I am a transfer student and I studied in a Chinese university for two years before I come here. And I want to introduce you to university life in China.
All over the world, Chinese students are famous for their diligence. This is absolutely true for high school students in China, while, as for college students, it is not the case.
In many universities in China, only a few students focus on studying. What most students do is everything except study. They cut classes to do whatever they want. They sleep late in the dormitory, play video games, date, or even travel around China. They never go to libraries. They copy homework of other people and cheat when having an exam. One of my friends once said that he did not spent his four-year university life studying but playing World of Warcraft.
Different from American professors, Chinese teachers are not strict with students at all. They rarely check attendance, ask questions or give assignments. They do not care what students do in their classes. Actually, many students sleep, text messages or play PSP. I have no idea why professors perform like this. Their salary seems to be the only thing they care about.
Regardless of students’ bad performance in school, they are able to pass final exams quite easily. Professors tend to tell students which chapters will be covered in the exams or even exact questions they will be asked. Also, students pay for nothing when they are caught cheating, which results in widespread cheating. All these factors combined, the exam is no longer a problem.
I think the most important reason why students spend few time studying is that they do not have to worry about failure to graduate. In US, it is easy for high school students to get the chance to study in university but difficult to graduate. While in China, it is quite hard to enter college because there are more students and fewer universities. So, once a Chinese high school student gains acceptance to university, it is certain that he will graduate, which makes people lose the motivation to study hard. On the other hand, it is very difficult to find a job in China now, however your performance is in university. Again, students lose stimulation to work hard.
To be honest, I was a bad student in China and I did everything I mentioned above in university. I think that is why I am in America now. One can hardly learn something useful in Chinese universities. Some friends of mine do not want to come here because they are not willing to give up the comfortable life they live now. Admittedly, I must spend much more time studying and less playing here. However, as far as I am concerned, one has to work hard now to build his future.
Chenwei Liu
A mordent comment on chinese university system. I haven't attended a university in China. But I heard many things about how comfortable the life in the university is,how they cheat how they kill time by playing and so on. And this is the main reason why I chose to pursue a degree overseas.
ReplyDeleteBeside the highly selective admission and easy graduation, I think another reason why they disvalue the university study life is the cheap tuition and fee. The university tuition is really cheap that the tuition of one quater here is enough for 4-year tuition in China.
That makes the marginal cost of idling time low and students prefer to playing or socializing.
PS: Chenwei, you should give the preference of the picture.