Most problems we are asked to fix could have been avoided in the month before the student applied. These are the five that come up again and again.
1. Choosing a university only by price
The cheapest option is not always the best choice, and sometimes it is not even the cheapest once you add everything up. A low tuition figure can sit alongside a high management fee, an expensive hostel, or a city where living costs are half again what they are elsewhere.
Compare the total for year one, not the tuition line. Ask what is not included.
2. Trusting an agent without checking
Anyone can print a poster claiming to be a university representative. Before you send money or documents to anyone, including us:
- Ask for the university's name and the exact programme
- Ask for the recognition listing you can look up yourself
- Ask for the total cost in writing
- Ask what happens to your money if the admission is refused
An honest consultant gives you all four without hesitating.
3. Ignoring what the city costs
Tuition is only part of it. Food, transport, internet and personal spending in a big city like Wuhan or Beijing can be half again what they are in Yichun or Ganzhou.
Students generally report ¥1,500 to ¥2,500 a month on living costs, depending on the city and how often they eat out. Budget for that before you choose, not after you arrive.
4. Not checking the hostel
Ask specifically: how many students share a room? Is there a kitchen? Is there air conditioning and heating? Is there a private bathroom, or a shared one on the floor?
These sound like small things in March and matter enormously in your first Wuhan summer or your first Harbin winter.
5. Misunderstanding what the scholarship covers
"Scholarship" is used loosely. Some cover tuition in full. Some cover half. Some cover tuition but not accommodation, and some cover both but nothing else.
Get it in writing: what is covered, what is not, for how many years, and what happens to it if your results drop.
Ask us any of these about any programme on this site and we will answer them specifically, for that university, before you commit anything.
Still not sure how this applies to you?
Every university sets its own rules and they change between intakes. Send us your situation and we will give you the specific answer, not the general one.