Our reporter Chen Xi, Yu Renfei, Jiang Yun paid huge tuition, but he could only take classes online in the middle of the night
People in China have to pay 10,000 to 20,000 rents overseas every month
Under the epidemic
The international students are in a dilemma
With the global development of the epidemic, the trend of studying abroad this year has changed.
As the school season is approaching, many European and American colleges and universities have either announced delays or switched to online teaching. Some universities have also been forced to close permanently due to financial difficulties due to the epidemic. According to reports, as of July this year, 33 universities in the United States alone had announced their permanent closure, involving 5,690 Chinese students.
Last month, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued new regulations for student visas. The extension and suspension of various visas, examinations, and school applications have also made many parents and students more cautious when choosing to study abroad.
Under the epidemic, what choice do international students make, and what new trends have emerged in the study abroad market?
Recently, a reporter from Qian Bao interviewed some overseas students and parents in Hangzhou, as well as representatives of industry insiders.
Lin Yi, a parent of a Chinese student in a university in London
Paying huge sums of money for online classes in the middle of the night in China
At the beginning of March, the anxiety of the mothers of international students focused on how to get their children to return to China, and now the most discussed is whether or not to go back to class.
According to the original plan, my daughter should be a sophomore in the UK next month. At the beginning of August, the school sent an email saying that it was fully prepared for offline courses, but at the end of the letter it also stated that if there are difficulties, it is understandable.
After discussing with the family, they decided to let their daughter stay in China for online classes. This is also the choice of most parents around me. Because the health and safety of children is indeed more important.
Such a choice is really helpless. We sent our daughter to study abroad, not only for her to learn knowledge, but also for her to understand the local customs and culture. However, now I can only pay high fees for studying abroad and stay home and take online classes.
It only takes 3 years for a British university. My daughter has already returned to China in March. If she waits until next year to return to school, it means that she will stay in the country for a third of her time to study.
There is a time difference of 8 hours between the UK and China. The courses are from 13:00 to 17:00 British time, which is equivalent to 21:00 to 1:00 Beijing time. The parents joked, "It's like spending a huge sum of money to go to night school in China."
Many mothers of foreign students around me are still worried about rent. At the beginning of the year, the children returned to China one after another, but the rented houses were not returned. I thought that I would lose a few months of rent at most, but I didn't know that the situation has not improved, but the rent has been paid all the time, and the 10,000 to 20,000 yuan per month just flows away in vain.
Zhou Zuocheng PhD candidate in the history of Sino-US relations
The plan to study in the United States is far away
Going to the United States was decided very early. In this line, pay attention to "one point of evidence tells one thing", to study modern history, it is necessary to deal with various archives and documents. And I, who studies Sino-US relations, how can I not go to the United States?
I originally planned to go abroad after the topic of my doctoral dissertation is basically determined, so that I can be more targeted. So last September, for the first time, I expressed my intention to study abroad to the teacher in charge. This is a six-month study visit plan. Apart from participating in some necessary academic activities, there is enough time for me to enter and exit the major archives.
In less than a month, I was notified that there was an opportunity in March this year. Submitting the research plan, signing up for public study aid, applying for a US visa... nothing went wrong, everything went well.
Before the epidemic, I had never been anxious about this visit. It wasn't until March that I suddenly received an email just before my departure. The visit plan was temporarily postponed, and I had to wait for the epidemic to stabilize before making a decision.
Two weeks later, I received another notice, and the time was further postponed to September. Even many of the students who have just gone abroad have not yet started their studies, and they have temporarily returned to China for prevention and control reasons.
Without time to react, my beautiful plan was overturned. The first is the papers, the latest files are not available, and the lack of materials has become the most "bald" problem. For this reason, I also prepared for the worst, but it was impossible. I could only change my research direction and even delay graduation.
What makes me more nervous is the academic exchanges after the epidemic. In order to prevent and control the epidemic, many transnational academic conferences have been cancelled, postponed, or moved online.
September is coming soon, and the day of departure is still far away.
Daniel Head of an overseas study consulting agency in Hangzhou
From the American market to the British market
The outbreak of the epidemic abroad has brought a huge impact to the overseas study market. Some students postpone their admissions, some simply give up and continue their studies in China, and some choose to switch from the United States to the United Kingdom.
In the industry, we all know that applying to American schools has higher fees and more profitable profits. It is actually helpless for the study abroad service organizations to "eat" the high-margin American market and switch to the relatively cheap British market.
From my clients' point of view, students from prestigious schools tend to be more inclined to American schools. For example, students from Zhejiang University are targeting Ivy League schools. But this year, as far as I know, many Zhejiang University students who are going to the United States are preparing to take the postgraduate entrance examination in China.
Our company has been actively changing its strategy due to its small size, and the impact has not been as big as expected.
On the one hand, we actively guide students who are going to the United States to apply in the United Kingdom; on the other hand, for students who still have concerns, we will guide them to job search consultation.
In the past, compared with the United Kingdom, the greatest advantage of the United States was more opportunities for employment. But at present, the epidemic situation in the United States has not been well controlled, the difficulty of visas has increased, and the chance of finding a job has been greatly reduced. At the same time, the UK has happily launched the PSW visa program, where students can apply for a two-year work visa after graduation.
Looking at the whole environment, the status of international students is no longer as popular in the job market as in the past. If you plan to return to China after graduation, you can have two years of work experience overseas, which is more effective than returning directly to the country to apply for a job.
Judging from the current situation, there are obviously more students consulting about studying in the UK. But this also brings some problems. For example, the opportunity to apply to top schools in the UK has become more difficult.
(The characters in the text are all pseudonyms)