Generally
First of all, I would like to make it clear that my experience report deals extensively with the CCSP program and partly explains the advantages and disadvantages of the program. I will no longer take up the aforementioned points from the previous experience reports. I will only briefly go into the city of Shanghai itself.
With the CCSP program you have three different options.
- Possibility four courses + Mandarin language course + every Tuesday internship day
2. Possibility five courses + Mandarin language course
3. Possibility five courses + Mandarin language course + four-week internship attached after the end of the semester
- Introduction to Chinese Society and Culture
- Marketing placement in China
- Political Economy in China
- Practicing business in China
- Global Source and Supply Chain Management (no 100% guarantee as to the correctness of the title)
- Mandarin language course
There isn’t really much to say about the three options, except that the first four courses and the language course are compulsory. If you choose the second option, you get the course Global Source and Supply Chain Management. Visit act-test-centers.com to get information about study in Norway.
I decided on the first option, but I would recommend everyone to choose the third option, as an internship one day a week makes little sense and with the third option you have more free time during the semester.
Our semester week consisted of:
- Mondays: 8: 50-11: 15 Chinese language course; 15: 20-17: 00 Practicing in Business
- Tuesdays: internship
- Wednesdays: 8: 50-11: 15 Chinese language course and in the evening if you choose the second option Global Source and Supply Chain Manag.
- Thursdays: in the morning until 12. 30 p. m. Chinese Society and Political Economy in China, afternoons 3. 20 p. m. -5 p. m. Marketing placement in China
- Fridays: on some Fridays there were excursions or just free
Internship: IMPORTANT
When choosing the internship day, you would actually have had interviews or preliminary discussions with the respective coordinator about individual preferences in the area of the internship in the first week. However, for the most part we only had the preliminary meeting in the third week and so we could not begin our internships until the fourth week. Some could only start their internship in April. Due to renovation work in the company, the internship was delayed until the beginning of May, which is why he decided to do the internship in another company. It was therefore clear that the internship made little sense, as he only stayed in Shanghai for six weeks and only had six internship days added up.
When I applied for the program, I had very high expectations about the internship. In preliminary talks and brochures, we were sometimes promised large, well-known companies such as Mobile China or Bank of China.
In retrospect, all participants, without exception, were housed in small, medium-sized companies (staff 10 people). A small number of participants had to do their internship at Fudan University, which is basically nothing against it, if you want to help with the organization of events at Fudan University, for example.
Conclusion: If you should decide in favor of the program, I would recommend that you look for an internship yourself in advance or you simply do not expect too much from it. Furthermore, I would recommend you to choose the third option, as one internship day per week makes little sense and you have to consider that the program is actually only 17 weeks and that at least 2-3 days (weeks) are omitted due to the preliminary talk and interview and you in the end only 14 weeks or 14 days remain. In addition, you have to keep in mind that the exams will take place in the last two weeks and therefore two more days will be omitted.
Trips
Apart from three to four small trips, such as to the old city of Xi-an, company tours, there was also a weekend trip to Hangzhou with a tour of the Alibaba company. Basically, the excursions were very interesting, but I would have liked more excursions to other cities near Shanghai, such as Suzhou or Nanjing, since the semester fee also included the cost of the excursions.
Visa
If someone is thinking of going on a short trip to Hong Kong etc. during the numerous public holidays, I can say in advance that it will be very difficult because you only have a 1x entry visa from Fudan University, among other things for security reasons gets issued. However, after a long discussion with the CCSP coordinator, it is still possible to get an X visa (I’m not 100% sure).
Accommodation
Most of our participants were accommodated in the Tohee dormitory. The staff is very nice and usually courteous. Various activities are also offered during the semester, from cooking classes to soccer tournaments. Internet is free in the lobby. The speed is acceptable, but it depends a lot on how many are in the lobby. There are very many in the lobby during exam times. The internet for the room can be booked monthly for about 10 €, the LAN cable has to be bought extra for little money, but there is a DVD and mobile phone shop around the corner, which offer it cheaply depending on the length from 10kuai. The advantage of Tohee is that you really get to know a lot of people from all nations and that the Fudan is nearby. All lecture halls can be easily reached on foot or by bike. You can buy a used, solid bike for as little as 150kuai. The downside to Tohee is that it is probably the most expensive college dorm compared to the other dorms. That is why I recommend that you get in touch with other participants beforehand and look for an apartment right in the center, as you usually only have to go to Fudan three times a week and it is much cheaper if you go out often in the evening because you numerous taxi and metro rides should not be forgotten. Furthermore, the hygiene and cleanliness is acceptable by Chinese standards, but unacceptable by German standards. I also advise you
CCSP in summary
During my stay in Shanghai I didn’t like a lot of things about the CCSP program, especially the organization.
Negative
- At the beginning of the semester, we were assigned “language partners”, most of whom, for inexplicable reasons, went into hiding after the third week. Normally you would expect them to go up to us and ask us if we don’t want to do something together. Maybe it’s just because of the Chinese mentality and that they have little experience with Western people. Therefore I give you the advice first of all to exchange the mobile phone number as well as the e-mail address and that you approach them.
- The first two months were catastrophic as CCSP only hired one contact person who is also doing her master’s degree on the side. (Student employees are much cheaper) The woman tried very hard, but she was overwhelmed. Some emails were only replied to after several days, so I would advise you to call them directly.
- Organization was a foreign word. Our Hangzhou excursion, which should actually take place in mid-March, has been postponed until May for many reasons.
- If the internship is important to you, I would recommend that you choose an internship yourself, otherwise you will be placed in a small, medium-sized company or at Fudan itself. Furthermore, you should not forget that all documents are in Chinese and in most cases the company is not able to assign you more demanding tasks.
Conclusion
I can only recommend everyone to spend their semester abroad in Shanghai. Shanghai is a unique city. Studying at Fudan was a very great experience. However, CCSP is still in the development phase, which has resulted in so many uncomfortable problems. In my opinion, the program is a bit overpriced, as I would have expected more excursions for the money, for example, and much better support from the coordinator. As mentioned above, the student assistant was overwhelmed, and only at the end of the semester did another student assistant come to support. The program was, however, compensated for by the pleasant participants.
In the latter case, I am unable to recommend the program to others as I expect more performance and support for the money. Studying at Fudan is certainly an experience, but I would try to get to Fudan in other ways. I do not want to write off the program in any way, but the negative points predominated, but for the future I hope that the program will improve enormously, especially in terms of organization and performance. If you should decide in favor of the program, you can definitely opt for the complete program with a 100% guarantee at a cost of around 8000 € and more.
