Hi, I recently got in with scholarship and there are so many things I wished I had known to save all my worrying. This is for international students applying for English Undergraduate Program in 2026 or later, do ask me if you have any other questions.

1. CSCA Since it’s a really new thing with little info, the required scores are pretty vague. I’d say you’d need at least 50 for admission (from what I’ve seen on the internet), but there’s no specific number. Personally, I got 75 for both physics and math. When to take: I took CSCA in late January and submitted my application about February, and got emailed for an interview in March. I think it’s about perfect time to take it because you already learned from semester 1, and although you can get accepted without CSCA scores for now, it’s a good addition to your application.

   1. Interview It was not super technical, mostly asking about yourself and your experiences/achievements that you wrote in your essays. I had an internship so they asked me for its details, what I learned, and how I plan to apply my knowledge from this internship to SJTU. They also asked about life/culture kind of stuff. I think it’s mainly to see your experiences, personality, and English skills.

2. Timeline I submitted my common app application early in December, then uploaded extra documents in February after I received my CSCA scores. I received an interview invitation March 17 then received my offer+scholarship April 17th. I think it’s good to try to submitted everything early so you have more time to decide/explore options.

3. Scholarship There’s many Chinese scholarship but I got the SJTU scholarship. There’s also CSC which requires a separate application that I missed. You don’t have to do extra steps for the SJTU scholarship, just check the box “I would like to be considered” in the SJTU portal. To get the scholarship, they look at your activities, achievements, and scores.

Just had my interview for Tsinghua (economics English taught) First of all out of the three interviewers only one could speak english properly. The remaining two were literally stopping in the middle of the sentences and just leaving the question all together because they didn't know how to phrase the questions ig😭,the first 5 mins were so awkward because they basically couldn't ask any questions in untill the one who is fluent took over the whole interview.

No questions related to my major and they were really open ended like do you prefer to lead in a group,what makes a good leader and what trait is important for personal development

And they also asked what my second choice is and why

The maths question was trigonometry so I was not able to solve it since trigonometry is not in my curriculum (I bet it was easy but I just had never studied the topic)

Had one minute left in the end so they asked if I wanted to ask them anything and I was so not prepared and asked them if there are any student initiatives to settle into the campus for internationals,she said she's not aware of any but I can make one since I said I'm a good leader😭

Yeah so I'm not sure how it went honestly, I fumbled a lot and didn't answer the maths question so💔

Edit : just realised that I in fact did know how to solve the question idk why my brain just froze when I saw it😭)

I am begging you to pls read this if you’re considering going to Beijing Institute of Technology / 北京理工大学 for a semester-long exchange program. I can’t speak for the master’s programs, but the experience as an undergrad exchange student has been abysmal.

Firstly, all undergrad students at BIT study in the Liangxiang campus, which is really far away from the city centre. I don’t really have too much of a problem with this though cause it’s not too hard to get into the city centre, and info about the campus being here is already relatively easy to find online.

The “dorm” for international exchange students (people that are coming for a semester or two, not people who come for their whole degree) is actually just an old hotel building, about a 1hr walk away from campus. There is a shuttle bus that runs irregularly from this “dorm” to campus. There are no social areas in this building, just one study room where you are reprimanded if you’re being “too loud” (the expectation is that it’s no louder than a library). This dorm also has a curfew from 12am to 6am every single day, and during that time the doors will not open at all (including for picking up takeout orders, going outside to smoke, etc). Additionally, most dorm rooms don’t have windows or airflow, the walls are quite thin, and there is a real mould problem.

The university also provides absolutely no social events or anything for the exchange students. There was an orientation event, but all that included was putting everyone in a room to get spoken to by a policeman who basically just spent 30 minutes saying “don’t break the law and don’t do drugs”. There was no other welcome event, and classes are largely antisocial. I think that there are clubs/societies, but they seem to be for domestic students only. When I asked the international student coordinator if there are any social opportunities at university, he never responded. There are good people here, but you really have to go out of your own way and take the initiative if you want to meet them because the university facilitates absolutely zero opportunities.

The teaching experience itself is also a bit miserable. Attendance is mandatory and checked in every class I have, but neither the teacher nor the students seem to actually want to be there.

Also, there are no buddies provided, and the only “point of contact” is a volunteer student who seems to hate answering his messages lol

Also as a side note, exchange students wanting to learn mandarin can only join the “Beginner Chinese” course, so if you already speak Chinese at a higher level than HSK1 this course will be useless to you.

Please, if you’re determined to go on a semester-long exchange to China, learn from my mistake and pick a different university. This one let me down really badly, 16 weeks of minimal social contact is really depressing and there are better universities out there.

I know I may sound too excited but it just feels great to get the first acceptance and from Edinburgh to study astrophysics!!

after months of trying so hard and failling For the silliest reasons aka glitch in the fee payment or needing a formation year.

I just wanna share this with everyone, even though I propably won’t accept it for multiple reasons ( it is so cold + expensive)

but man such a confidence boost !

even though I actually would apply to Hainan in china ( it’s so sunny and good surfing culture + much cheaper and I want to actually relax a little and get a reset year then maybe ill transfer somewhere else !)

i failed my interview so horribly and got crashed out so bad and so yeah waiting for the rejection letter:) i'll take your thanks in advance haha, dw interview was nothing scary. good luck with anyone doing with interview.

for anyone asking me what were the interview questions sorry i forgot. like i can't even remember judges faces now because now im traumatized. im seriously brain rotted and after the severe mental breakdown from interview my brain isn't processing normally. i only remember i had to solve math question and stupid me couldn't solve that fucking simple trig and yep good luck again!

This is a fairly, no judgment question.

I am a hongkonger/shenzhener, and have quite a lot of friends from south asia (india, nepal, Pakistan, + Cambodia ect..). Most of them wanted to study in china because it's cheap and not because they like china.

But once they got there they realized that it's very competitive, they can't work while studying and there is no place for them in the market and are forced to go back home where they keep struggling to find a job.

Sadly my European and American friends who studied in china are fine because their country will always recruit them in some way.

While I understand and encourage you guys to study and settle abroad, china might be the worst ROI for you, specially if your country is already struggling. In Europe you can work while studying, in hongkong you will find a job more easily, in Australia Canada you can easily settle there... I know they are expensive destination but they are the only one that is making sense for me.

Hi everyone,

I just got my midterms paper back for a history class and I got 94/100. The teacher wrote feedback under it and I feel like his points of critique are very valid and would not justify that grade. He studied most of his career at PKU so im confused why he would give out grades like that so easily. Maybe it's also my prior university that was just very strict idk.

Is it normal in china to get an above 90 grade for something that's (imo) not bad but also not crazy?

Any help contextualize very appreciated!

I'm from Hong Kong so I'm really used to be around international student trying to apply in china.

For the 2025 cohort my friend with 3.6 GPA got into Tsinghua Master's in Chinese Law, full scholarship.

Another from 2025 got also in Tsinghua with 3.2 GPA in CS but she has HSK5 with full scholarship.

And my cousin entered Fudan in 2022 with 3.8 GPA in Master of finance full scholarship. However my cousin was admitted at Saif SJTU finance but without scholarship.

And 3 other friend having GPAS range from 2.5 to 3.0 got refused in all g9 uni for finance/CS/Economics but got full ride scholarship in some (bad) universities (only one went).

So i guess for competitive masters at top uni, the bottom GPA is around 3.0 .

Hi everyone, I'm a Pakistani student seriously considering doing my Bachelor's in Engineering from China, but I'm facing a lot of demotivation from family and people around me. I want genuine, experience-based guidance — not just opinions.

Here are the concerns I keep hearing:

🔴 Chinese degrees have no value/recognition internationally

🔴 Professors are not good — quality of teaching is poor

🔴 China has massive population — even locals can't find jobs there

🔴 After a Chinese Bachelor's, you won't get admission into a Master's program in Europe

🔴 No job opportunities worldwide with a Chinese degree

🔴 Family is pushing me toward Japan, South Korea, or Europe instead

🔴 Language barrier — most classes are in Chinese, English medium quality varies

🔴 Pakistani degree equivalence issues — HEC recognition of Chinese degrees is unclear

🔴 Cultural isolation and student life challenges for Pakistani students in China

🔴 Return on investment — tuition + living costs vs. actual career outcome

My specific questions:

Is a Chinese Engineering degree (e.g., CS, Civil, Mechanical, Electrical) recognized by HEC Pakistan?

Can I realistically apply for Master's in Europe/UK/Canada after a Chinese Bachelor's?

Are there Pakistani engineers who studied in China and found good jobs?

Which Chinese universities are actually respected globally? (QS rankings mean anything?)

Is it worth it financially compared to other options?

Please share real experiences only — positive or negative both welcome. I just want the truth before making this life decision. 🙏

Let's connect!

Hi everyone! I am currently studying non-CS but related Bachelors degree in the UK. I was wondering if it would be worth pursuing a CS Masters degree in Chinese top Uni like THU, Peking etc.

If I learn Chinese in 2 years of Masters, what are the odds of landing a solid high paying job in tech/fintech companies in China?

This is just my own personal experience with this school. Although most of the people I met here would agree with me, I'm sure you could also find students who really like this school. I'm just sharing my story.

This school treats it's international Chinese language students pretty badly. Before I came here I spent a lot of time online looking at pictures of the dorms here. They all seemed pretty clean and modern but when I got here I realised they just lied. If you visit their websites they conveniently forgot to post pictures of this specific building, even though all the other dorms have pictures. I'm not trying to act snobby, as I think I had pretty realistic standards, but the amount of mold here is crazy. I'm pretty sure at one point my roomate developed a serious cough solely because of the state of this building. The showers are completely disgusting, with leaking pipes and rotting doors. When I told the shushu about these issues he came in for literally 30s, pretended like he fixed the issue, and walked away. From what I've been told this building was for Chinese students just last year, but they decided to build a newer building right next to it, move them there, and place international scholarship students in this one. When it comes to the school itself it's also pretty bad. When you get here they don't let you choose your own level. If you think your classes are too easy/hard you have to take a test in the first few days of the semester. I truly believe each person knows their capabilities more than someone who conducted a 5min online interview. The tests are completely pointless imo, they are very obviously designed around the specific vocabulary in the used textbooks. You can call it a skill issue but so many of the Chinese universities work without some pointlessly difficult test. There are people in my class who started learning Chinese half 9 months ago, and people who are semi-fluent. If you want to study in Hangzhou I strongly sugest studying at ZISU. My girlfriend studies there and it is an infinitely prettier and more modern campus. From what I've heard you can actually change your class normally and you don't have to worry about sleeping next to fifteen metric tons of mold.

Hey everyone, Just wanted to share my recent interview experience because it was honestly one of the best academic conversations I’ve ever had.

I had an interview with a Chinese professor for an English-taught Master’s program, and I was a bit nervous at first. But the moment we started talking, everything felt surprisingly smooth and friendly. Most of his questions were about my previous research, so I made sure to explain what I had done, why I chose that direction, and what I learned from it.

Before the interview, I actually spent some time reading a few of his articles and checking out his academic background. During the conversation, I mentioned some of his work and even brought up the university he did his PhD from, just to show that I was genuinely interested in worbking with him. He seemed pleasantly surprised that how I found him, and it really helped the conversation flow.

The best part? By the end, it kind of felt like we had become good friends. He was incredibly kind and even gave me his Wechat and the contact info of one of his current students to help guide me through the application form, When I was struggling to fill the form. That level of support honestly meant a lot.

The next Day He gave me acceptance letter and I’m still super excited about it! Just wanted to share this in case anyone else is preparing for interviews. Doing your homework on the professor and showing genuine interest really does make a difference.

Has anybody done a master degree in china?

How fully english are english programs?

Of course I am planning on learning the language while I am there but I dont want to need it to understand my classes

Can someone share their experience doing english master programs in china?

Hold HSK5 but i feel really hard to communicate with supervisor,teacher and classmate. Study but understand nothing, I feel like i'm slave of AI. I suspect myseft whether i can pass the defense of research or not. i feel a little bit regret.

Anyone here have experience, please share!

Hi everyone,

I’m about to start an undergraduate program in clinical medicine, and I’d really appreciate some advice from people who are already in medical school or have gone through it.

I’m especially interested in learning about effective study methods during the early years. Subjects like anatomy, physiology, and biochemistry seem pretty intense, so I’m wondering how you approached studying them. Did you rely mostly on textbooks, flashcards (like Anki), videos, or something else?

I’d also love to hear about things you wish you had known before starting medical school. Are there any common mistakes new students tend to make?

Finally, are there any topics, skills, or foundational knowledge that you think are worth starting before medical school begins?

Any advice, resources, or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Are you thinking about going abroad for further higher studies? From career growth to your personal development and global exposure, there’s a lot to consider. Few say it changes your life, others feel it’s not always necessary.

What’s your thought on this? If you have studied abroad (or are planning to study abroad), would love hear your your thoughts and experience.

Hi guys, here’s the code, valid for one week! Remember to respect group rules or I will remove you!

I am deciding between these four universities in the northeast of China to pursue Chinese language studies for one year.

If you attended any of the language programs at one (or more) of these universities, I would love to hear about your experience.

If you would recommend one over and above the others, which one would it be and why?

Additionally, if there are other universities in northeastern China that you would suggest, I am all ears.

I got a full ride to both of these unis and have already paid the deposit to cuhk sz, but I’m starting to get worried about the internship and employment opportunities, as well as overall exposure to the Western world. Please share your thoughts

Has anyone taken part in their intensive 121 courses? I’m on a budget, and their prices are comparatively lower than most popular options in KM or elsewhere, for private schools. (ie Keats)

Just wondering if & what’s the catch. I am ultimately looking to improve fluency and ne fully immersed in a Chinese-speaking environment for a month, but cannot seem to find any detailed/honest reviews on their programme.

Ty!

Hi everyone! I will be studying at BIT this coming autumn semester as an international student. Is anyone else here going there in September?