Past Review

By (Accounting, SUNY - Binghamton) for

SUNY Binghamton: Shanghai - Chinese Business Language & Culture at Fudan University

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?
I learned both academic and social lessons from this program. I advanced my Chinese language ability and learned some Chinese business. In addition, I also learned a lot social lessons like price, people, food, and, life in Shanghai. I think this is an awesome opportunity to learn about Shanghai and China.

Personal Information

How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? 2 weeks - 1 month

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

I think the grading system is acceptable and the workload is also acceptable. Some subject is very interesting but some aren't. The teaching methods are very different, but also very similar at the same time. In China, the professors really care about how well the students are doing. They tried to help us as much as they could. The similarity is both professors in China and in the United States use computers and internet. Very high tech!

* Host Country Program Administration

On-site administration of your program

I think this is a very good university and the program is awesome! Fudan University provides us both academic and social balance. Since we were in Shanghai, the business center of China, we received both business lessons and social lesson including where we go for tourism and night life.

* Housing:

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

Tonghe International housing is a very good place for international students to stay. Compare to local Chinese students, I feel like we lived in heaven. We had air-conditioning, TV, and internet. And the living environment is so good too! <br /><br /> The housing and living are great! The only down side is that we lived in sort of a country side. Not in city center. So it was not that convinent to go to downtown and visit places in Shanghai since the majority of tourist places are in downtown center.

* Food:

The food is good and the diversity of food is large.

* Social & Cultural Integration:

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

We experienced Dragon Boat Festival in the middle of June. So we had the culture food: rice dumpling. It tasted great and fresh. In addition, we went to downtown center for visiting and night life there was fun! Very different from US.

* Health Care:

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

* Safety:

Everybody was safe in the program. The university and our apartment have security guides to protect us. So we felt very safe all the time.

If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? Yes

Finances

* 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)

Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? Hmm... I think roughly RMB 500.
Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? Some club needs cover but some don't, depends on the days and some special events that they had.

Language

* Did your program have a foreign language component? Yes
Language acquisition improvement?

The professors required everybody to speak Chinese in class. So everybody had the opportunity to talk to each other in Chinese and then improve the language ability. The professors are very willing to help us out. And some students in class are very strong in Chinese, so they also help other students out as well. Very good environment to improve Chinese.

If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition?

Other Program Information

* Where did you live?

Select all that apply

  • Dorm
  • Apartment
* Who did you live with?

Select all that apply

  • International Students
* Who did you take classes with?

Select all that apply

  • Americans

A Look Back

* What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? If you want to learn and advance your Chinese, participate in this program!