<p>i had applied to study abroad in peking university on a program sponsored by my home institution, but today i found out the program will no longer be in peking university in beijing and instead got switched over to fudan university in shanghai. </p>
<p>should i be excited? what are the major differences? pros and cons of the change? </p>
<p>i was expecting beijing the entire time, and now i have to think about shanghai. i dont know too much about it, can you enlighten me?</p>
<p>I come from the High School Affiliated with Fudan University and studied in Tsinghua University in Beijing--the neighbour of Peking University--before I came to Dartmouth.</p>
<p>In terms of the college themselves, Peking University has a greater variety of students from different backgrounds. Beijing students comprise about 15-20 percent, and most are from other provinces, very bright ones and have ambitions. Fudan University has 50% of its student body coming from local schools. They are more realistc, and the more similar background makes the college seem more unified and share a single definite specific "college character". Peking University has a stronger group of faculty, many of them being the leaders of contemporary academic circle of China. Fudan University is in the forefront of educational renovation and promotion, so you will often see new actions being carried out by the college much earlier than its peers. Anyway, there are both regarded as the elite top colleges in the entire nation.</p>
<p>In Fudan, you won't feel too much pressure as being an exchange student. There are many places in Shanghai worth visiting. Shanghai has preserved better than Beijing its historical sites and scenes since its prosperity, though a history not comparable with that of Beijing in terms of time span. There are also the suburbs and adjacent cities usually within 2 hours by train. The delta region has been important throughout history because of its culture inflence and economic strength. </p>
<p>To me, both Shanghai and Beijing engender affection, one being my mother town and one nurturing me in my college years(though I gave it up in the end, still lingering in the good old memories these days).</p>
<p>hey william, are u the guy who gave up the degree from Tsinghua and started over in Dartmouth?</p>
<p>r u guys talking about beida and qinghua or what?</p>
<p>Man that sucks. :( Peking is much more prestigious. It's like comparing Yale to USC</p>
<p>dooit, I wonder if u know what ur talking about.</p>
<p>Well, from what I know, dooit is right- Beida is the more prestigious school. However, since this is just for a study abroad program hosted by another college, I don't see how this will be a major issue. However, the change in location from Beijing to Shanghai may pose a problem in terms of language, since, although people from Shanghai do speak Putonghua, they tend to prefer to speak Shanghainese. This can be difficult for foreigners studying the language as well as for those from other regions of China. Other than that, Shanghai seems like an awesome city (I visited last year, very briefly)- it should be a good experience.</p>
<p>well, i agree Peking is more prestigious. but it's not that MUCH MORE prestigious than Fudan. It's certainly not like Yale compared to NSC. that's why i said dooit didn't know what s/he was talking about.
and yes, for a study abroad program it's not a big deal anyway. Actually I would prefer going to Shanghai disregarding academic factors. Although sometimes shanghai ppl speak shanghainese, they only speak that to ppl from shanghai. Shanghai ppl tend to be more open actually. Beijing ppl sometimes act superiorly, although they all speak good mandarin.</p>
<p>What's NSC? I said USC, which is still top-tier the last time I checked. </p>
<p>Furthermore, it makes me think if YOU are the one who has no idea what he is talking about if you think people from Shanghai are the more open ones and and that the people from Beijing are more condescending.</p>
<p>sorry NSC is just typo.
what I tried to say is Shanghai is a more international city than Beijing. ppl born and raised in Beijing are condescending coz they think they live in the Capital, they think they got longer history, therefore they deserve more respect.
but again, there is no point to argue about this. It's solely about personal opinion. we were comparing Peking U and Fudan, not ppl from Shanghai and Beijing.</p>
<p>Nah man, ask any adult who were born in China. </p>
<p>Peking IS much more prestigious. It's Tsinghua and Peking, then everybody else</p>
<p>I was born in China, and I almost went through the college entrance exam, so I am quite familiar with all the Chinese universities.
Did I ever say Peking U isn't more prestigious than Fudan? my point was Peking v. Fudan isn't the same as Yale v. USC. As u said, in China it's first Peking and Tsinghua, then Fudan and every one else. but in America is it first Yale, then USC and every one else?</p>
<p>It's more like the relationship between Harvard and Stanford.</p>
<p>haha william you didn't answer my question. I'll take it as a yes. :D</p>
<p>if its like havard and stanford, then princeton = qinghua (ie. harvard and princeton are tied at rank 1, yale at 3, stanford is not even 4 tho, but i think it deserves at least 4)</p>
<p>and shanghainese speak better putonghua than beijingers, beijingers put R in every word</p>
<p>I'd say shanghai has more of a free-er feel to it. beijing's too close to political things.</p>
<p>shanghai has a relatively newer feel too, the east side of shanghai became developed in the last 20 years or so.</p>
<p>I'd agree the peking U is more prestigious, but shanghai in my opinion is a better city to be in.</p>
<p>i told my (immigrant chinese) parents about the change and both of them haven't heard of fudan (but they've heard of beida). </p>
<p>i guess i shouldnt worry too much about the name recognition or reputation. i did some research and looks like fudan's usually top 5 in china. so my own analogy is... peking = harvard, fudan = columbia? in terms of prestige and name recognition. </p>
<p>how are the students at fudan? how is student life on campus? which academic fields is fudan strong at? </p>
<p>thanks</p>
<p>Fudan always claims to be "Yale of China".
Students there are more fashionable and they are very perceptive of social trends (but may be dumb at politics). There are many student clubs, with the volleyball as its athletic forte. Living condition is quite good by Chinese standard. It's more connected with the outside world than Peking U. The campus of Fudan is spread over blocks crossed by busy streets, while Peking U is centralized in a huge enclosed cluster. Like Peking U, Fudan is also accompanied by several other well-known universities with walking distances like Tongji, No 2 military medical school and Shanghai Finance and Commerce University(all are top within their own categories). Shanghai Foreign Studies University is also around 10 minutes by bus.
Fudan is strong at science and humanities, generally speaking, law, chemistry, biology, finances, history and philosophy, though not necessarily the most popular majors. There are more than 600 undergraduates now in Fudan coming from my high school, so I know the college quite well.</p>
<p>are you in the fa06 JCIS program with UCEAP by any chance?</p>
<p>yes i'm in the JCIS (now called JPIS) program for UCEAP (i'm at UCLA).</p>