RMB - and I got that back when I moved out.

The monthly stipend works differently in each school - Qcash3 wrote about how he got an ATM card for an account they set up for him with money deposited into it towards the end of each month - although he never knows exactly when to expect it. I go to the International Students' office on the 28th of each month and get my stipend in cold, hard cash after I sign my name on the CSC Scholarship stipend list.

You don't have to worry about any of the bills yourself - they take care of all of it for you. You just deal with the stipend money they give you - and you spend that however you want - but it is definitely NOT enough to live a happy life in Beijing. You'll want to come with a bunch of saved cash or another source of income - even if it's small, it'll be enough here because a dollar goes a longggg way.

The stipend is now 1700 RMB a month, increased from 1100, and a normal person will blow that in about a couple weeks or so eating out, exploring the city, buying daily necessities, partying - but it is POSSIBLE to live off just that if you just stay home and study, eat at the cafeteria, and have no life. You'll definitely need and want more than just the stipend - but it does help. So make sure you either have people back at home to send you cash or you find a part-time job. Honestly, having a job while trying to study sucks, but it helps you get out there and be exposed to more of the real, daily China.

You will also get an extra 1500 RMB, increased from 600, when you first arrive to China - and for the months before break/holiday, you will get your stipend for both that month's and the month that school is out. For those who have a scholarship for more than one year, summer breaks ARE included. You will get all the money for the three months of break when you pick up your last stipend before school is out.

HOUSING

The housing provided is the cheapest international students' accommodations the school offers. Usually, it's a tiny room with two desks, two closets, and two beds - without a private bathroom (you use a shared one with the rest of the floor). At some schools you can move to a nicer dorm, even to a single - as long as you pay the difference. However, in ALL cases, if you decide to move off-campus, you will lose the housing money altogether. They will not help you with your rent.

HEALTHCARE/INSURANCE

To those who are anal/paranoid about healthcare or have health problems that would/could/might require frequents visits to a doctor, it is recommended (by Qcash3) that you buy supplementary insurance before you come to China as the insurance that comes with the scholarship will only pay for the school's insurance - which covers only the cheapest hospital around, which is usually the clinic on campus.

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EU APPLICATIONS INFORMATION (thank you times infinity plus one, marcusat)

- The application period is from January to March 30th every year.

- There are 100 CSC scholarships awarded each year.

- Applicants are to take the Physical Examination (by August 10) only after getting the CSC scholarship and receiving their school's admission notice and the visa application in the mail.

- A guarantor is not required.

MEXICO APPLICATIONS INFORMATION [uPDATED] (thank you times infinity plus one, Rubjar)

- Please see post #476 by Rubjar on page 48!

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DIRECT CONTACT INFORMATION and FINDING A GUARANTOR

I am willing to be a guarantor to anyone who needs one, but you must agree to be a guarantor for someone else in the future. I also have the direct contact information for the person in charge of the CSC scholarship at the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C. (and other local embassies that definitely handle CSC applications) and the person who deals with all CSC scholarships for the EU, Singapore, Philippines, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The Ultra Top Secret, Absolutely Brilliant, Effing Kick Ass CSC Contact List is always being added to.

HOWEVER, none of this information will be made public for two main reasons:

1. I refuse to post up my name, phone number, and address in a public forum on the Internet. The same goes for the CSC contacts. I feel that it's not only disrespectful to them but also irresponsible of me to post that kind of information without permission. (I am in the process of compiling a database of important/direct CSC contacts for other countries. If you have information for your region, please PM me - this information will also be treated as sensitive.)

2. I am using this information as bait and incentive for people to post up their experiences to add to our knowledge base in this thread. People have been finding ways to apply and get their applications to the right people in many, many different ways - and each story makes it easier to find out whats going on. Those who do not FIRST post up their experiences, insights, suggestions, etc. will not be given any information. For first timers, start by telling us your story and answering these questions: Where are you applying from? Are you currently in China? What did your local state embassy say? Where and how did you get your papers notarized? Did you apply for your school of choice beforehand? Where did you get your Physical Exam done? Anything about the process you thought might be good for others to know about? Any hiccups you had to work through?

Also, you will request this information and it will be sent to you via private messaging (PM). New members DO NOT have access to this feature until it is switched on by an admin - which I can request for you. But know this, if the feature hasn't been turned on yet, that PROBABLY means that you don't have enough posts to prove that you're not a spammer. In which case, you probably didn't give us "your story/experiences" or interacted with the members of this thread enough for me or others be able (or willing) to help you.

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I strongly encourage others who have received/applied for either a full or partial CSC scholarship to share how they got theirs. The more information we have, the better chances we'll get at learning how to systematically figure out how it all works.

Edited December 13, 2009 at 01:59 PM by extrapages

[Loriquero]

Hi there.

I'm from Colombia; I Also got a CSC Scholarship, that was way simpler than my american/korean forum partner ahead situation xD I was looking for scholarships in the website of the colombian "DoE" aka icetex www.icetex.gov.co

The requeriments was so tedious to fill up, so many papers, letters, translations from spanish to english... but in the end it worths

My schollarship was just "partial" It covers 1 year of mandarin study and 2 years of master degree in Donghua University in Shanghai... The CSC every year offers 6 partial scholarships and 10 partial to Colombian students (this year was like that)... the people who got the complete scholarship, have free accomodation and the monthly stipend; but they didn't tell nothing about plane tickets.

I chose that University cause they were faster than any other university when I was sending emails, besides that, the website was easy to navigate, and the pictures looked great

I'll arrive this week to Shanghai for further info PM me.

PS: sorry about my english

[stheresa]

Hi there, also got a CSC scholarship. I have one question for you or anyone who won the scholarship. Do the guys actually pick you up at the airport?

I really want to know that, if not to be prepared to get by myself to tsinghua daxue after my 11 pm arrival in beijing, pretty scary...

bye bye

steph

[Lupita]

Hey!! I'm from Spain! I received this scholarship! And the process was exactly as you described above... Haha... I know it's all a mess because my friends who got the scholarship last year didn't know what to do... They just told me to be VERY patient and wait until I receive some news about the Chinese Uni and this stuff...

By the veeeery end of July the Embassy of China in Spain gave me all the information about the BNU (this is the Uni I wanted to attend, because I went there for a semester last year, from September 06 to January 07). I got my X visa and my flight (not included in the scholarship, as I'm European xD)...

And now I'm ready to stay in China for a whole year, learn Chinese, travel and meet lots of people xD!!!!!

I'll be arriving to Beijing on the 5th September with my friend Marta (she also has an account here, aka Ursula).

^_^ ^_^

[Loriquero]

Hi steph

I wrote a email to the international student office of my University in Shanghai, and they will pick me up in the airport.

You should write them too

Regards.

[simonlaing]

Hi Extrapages, nice post,

Thanks for giving us the down low. I tried with the Irish scholarship and was rejected. They only have 2 a year I think. I didn't even know the US had these scholarships. How many did they give out did you know?

Congrats on getting it. My European classmates had a great time of it , while I had to teach english at night. I think my level would be different if I had had the scholarship.

Have fun,

SimoN:)

[barb_punk]

hey guys!

i'm from the philippines and i got a full scholarship to study in bnu for a year. i was supposed to apply for it last year but work and other stuff got in the way, so i had to wait until early this year to apply. based on my experience, scholarship applications are rarely easy because it takes a certain kind of dedication to get through all of the requirements (was it just me or was the foreigner's physical exam a bit over the top?). although i had a relatively easy time compared to extrapages.

first, i got the application materials from the china scholarship council (csc) website (www.csc.edu.cn/en). it has all the requirements listed plus the soft copies of the forms to be filled up. then i went to the chinese embassy and submitted all the requirements plus the application form to the cultural attache (who was a super nice guy). after a week, the embassy called me up to say that they have the official hard copy of the application form and that i need to fill it up because that's what they're sending instead of the copy i downloaded off the site (i just printed mine on plain a4 paper). the content is basically the same, only this official form was printed on a nice green paper. they told me to follow up on the last week of may. this all happened february 2007.

i followed up on my application during the last week of may but the people handling the scholarship didn't have news. i called them again on june and the person who answered the phone said that she doesn't know where my application is and that the people handling it flew back to beijing and will return july. at that point, i was just hoping that they went to beijing on official business (read: to fix my application and other peeps' too). when they haven't contacted me yet mid-july, i assumed that my application wasn't considered and resigned myself to applying again next year. finally, they called at the veeery end of july (looks like we had the same experience, lupita) to tell me that i got the scholarship, to pick up my package from the embassy and to fix my visa and the rest of my requirements asap. hahaha! so i've been running around getting my stuff ready.

list of expenses incurred or to be incurred in the course of doing this application:

physical exam stuff (lab exams)

transportation costs (all that shuttling around...)

visa

plane ticket

taxes

insurance (although not sure whether to get one here or in china)

hope this info helps.

simon: the csc has an eu window for european students. you should definitely check that out. they're giving out 100 full scholarships every year from 2007-2011.

loriquero: donghua uni looks interesting. tell us all about it when you get there.

cheers everyone!

[Jamoldo]

If anyone wants to read something more negative, feel free to read about how I DIDN'T get the CSC (some pitfalls to avoid, ie. I don't think my application was even read). Have to admit I did it kind of half-heartedly... To those who did get it though congrats. I could have used a post like that last year, but to those who don't have a clue (like I didn't) it's going to be one hell of a helping hand.

[Qcash3]

qcash. it would be awesome if you could write about how you got your scholarship under the "how i got my csc scholarship" thread.

and this year, there are a bunch of people that got it, too... tell us how it all works! how do they give you the stipend? will the school approach you about the tuition or is it something thats never brought up as long as they know your a scholarship holder? is it, in fact, possible to take the housing money and use that to live outside of the dorms if you choose to? what do you mean it wasnt as organized as you would have liked? what was the worst? the best? tell us tell us!

Ok, my friend you got it. First thing, the way in which I got my scholarship was a little different than the standard application process. One scholarship each year is awarded to my high school Chinese teacher and she chooses one graduating senior in her Chinese class to award it to. Although I did have to fill out the application, everything else was handled by my teacher. Sorry to be of so little help in perhaps what is the most important part of the process. As for your questions addressing the inner workings of the scholarship, that I can help with. Firstly, all of my experiences are with Tsinghua University so I don't know if things will differ with other schools. When you're awarded the scholarship, you will be mailed your visa application form and some papers from the school you are going to stating when you should arrive and all that good stuff. Take these papers and give them to the people who deal with housing arrangements on your campus, from that point they will know that you are a scholarship student and apart from requesting a small deposit (in my case 200元) they will trouble you no further about tuition and housing fees. No, it is not possible to take the housing money and live off campus. The stipend is given once a month, and I can't honestly say that there is any organized system for giving it. It is given in the form of an ATM card where deposit money each month, but I can't say when they will give you money each month. I received the card on October 15th, and they had deposited 2800元 instead of the normal 1100元. I supposed they were making up for the month of September's money and the 600元 one-time "settling in stipend" that they give you. Every month until February I received the money at a different time each month, so I was never really sure when it was going to come. Generally they gave it to me around the 2nd Friday of each month if it was somewhat close to the 15th (the 12th or 13th for example), but if it was like the 10th I would have to wait until the next Friday. This isn't a foolproof system, because they changed it up some months, but it's an approximation. The month of January they will give you a 2800元 stipend, and will not give you one in February as you will be on vacation. When school started back in March, they gave the stipend on March 1st and every month thereafter also on the 1st. Also, be sure to buy supplementary insurance before you go, the scholarship will pay for you to have the school's insurance, but the scholarship will only cover the cheapest hospital around. My biggest problem with them is they tell you none of this before you go, you kinda have to experience it for yourself and are unsure about things for awile.

[xiaomoogle]

Does anyone know if you can apply for this if you're just going to be a language student?

I've looked at the website for Chinese Government Scholarship Program (EU) and where it tells you details about applying it says:

4. A study or research plan written in Chinese or English (no less than 400 words).

(sh) well...I just want to learn Chinese. I'm not doing it as an extension of my degree....I may do an MA at some point, but for now I will just be a language student, can I just leave that study plan out?

Are all the people who got the scholarships on this thread undergradates or general scholars?

Was anyone from the UK?

I need some

[extrapages]

xiaomoogle,

the purpose of the chinese government scholarship program is to financially support students who want to learn chinese... youd just be a language student. everyone i know that received the scholarship is here just learning chinese, as well.

without that study plan, you wont get the scholarship. its an important part of your package and your application would be incomplete without it.

i think youre misunderstanding what this study plan is. its basically a proposal asking for the scholarship because you want to learn chinese, that youll study hard and not waste the governments time and money. write about why you think its important for you to learn chinese and how youre going to use it in the future... what is your PLAN for STUDYING chinese?

and youd apply for the scholarship as a "chinese language student" (not undergraduate, general scholar, etc.)

if youre serious about getting this scholarship, i strongly urge you to read EVERYTHING available on the site pertaining to the scholarship (only the chinese government scholarship - the others are irrelevant if you just want to learn chinese)... its in a bunch of different places, and a lot of it is redundant, but you should really sit down and look through it all.

[extrapages]

yeah.. and i guess i never updated about the plane tickets.

never got them. theyre covered only for scholarship recipients from developing countries. obviously, america isnt on that list.

any questions about the csc scholarship, and ill try to answer them.

but i dont know how helpful my answers will be considering i didnt receive the scholarship through the "normal" process, whatever "normal" means in china. (read first post of this thread)

[xiaomoogle]

Ok, thanks.

I was thinking along the lines of a research dissertation idea... ... now I understand.

It's basically a personal statement. phew

[mavmmv723]

Hello all,

Not to hijack this thread, but if you’re over the age of 35 and just wanted to be a language student, would I even qualify for the scholarship?

[extrapages]

looks like youre out of luck. sorry. =[

copied and pasted from the csc site:

Eligibility

1. Applicants must be non-Chinese nationals in good health.

2. Education background and age limit:

-Applicants for undergraduate studies must have completed senior high school with good grade and be under the age of 25.

-Applicants for master degree studies must have bachelor's degree and be under the age of 35.

-Applicants for Doctoral degree studies must have master's degree and be under the age of 40.

-Chinese language students must have finished senior high school and be under the age of 35, will pursue the major of Chinese language in China.

-General scholar candidates must have completed at least two years of undergraduate studies and be under the age of 45, may pursue all majors besides Chinese language.

-Senior scholar candidates must have master or higher degree or hold academic titles of associate professor or higher, and be under the age of 50.

[mavmmv723]

Ah well, thanks for the reply Extrapages. I did look into it before but I was hoping to hear different. I am still not giving up though.

[bottledpoetry]

Hey hope this thread is still open?

I had some questions about the CSC scholarship - namely, where the heck do I go to find the application? I want to apply as a language student and the money would be a big help.

For the people who have received this - do you know what they looked at most in your application? Is it straight up selection by highest GPA, etc.? I have a 3.5 and I don't know if CSC would be worth applying to with that GPA.

Any help would be great thanks!

[extrapages]

....

you should read the first few posts of this thread

and thoroughly go through the csc site

http://www.csc.edu.cn

the apps are here: http://www.csc.edu.cn/en/chan/chan.asp?cscpid=65&level=2

you want to apply with the top link's form.

---

and since im here anyway...

so i went to the doctor today because of a really bad sinus infection/superchineseflu and i also wanted to get an annual ob/gyn exam (i guess the boys dont need to worry about that one)... and BNU sent me to their on-campus clinic. all i had to pay was 5 mao, and even the meds were covered under the scholarship insurance. the ob/gyn exam, however, couldn't be done on site, so they told me to go to "bei yi san yuan" instead. i was told that ill have to pay first, but that ill get reimbursed.

not the best healthcare - and definitely falling short of western/chaoyang standards, but it does the job.

[Shadowdh]

Ah well, thanks for the reply Extrapages. I did look into it before but I was hoping to hear different. I am still not giving up though.

Hi mate if you have a degree (or even if not) and you just want to learn Chinese as a general scholar then you might be in luck... the cut and paste has... this to say as well...

-General scholar candidates must have completed at least two years of undergraduate studies and be under the age of 45, may pursue all majors besides Chinese language.

[bottledpoetry]

thank you for your help!