Differences between Peking University and Tsinghua University

[Huang Jialuo]

I am very certain, almost completely that I will be going to Beijing city this year's fall semester to further my knowledge of the Chinese Language.

Because of poor timing, I passed on the date for the application deadline PKU. As a result there are no more vacancies.

My second option is Tsinghua U. I have to admit that when I was not able to join PKU I was very devastated.

In any case, I want to know... what are the main and subtle differences between both universities? Will I be missing much from PKU?

Thank you.

[saiyo]

Here is my two cents...

They are both the best universities in China. In some way, I would say Tsinghua is even better than Peking. Since you are going to study language, Peking might be a bit stronger in language courses, since Tsinghua is better known for its sciences and engineering programs -- which, IMHO, are too strong so as to have put Tsinghua's humanities programs into the shadow: considering the famous author Zhu Ziqing once taught Chinese literature at Tsinghua...

All in all, hurry up and try to get yourself into Tsinghua! And they are close to each other, so you won't miss too much fun at both campuses.

[gato]

If you are going there to get a PhD in Chinese, it would make a difference. But if you are still a beginner, the faculty teaching foreigners Chinese is going to be completely different from the school's regular faculty, so it shouldn't matter, and the prestige of either school is not going to matter if you are not getting a degree.

You might also want to consider Beijing Normal University, which seems to have a pretty reputation here for teaching foreigners Chinese.

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/1388-an-interesting-article-from-web-%e5%8d%81%e4%ba%8c%e4%ba%bf%e7%81%ab%e6%98%9f%e4%ba%ba%ef%bc%9a%e4%b8%80%e4%b8%aa2&highlight=tsinghua+bnu

Tsinghua v BNU?