Expert: Terry Thatcher Waltz - 10/31/2006

Question
I am a high school junior interested in applying to an undergraduate program
in China after graduation. (I am currently in Third-Year Chinese at a local
college). Is it possible to apply to a Chinese university while a senior in high
school, or do I have to wait until I actually have my HS diploma before I can
apply, which would mean waiting a year instead of going straight to college?
I've been looking at admissions information on university websites, and they
all require that applicants submit their high school diploma. Is there some
way to get around this so that I can enter a Chinese university the fall after
graduating from high school?

Answer
First, "requirements" on the Chinese side are usually written in stone. I can't think of any way around submitting your actual diploma.

Second, and this is probably not something you want to hear, I doubt that you would have sufficient command of Chinese to do a degree at a Chinese university. Truly. I would recommend you look into going into a language-only program for a year. You may think this is time wasted but actually it is a great investment. You will not be able to take full advantage of all the opportunities at a Chinese university unless your language abilities are very good -- far better than the level usually associated with third-year college Chinese. I have known other people who entered university programs and regretted not taking the language study first, so that is my recommendation.

The other thing you should seriously consider is if you want your degree to BE from a Chinese university. Consider carefully where you plan to live and what you plan to do, and think about whether it is important to have a US credential (=universally accepted) rather than a Chinese one. Often it is difficult to get a Chinese degree validated, and you will always have difficulties with transcripts and so forth. I would seriously consider the US university route. You can always teach English for a year in China later on, or do a junior year abroad. There is no hurry at this stage (believe it or not).