CSC Scholarship - 2013 American/EU Applicants

[smossey88]

@Atticus 14

There are a limited number of partial scholarships available at PKU for the MIR as far as last year. I was awarded a partial scholarship, and I believe this was a new thing from the University. I turned it down, because I didn't have enough money to pay for the program and got funding elsewhere. My guess is if this still exists it will cover your housing, health insurance, and give you the stipend. Doubtful it will cover the 60,000 tuition RMB though. I did not go so this is not entirely truth but my accommodations were supposed to be very different than most MIR students making me think they were not of the best quality.

[Atticus14]

@brianUS

thanks so much, this is great info.

Actually I was wondering whether you have heard of CSC scholarships being tied to other national scholarships? Meaning these "dispatch authorities" in some cases aren't just local embassies but rather national educational institutions who also have their own scholarships which would supplement the CSC scholarship. In these cases applications are forwarded from those national institutions with a "recommendation" to the CSC in which case it seems like that might have a positive effect on the chances?

[Atticus14]

@smossey88

thanks smossey for the info. This has me hoping.

Did you only apply for PKU that year or also other programs?

I know that the MIR program at Tsinghua for example is only 30,000 RMB and is definitely open to the CSC scholarship and even some others. How come you never considered that? May I also ask where it is that you study now and whether doing this MPA has allowed you to gain some insight to the way in which other institutions view these English Masters in China?

In terms of your question with regards to internships where Chinese would be an asset: Where would you want to do such an internship? Those few opportunities where you can actually use your Chinese in an internship posititon require a solid working level and in some of the others it's just a plus on the application mostly. I mean it depends on how much Chinese you already know at this point, but if you want to achieve a working level of Chinese, as BrianUS pointed out, it takes a very long time. If you are, however, looking for a foot in the door in terms of competitive applications to internships in the short-run (while then being more flexible towards other options to expand your knowledge of Chinese after, seeing that you want to finish your MPA and the internship) I would say getting to a level of the newHSK 5 is totally doable in one year full-time study and it looks very strong in an application to any internship.

In terms of city and university choice: I have heard some people say Beijing isn't the best place since there are so many Expats and foreigners, but you will always be with foreigners everywhere you study Chinese as a foreign language. It therefore depends entirely on the extent to which you would like to immerse yourself in the culture and to what extent you just wanna hang out with other foreigners all the time. In terms of the language, Beijing (and the Northeast generally) would actually be a plus, since the local dialects aren't as common and different from Putonghua. Also, Beijing is just an amazing city to live in ;) Having a more renowned university (of which there aren't many, internationally speaking) obviously doesn't hurt either and their programs are generally good as far as I've heard from friends (e.g. PKU and Tsinghua being preferred to BLCU and the like; maybe it was just elitism speaking though)

[BriunG]

Hello, can I request guarantor information please? Thank you!

[bagpipes1000]

I noticed on last years page, there was a lot of discussion about not merely applying to the EU/Member State embassy for the CSC Scholarship on its own. Rather, applying directly to your preferred universities, securing a place, and then somehow having a recommendation from those institutions so as to influence your CSC application. ZhangKaiRong, I think you were in that discussion...what do you think?

[bagpipes1000]

*CGS (not CSC...whoops)

See here for details: http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/37797-csc-scholarship-results-2012/page__st__200

@diste01 mentions "your application gets directly to uni for evaluation.Via Embassy it's hit and miss."

How exactly does this communication work? I send my files to EU embassy next Jan/Feb with preferred uni's selected. At same time/beforehand I apply to preferred universities for Chinese Language One Year Course. How does the university have an influence on the CGS process?

I would have thought applying directly to universities = beneficial if you are seeking the uni specific scholarship, not the CGS one.

Can anyone clear this up for me?

[bagpipes1000]

NB: For those like myself, applying for Non-degree Chinese Language program, the Shanghai Government Scholarship is not an option. Only GCS or local government or university specific scholarships are available. E.g. Ludong University New Student Scholarship: provided by Shandong Province and Ludong University to reward the outstanding students who study One-Year Chinese Language Program (Spring Semester) and One-Year Chinese Language Program (Autumn Semester) (SOURCE: http://school.cucas.edu.cn/HomePage/228/2011-10-13/page_6048.shtml)

I presume this is what @diste01 was on about. Apply to your embassy (Member State or up at EU level) for the GCS. But also apply for uni specific schemes. But I still don't understand how the uni's can exert influence on the GCS process.....

[Brian US]

Actually I was wondering whether you have heard of CSC scholarships being tied to other national scholarships?

If you mean scholarships, like the Confucius Institute, I'm pretty sure they get their funding through the CSC.

[Atticus14]

@brianUS

hm I mean national agencies. I guess it's a pretty unique case, but I know that one of the big European organizations does this in cooperation with the CSC, i.e. you go through a process there and if you are admitted by them they send you're application to the CSC with a recommendation and will end up giving even more in addition to CGS support. If you aren't selected they'll still send you documents to CSC where you'll just be a normal applicant.

[spock]

I've been looking through the pages of this forum and I'm still having some doubts.

I know it's hard to tell how i can increase my chances of getting scholarship but I really want to know your opinion

I really want to study in China to pursue master degree but because of the fact I can't afford it scholarship is the only option for me

Is it ok to apply for Chinese Government Scholarship and Shanghai P. Scholarship at the same time ?

I know I can choose only one but is it ok to apply for two just in case ?

I have a question about Preferences of Higher education in China in my application :

Is it better to write down universities in big cities like Beijing, Nanjing, Shanghai ? or is it better to write universities in smaller cities ?

Someone on this forum wrote that Preferences are optional, I want to apply for scholarship through chinese university is it ok if I will write down on my application two other universities I consider to study ???

Does anyone know how important guarantor is ?I don't know anybody in China, can I still get scholarship ?

[Atticus14]

@spock

The admission at Tsinghua said it was fine to apply to all available scholarships at the same time (in that case: CSG, Beijing Government scholarship, and Tsinghua University scholarship)

[smossey88]

@Atticus14

Wow thank you so much for all the information! I currently feel very overwhelmed to put it lightly, but I think things will all work out! My hope is to have all my coursework done by this summer, and with luck be in China next year studying the language. I have come across many sites offering Internships and the like but I don't really trust many of them. Ideally I would just like to wait(de-stress a little), and perhaps while I am in Beijing look around for potential internship opportunities in Public Adminsitration/Politics/Finance/Management. Ideally I would like to do something for around 20 hours/week while studying for my language courses. I need 600 hours total to finish my internship, and get my degree so about 30 weeks of work . I suppose timing is really the issue. I know that if I'm accepted for the scholarship I will go to China this time around, but I would like to enhance my experience in the meantime, and kill two birds by doing my internship. I'd rather not have to come back to the states and worry about finishing my Master's degree, but would rather finish it over there. Way in the future I may even consider my PhD at Renmin, or staying in China to learn the language...but that is way in the future at this point.

As far as your question about PKU it was the only school I applied to, but I would DEFINITELY apply to Tsinghua. Not only is it cheaper, but as you said they are more generous with the scholarship, or so I have heard. I applied to PKU before even knowing about the CSC scholarship, but if I could have done things over I would have applied to Tsinghua as well. I think that if you go through the CSC your application is also free(up to three universities), but you may want to ask a better source or search the forums for that answer more. I don't know if your chances go up if you apply beforehand on your own.

Currently I study at the University of New Hampshire, and if you want the "blunt" answer I was given it was to not go to China for my degree. This was also from a top Political Science professor in the field. I don't think this is entirely true, but most of the faculty I spoke to before applying and currently tend to frown upon it. However, I can't understand how a field like International Relations that would look worse? Public Administration with my focus in International Relations makes me In my opinion have to know the language. However, when I mention interning over there, and going to study the language they jump for joy and think it is a great idea. Feel free to message me any time if you want to know more. As I'm a graduate assistant my time to check these forums is limited, and I forget unless I'm reminded .

[Rolander]

Hi,

I'm going to graduate from school next year and would like to do a 1 year language course in china after that (I've been learning chinese for the lastb 2.5 years in school and hope to bring it to a somewhat usable level). Since I'm going to recieve my final report card after the deadline (june) should I try applying with my next report card ( getting it in January). On the csc website it says that applicants must have a "high school diploma". Do I just have to have it before I would start studying in fall, or is it mandatory for applying?

Any information on this would be appreciated.

[Brian US]

Is it ok to apply for Chinese Government Scholarship and Shanghai P. Scholarship at the same time ?

I know I can choose only one but is it ok to apply for two just in case ?

I'm pretty sure the CSC says not to apply to another scholarship, but I think you should be fine.

Is it better to write down universities in big cities like Beijing, Nanjing, Shanghai ? or is it better to write universities in smaller cities ?

Not sure, but it might help to write in schools from smaller cities or less famous.

Does anyone know how important guarantor is ?I don't know anybody in China, can I still get scholarship ?

I'll send you guarantor information you may use.

@Rolander

Just send your current transcript and if you can, your high school diploma. Depending on where you are applying from, I would assume they know you graduated from high school if you have been at university for several years.

[Rolander]

@Brian US

The problem is I haven't graduated yet from school, I will do so next year though (German "Abitur"), but after the deadline.

So my question is: Can I still apply even if I don't have a high-school diploma when I apply? Is it enough if you have it before the semester starts in fall?

[Brian US]

@Rolander

I don't know, so best bet is to contact the Chinese embassy directly in your country. You can also try contacting schools in China directly.

[samosx]

Planning to get the scholarship this year and do a master degree Software Engineering at Tsinghua. Going to get a recommendation from a proffesor hope it helps me get the scholarship

When can we start to apply for the scholarship? Is it already possible? I'm going to register for tsinghua this month.

[smossey88]

So as I look things over I suppose another options presents itself and I don't know what to do. Can I apply twice to the scholarship or is that in general a bad idea. One application would be for Chinese language for two years, and the other for a PhD in Public Administration? I'm not sure whether to apply for one/both, or to just try for the PhD program as I'm sure two years language training may be tacked on? However, it seems getting the scholarship for language alone is far more likely, and learning the language is step 1 in my process. Any advice would be greatly appreciated?

also seconding samosx post, can we send the application now? Or should we wait till January 1st?

[Brian US]

@samosx

Depends on the deadline. I applied in February in the states.

@smossey88

You are probably more likely to get the scholarship if you apply with the language and the PhD program. Basically it comes down to the applicant pool, more people applying for language, less for PhD.

For applying, depends on the deadline, but if it's March-April deadline you can start applying January or February.

[OOPRCT]

As an applicant to the language scholarship I do NOT need an admission letter, letters of reccomendation correct? And since I am currently a university student, what should I send in as a diploma?