Summer Study in Beijing

[Eurydice]

So, I, like everyone else and their mothers, have been studying Chinese. And I, like everyone else, have been applying to various summer study programs in China. On the top of the list are Princeton in Beijing and Harvard-Beijing Academy.

Well, to make a long story short, I've been accepted to both, and now I'm reliving the drama of not knowing what to choose. And while I really like HBA for all the cool stuff it offers (insurance, field work, a WORK-FREE fifth week for traveling, etc.), I'm inclined to think that its academic standard is not exactly on par with PiB. As my main purpose for going to China is to, in fact, learn Chinese, it seems like PiB would be a better choice.

Can anyone please give me some advice on this? I'm really wishy-washy when it comes to decision making... I know bro Khang, bro Binh, and others know a lot about these programs.

Of course, Yale might just make my life easier by deciding not to give me money to go. But let's not go there.

[Chu Lan Anh]

Mai, this is not related to your question, but I thought Princeton in Beijing has financial aid??? Why ask from Yale?

Also, will both programs be at Beijing(Peiking) university? If yes, I may see you around since I'll be there from June 23rd - Aug 5th.

[Eurydice]

In my warped mind, asking for financial aid is like begging to be rejected. Besides, Yale has the money to spare. It's cheapstake enough not to have its own program...

I don't think either program will be at Beida. I will, however, see you for sure if I go

[khang]

PiB will be at Beijing Shifan Daxue (aka Bei Shi Da or Beijing Normal University or Dai Hoc Su Pham Bac Kinh).

PiB gives out financial aid to non-Princetonians too, but maybe not 100%, I dont know for sure.

PiB is definitely THE place to learn Chinese. Dont worry, there will be time for lotsa fun. I took tai-chi and shu-fa classes in PiB (though I was lazy and sorta stopped going after a while).

PiB is famous for free week-end trips too. Great Wall is just one of the many trips. Then twice a week you get free lunch at a fancy-to-decent restaurant around the area. You'll get unlimited great food at no cost basically.

Then come the folks. You'll make Chinese and American friends ... in Chinese.

And ... the much talked about closing ceremony's Talent Night.

PiB should be fervently looked forward to once you've been admitted as there is just no other better alternative.

[San]

From what I have heard they all rely on the Beijing Language and Culture University program.

Congratulation Chi Mai! :p, I am too broke to attend either programs.

[MUWCI]

To Mai:
- According to the PiB coordinator, the professor who initiated Harvard-Beijing Academy was a Princetonian. He was in fact a student of Chou laoshy, the director of PiB. After graduating from Princeton, he became a professor at Harvard and organized HBA there. Hence, one might say that HBA is a just an imitation of PiB.
- As you can see, PiB is academically better than HBA. Beijing Normal is apparently the best university in China in regards to pedagogical methods.
- Again, according to the PiB coordinator, the HBA faculty are pretty much older than those of PiB (from 25 to 30 years old). I would say working with young (but still well-trained) teachers would be much more enjoyable (Lots of Princetonian had a crush with their PiB teachers !!&#33.
- If you want to have some Vietnamese friends while in Beijing, there would be bro Tung and me in PiB (and LAnh also).

To LAnh: PiB encourages students from other schools to seek for financial aid from their own schools.

[KP]

4 in Beijing this summer? Craziness...

[Eurydice]

Oh wow, all this Princetonian support... Well, no love for Harvard, and really, I can't say I'm sorry :p However, I have to be fair and say this in defense of HBA: I hear their accomodations rather surpass those of HBA. Creature comforts matter... Maybe I should be innovative and pick HBA anyway. Then we'll know for sure next year

My only concern now is that I might spend the whole summer speaking Vietnamese instead of Chinese...

Dieu: It's not my money. It's Yale money either way.

Binh: Woah, you confuse me. If the director of HBA is a student of the PiB director, wouldn't that make the HBA faculty, well, younger than PiB's?

[Chu Lan Anh]

Originally posted by Eurydice@Feb 9 2006, 04:37 PM
My only concern now is that I might spend the whole summer speaking Vietnamese instead of Chinese...

Haha very likely if you join PiB with Tung and Binh.

Well, being innovative is good but I hope you dont let that be the only reason to favor HBA. No matter what, we should have a get-together in Beijing.

Good luck with your decision and see you all there.

[KP]

Chi Mai raised a critical point.

I have to admit that my Chinese improvement was slowing down a bit after I joined the Vietnamese gang in Nanjing...karaoke, sleeping over, cooking food and eating out together were fun though . As long you get together "điều độ", you'll be fine.

Plus, I think PiB will kick you out if the supervisors hear anything other than Chinese .

[MUWCI]

To Chi Mai: Directors and coordinators are apparently not involved in the teaching staffs.

[testdasi]

Hey... I got admitted too, with "financial aid" but...
This is extracted from my letter:
... offer you up to $2000 in financial aid from the Princeton in Beijing scholarship fund to match what Brown might contribute to your study with PiB...
And this is directly from the director:
Our matching funds policy is designed to encourage home institutions to invest in their own students. If Princeton is willing to contribute funds to help Brown students in their summer study, we feel that Brown should be willing to help as well.

The full cost is $4500 + travel and daily spending. Apparently, they do not put any information regarding the "matching funds policy" on the website. And Brown has no money for me and I can't afford it on my own either*cry cry*. So it's either I'm cheated or I was fooled (always my fault). You judge.

My small little advice
If your school is not gonna give you money, everything is out of the question.

Now I know why people are killing each other to make it to the rich schools. Sigh.

[Chu Lan Anh]

@ everyone, esp Tung: Dont let money be the thing that hold you back. It's of course worth it to see how Brown can help you out first, but sometimes I feel like we VNese kids get too used to the idea of having everything "free" that we dont even consider the possibility of paying.

I was in the same shoes; I knew ahead of time that my school wont cover everything, in fact they only gave me $2000 while the total cost (including air fare) is $4600, though for me it's only $3600 coz I'll be buying air tickets on my own. That still left me with $1600 extra though, and I hesitated to go at first, but then think about it, wouldn't $1600 be worth it? My answer is yes. If you have a way to cover that amount, even by borrowing and paying back in the future like in my case, I think the questions should become whether the amount you pay is worth the experience rather than whether everything will be free.

Just a thought. Peace.

[MUWCI]

Bro Tùng:

3. Can I do anything to increase the amount of my financial aid from PiB?

Yes. If you are an undergraduate major or a graduate student in any field of Chinese studies and you apply to us for financial aid, we will automatically consider you for special "matching funds" that are separate from our regular grants. To get matching funds your home institution needs to match us dollar for dollar. Your home institution's contribution must be a grant, not a loan. So you can sometimes increase the amount of our aid by finding aid on your own campus.

(http://www.princeton.edu/%7Epib/faq.html#b03)

[MUWCI]

Anh không đi thì em đi một mình à ?

(Sorry for having double-posted)

[testdasi]

1. I could have saved enough money for it if they had made "the policy" public.
2. I am working 19hrs/week and still won't have enough.
3. Can't borrow. Next year, I will have to work (required $2300/year contribution from work) so I may not even have enough money for myself. How can I pay back? And who can lend me a thousands bucks? Raise your hand, please. Nobody.

Perhaps I should change my advice to:
If your school is not giving you the $$$ and you don't have any other way to get the $$$ then forget it.
@Lanh: Thanks anyway. I am just upset. This is the second time this kind of things happened to me. The first time was in Singapore. I didn't have enough money to pay for a (subsidised) trip to perform with the drama club in South Africa. And now it's PiB. That's it if you don't have the cash.

[Eurydice]

Are you sure that you can't apply for any grant from Brown? Is there a Fellowship Office you can go to for advice or something?

[San]

Lol, that's why you should check your school academics program before you apply.

This summer MHC has its own program at BLCU, still, it depends on how much they will give me. The program costs around 3,600 plus 1000 for food.

@sis Anh: I understand that nothing in life is free of charge. However, as we are still "poor" students, our money come from our parents pocket. Even 1500$ is already too much for me.

[San]

Sorry for double post. Agree with Tung on the money subject.

Sigh...my tax bill just came.

[Ngô Hương Ly]

@Tùng: tò mò 1 chút, hồi trước học ACJC đúng ko? trong drama club có biết đứa nào tên là Beverly ko? Thấy nó bảo hồi trước ở trường có sang Nam Phi diễn kịch 1 lần, ko biết có trùng nhau ko ^_^

dù sao thì cũng cứ nên nói chuyện với mấy bác ở trường, chưa thử chưa biết

[KP]

Originally posted by testdasi@Feb 9 2006, 11:35 PM
1. I could have saved enough money for it if they had made "the policy" public.
2. I am working 19hrs/week and still won't have enough.
3. Can't borrow. Next year, I will have to work (required $2300/year contribution from work) so I may not even have enough money for myself. How can I pay back? And who can lend me a thousands bucks? Raise your hand, please. Nobody.

Perhaps I should change my advice to:
If your school is not giving you the $$$ and you don't have any other way to get the $$$ then forget it.
@Lanh: Thanks anyway. I am just upset. This is the second time this kind of things happened to me. The first time was in Singapore. I didn't have enough money to pay for a (subsidised) trip to perform with the drama club in South Africa. And now it's PiB. That's it if you don't have the cash.

Tùng,

-ultimately, after pulling out all your resources, how much do you still need?
-Is your planned major Chemistry?

[khang]

Tung did you try sending a *very personal* email to *the man* regarding PiB's financial aid? No harm trying to see if your words can touch a person.

Alternatively, take a loan from Brown. I am sure Brown financial aid office can give you a low-interest loan, provided you make an appointment to see the Head.

[testdasi]

@San: I DID CHECK MY SCHOOL RESOURCES BEFORE APPLYING. I do plan things well ahead of time. That was the reason that I only applied to PiB because I thought they will give me money. That was also the reason why my plan screwed up due to misinformation.
@CMai: The only thing left is Freeman scholarship but it's a hell lot more competitive so pretty much just try my luck. So if I'm lucky I'll be able to meet famous CMai the bulldog. And cute little Pinh boong, too.
@HLy: Yeah, Bev WAS in drama club. Oh I missed my stage crew time.Say Hi to her for me, please. Say Tung 2SA1 say hi. They called me something ranging from "Tang" to "Tong". So you may have to change the sound a little bit for her to remember.
@anh Khang: em emailed roi nen moi co cai dong "quote" day chu. Anh co gap ong, nho noi ong include tren cai website ve cai vu "matching fund policy". De may nguoi nop sau ko bi giong em.

Looking on the bright side of life, I will not have to spend 3 months stressing my poor little chubby head to study Chinese.

[MUWCI]

Em post ở trên anh không đọc à -> cái "matching fund policy" có post trên phần Frequently Asked Questions của PiB mà (Hic, ngồi trách trường người ta mãi thế !!&#33:

3. Can I do anything to increase the amount of my financial aid from PiB?

Yes. If you are an undergraduate major or a graduate student in any field of Chinese studies and you apply to us for financial aid, we will automatically consider you for special "matching funds" that are separate from our regular grants. To get matching funds your home institution needs to match us dollar for dollar. Your home institution's contribution must be a grant, not a loan. So you can sometimes increase the amount of our aid by finding aid on your own campus.

(http://www.princeton.edu/%7Epib/faq.html#b03)

-> Anyway, you should talk to Brown people. They MUST have some money!!! I really want to hang out with you this summer , so plz try your best!!!

[Eurydice]

But seriously, PiB could have made the "matching funds" policy a lot clearer. I totally had no clue about it, just a vague notion that the program expects me to apply for funding from my own school. The website doesn't make the policy obvious, so anyone could have missed it. Who the hell goes to FAQ for that kind of information anyway, they wouldn't even have thought of something like that in the first place.

I am inclined to say yes to PiB, just because HBA is being annoying and not sending me my materials >_<

[San]

Lol, that&#39;s why I đin&#39;t apply any ò the program above.

[Eurydice]

Well, they are the best, so I don&#39;t think anyone&#39;s sorry. If I have to go through all this trouble, I might as well get my money&#39;s worth instead of having to endure some half-assed program at a lower cost.

[testdasi]

3. Can I do anything to increase the amount of my financial aid from PiB?
Yes. If you are an undergraduate major or a graduate student in any field of Chinese studies and you apply to us for financial aid, we will automatically consider you for special "matching funds" that are separate from our regular grants. To get matching funds your home institution needs to match us dollar for dollar. Your home institution&#39;s contribution must be a grant, not a loan. So you can sometimes increase the amount of our aid by finding aid on your own campus.

I misinterpreted that part, I guess. I have not declared my major yet (though I did plan to take HI0041 Introduction to East Asian Civilization: China next semester) so who expects me to be considered for the matching funds? Anyway, it&#39;s pointless to discuss any further. I was upset because going to Beijing is a little bit of a personal kinda thing. But a Brunonian gave me a little advice: "At Brown, you should learn to make full use of what you have, not lamenting about what you don&#39;t have. Be firm about your goals but be flexible about your routes. Adjust your routes accordingly, based on the currently available resources. And STOP COMPLAINING AND LET ME GO TO BED."

@Pinh: Ma oi, cam dong we. Gan Pton co chua chien gi hong? Di chua cau cho Tungpeo duoc Freeman scholarship nha.

[Chu Lan Anh]

Ủa LA tưởng Freeman chỉ cho American citizens? :O Anyway, good luck

[Eurydice]

The VISA Question: Eternal Headache

Hey guys, our F1 visa &#39;expires&#39; after a year. So if we leave the States in the summer, that would be after the expiration date. Do we need to re-new our visa in order to re-enter the US? And if so, do we have to go back to VN to do it, or is there an easier way? Someone suggested that summer study technically is counted as part of our full-time student studying stint, but I&#39;m not sold yet ... 0_o