Great Shanghai Experience for students Past Review
By Allan S (Bio, University of California - San Diego) for
Xing Wei College: Shanghai - Semester or Summer in China
I definitely grew from this. I was homesick at first but making new friends and having the staff there really helped. After 4 months, I didn't even want to go home and thought about doing the internship program with IEM. I understand there will always be little issues but it's good that they address them with us and not try to brush us under the rug.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 2 weeks - 1 month |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The academic programs were great because I learned a lot of Chinese business and culture. They also provided a "crash Chinese course" when we first arrived which made the transition so much easier. This course was even in one of the rooms in our dorm building. The professors are really caring and helpful. Some were international so they understand the issues that we would have. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The US office is extremely helpful. I even sent them my passport and they took it over to the visa office for me. They did their best to answer my questions. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
We lived in the dorms and the school remodeled the dorms for international students. This made a huge difference as I saw that Chinese students lived in very tight spaces. It made it easier for us but wasn't so different that Chinese students got jealous. Very simple things that made my stay better. I don't know if this is normal but we got our own private rooms. |
| * Food: |
Shanghai is a HUGE city. Obviously most of the food is chinese so you have to be open minded. Cafeteria was really good and cheap. Food is just cheap in general. Sometimes you want other food though but that makes it a good opportunity to explore |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
We were constantly invited on activities and excursions. There was so much to do so there is just too much to mention. A major highlight though will be the excursion to the great wall. It is truly amazing. You can spend a whole day there. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
China is pretty safe. We were also on the campus and our building had it's own security system and security staff. I didn't worry too much and being with my mentor helped because she knew where to go. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
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Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| Language acquisition improvement? |
The best part of this program is the peer mentor setup. I heard about this from others but our peer mentors were required to do quite a bit with us. They even had us over for dinner at their houses and we ended up having unique local experiences! They did a good job of taking care of us and showing us around. I hear it's hard to meet locals when you are foreigner but this made us quickly make local friends. I could use the Chinese I learned because I was immersed but didn't have to if I was mentally tired because the mentor and staff were so helpful |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
Select all that apply |
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A Look Back
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | IEM's program is growing and they are looking at ways of imrproving. They solicit feedback from a few of us and seem to really be concerned about making changes. |
