Choosing Shanghai uni, I want your wise advice :)

[renao]

Hey folks! I'm a 23 year old swede and I will go to Shanghai in the beginning of 2013 to learn mandarin, and I've been trying to find out as much as i can about all the unis. Quality seems pretty good in most. But location differs a lot. I really want to be close to all stuff happening and that leaves out Fudan and ECNU. Then I have these, and this is what I've understood about them:

JiaoTong - expensive, central, good quality, international campus far away from the local students

TongJi - most central, good quality

DongHua - central, medium quality, other students mostly asian

Shanghai Normal Uni- not as central, good opportunities to mix with chinese students

Ok, so the questions, and I don't think you guys can answer all of them, but any reply will make happy, haha. Also, I will probably take one level above newbie since I by then will have studied chinese for one year and a half already

- How are opportunities to mix with chinese students?

- What kind of people attend the chinese classes? Asian/Westeners/Others , partygoers/serious people ?

- Since I'd like to live in an appartment rather than dorms provided by the school, I wonder about prices and availability on apartments in the area

- are there lots of other classes you can attend like calligraphy, chinese cooking, material arts and such?

And if you have something to add please doooo, like my assumption about quality, stuff i wrote that is not right, etc.

Cool, have a good day, 拜拜

[pprendeville]

Not very relevant but I think the guy who runs Hacking Chinese website is a Swede. Worth contacting him.

[esoyohoo]

If you could, you'd better to choose JiaoTong . JiaoTong and Fudan are the top 2 university , Tongji is in Rank 3.

- How are opportunities to mix with chinese students?

If you go to Jiaotong or Tongji , which campus will you be in ?

- What kind of people attend the chinese classes? Asian/Westeners/Others , partygoers/serious people ?

- Since I'd like to live in an appartment rather than dorms provided by the school, I wonder about prices and availability on apartments in the area

it's eary to rent a apartment, normal price is approx. 5000 RMB （2 rooms , 100 square meter ）

- are there lots of other classes you can attend like calligraphy, chinese cooking, material arts and such?

you can check with the local students, you maybe not be possible to choose these classes, but you can attend these classes. (BTW, I don't think there's course regarding to Chinese cooking in the university.)

[anonymoose]

I think Jiaotong University is more central than Tongji, although both have good transportation links to the centre of the city. I'm not too familiar with Tongji, but Jiaotong is in Xujiahui, which in itself is a very lively part of the city, near shops and also Hengshan Road where many foreigners like hanging out. Most undergraduate students at Jiaotong study at a campus in the suburbs, so there is fairly limited opportunity for mixing with local students. Of all the universities, Jiaotong is probably in one of the more expensive parts of the city in terms of renting apartments. You'd be looking at about 3000 yuan per month minimum for a one bedroom appartment (with living room, kitchen and bathroom). You may be able to find something for cheaper if you are willing to stay in a really small or poor condition place, but if you want comfort, then you will be getting close to 4000 yuan.

As for Shanghai Normal University, you would be in the same campus as the local students so there would be more opportunities to get to know them. Also, Shanghai Normal is not one of the top unis in Shanghai which means that the local students are probably not as uptight (study machines) as in the likes of Jiaotong, Fudan and so on. The location is not too bad, but I'd say the main disadvantage is that it is not too close to any metro stations which means that you'd either be walking for 15 mins each time, or restricted to using the buses. On the other hand, the location is cheaper than Jiaotong.

[renao]

Thanks for the replies guys really appreciate it!

About apartments, I wouldn't have anything against sharing apartments. So if I only rent a room that would be much cheaper, does anyone know what prices we're looking at then? Could it drop down to 2-3000 yuan and still be central?

And about walking 15 min, is it possible to have a push bike or is it too crowded? I don't like waiting for buses, and if it's only 15 minutes I rather walk. But even better if you can ride a bike.

[yialanliu]

Shanghai Normal is not a good uni. (Cannot be compared to the other 3). The top normal uni in Shanghai is Huashida which is East China Normal and that's the 4th spot for Shanghai.

[JCJC]

I have heard good things about SISU. Good teachers and good class size.

Does anyone have any comments on Shanghai Maritime University?

[Mandarin_House]

For learn mandarin:

FUDAN

Shanghai Normal Uni

JiaoTong

TongJi

DongHua

Shanghai Maritime University

[maddalenapetrucci]

There si someone that will go to Shanghai Normal University in September?