Tsinghua University & Beijing: Surprisingly Fabulous! Past Review
By Luyang L (Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology., Barnard College) for
Tsinghua University: Beijing - Direct Enrollment & Exchange
Absolutely. Before the program, I knew almost nothing about Chinese culture and customs. Now, I'm considering moving to China after I graduate.
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. |
In some classes at my study abroad university, there is only one real assignment (outside of class participation, attendance, etc.), and this one assignment is by and large the greatest factor in determining one's grade for the semester. This puts a lot more pressure on the students to ensure that they are keeping up throughout the semester. Other classes are organized in ways quite similar to the classes I'm used to: problem sets throughout the semester, midterm and a final. Teaching methods are quite similar: lecture, PowerPoint slides, seminar discussion, homework assignments, etc. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The program has a lot to offer the students, in terms of leading us to the local tourist hotspots and taking us traveling during one of the holidays. The program leader that we were most in contact with was also very good about lending an ear or offering advice, but administratively, she did not seem very organized. But that might have been due to the random nature of the program, where she often had to check in with each one of students to see our availability and thus plan events. Thus, it might be better if the program was more streamlined, for greater ease of communication between the coordinator and the students. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Housing was on campus, very convenient. However, because the dorm housed only international students, sometimes it felt like we weren't even in China, because the dominant language was English, or even Korean. |
| * Food: |
Basically no accommodation of dietary restrictions, but excellent quality of food, very clean spaces and utensils, and the food was very, very affordable. Definitely dine on campus if you can eat Chinese food. It has the best guarantee of inexpensiveness combined with quality and deliciousness. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
I really enjoyed the program-arranged trip to Yellow Mountain, as well the tons of activities during orientation. Going to karaoke was also fun. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
Be careful of where you put your belongings. My friend's bag was stolen from right beside him in an outdoor restaurant. Healthcare was easily accessible; without any insurance, it was also far cheaper than US health care. I think I needed typhoid and Hep A vaccines prior to going to China. |
| 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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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | unknown, only kept track of total expenses |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Unanticipated expenses: hospital bills, many administrative fees, restaurants and entertainment outside of campus can be very, VERY expensive Students usually end up spending more than they planned - I know most of my friends and I did. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Intermediate |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | N/A |
| Language acquisition improvement? |
I could practice Chinese with my tutors, other students in the program, and, to a smaller extent, classmates. The host language was needed in everyday interactions, but most people could at least speak varying levels of English, so it wasn't too difficult to communicate if I forgot or just didn't know how to say certain words. |
| 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?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Chinese Culture |
| Course Department: | Tsinghua University International Chinese Language and Culture Center |
| Instructor: | |
| Instruction Language: | Chinese |
| Comments: | The Language Center offers courses to international, non-native speakers of Chinese. This particularly class is offered at the same time to Advanced (levels I, II, III) students. I was placed into Advanced II, so as a result, this class was not particularly challenging to me. But the teacher was very dedicated and went far beyond the scope of the established curriculum/outline in teaching us as much about Chinese culture as possible. She was very knowledgeable and also very prepared. This course was very valuable to me as somehow with little previous knowledge of Chinese culture. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | unknown |
| Course Name/Rating: |
1966-1976: Chinese Cultural History (Cultural Revolution) |
| Course Department: | Philosophy/History Department 00612342 |
| Instructor: | Professor Tang |
| Instruction Language: | Chinese |
| Comments: | This professor is amazing! As a Marxism expert, he was super passionate about teaching very aspect of the Cultural Revolution, from both a historical and a philosophical perspective. The outline of the course is super well-organized and developed, and each week after class, the professor plays a semi-optional movie that is in somehow related to the course content, to show us cultural portrayals of the Cultural Revolution, as well as its impact on film culture. The sole assignment is a 3000-5000 word synopsis and analysis of an interview with someone who lived through the Cultural Revolution. The only downside of the class is that the teacher speaks super fast and has a pretty strong accent, so it might be difficult for foreign students to understand what he is saying (I know it was very difficult for me, at least at first). |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | unknown |
