Academic record reqs. for Shida - How strict are they?

I’ve been coming to Taiwan on and off for 5 years on visitor visas but I’m now in a position where I am able to put time towards studying Chinese in Taipei.

So I’m thinking of going to Shida, but I have few concerns regarding the application. :slight_smile:

I just wanted some peace of mind that I wouldn’t have trouble with numbers 2 and 3 of the application requirements listed here: http://www.mtc.ntnu.edu.tw/apply.html
My grades during High School (in New Zealand) were great initially, then pretty average. From there I didn’t go to University, instead going to a technical institute to study various short-mid length courses (design/computer programming etc), however none of those amount in anything but certificates of attendance. I have since studied Chinese part-time at University (2 hours per week for 1 year) and received A+ (95% or higher) in each of the 3 exams. Will that be enough to satisfy Shida?

I’m currently here for 3 months on a visitor visa (no-extension/single-entry) and leave on the 20th March.

I guess it’s unavoidable that I have to go back home to get all my school records organised, letter of recommendation, plus have the health checks etc., so I guess I’ll be aiming to have it all sorted for the April 30 deadline. That gives me 40 days, which I would think is plenty of time, right?

You can try to E-mail or phone them.
That will be the easier and faster way to know.

Good luck!

[quote=“wisher”]You can try to E-mail or phone them.
That will be the easier and faster way to know.

Good luck![/quote]

No it wouldn’t; ShiDa’s MTC office staff are obnoxious, rude and don’t speak English so 'phoning them is not recommended.

They couldn’t care less as long as you pay tuition. My country doesn’t even issue transcripts; I just provided a letter to say I was very good. The important thing is that you have the right number of papers. You have to have them because they must check boxes when they check your application.

Have the health check at RenAi if you are on a budget.

Thanks both of you for responding. I can breathe a bit easier now.

Good advice about going to Ren’ai too, thanks.

I had a friend suggest to me that there might be other schools that could sort me out faster/easier than ShiDa, meaning I might be able to enroll within the month I have left on my visitor visa and not have to leave TW. Does anyone know of any such approved school? I can feasibly only handle 10hrs of study per week (minus homework) though, so that may limit the choices.

Search for ‘Approved schools’ or something like that. Some kind and enterprising soul compiled a list, with links, recently.

I applied and got into Shi-Da about a month ago. There was a nice girl who spoke great English who helped me. She said that I could email them and that she would answer any of my questions. She mentioned that she replies to all the emails that are written in English. She also said that “We admit everyone that applies.” As far as the paperwork, I have an ARC, so all I needed was my passport, ARC, copy of my last diploma, and a filled out application. I didn’t need any transcripts or recent health exam. I got the acceptance letter in the mail in a week. BTW - I emailed a question recently, and I got a response the next day.

Glad to hear they’ve got it together. They were horrendous when I went there. I guess this info is more up to date. Good luck stevegan.

When I started at Shi Da in Sept 2005, the office was horrible. The lady who delt with giving us the “proof of enrollment” was just rude…all of the time. The lady who dealt with the grades was easily frazzled and confused. The people who helped us enroll for the classes, take the money-all rude, short, and a nightmare to deal with. When I went to hand in my application, the lady took it at stared at me like I was an idiot and said, “I got it.” I hated them all.

The entire staff has changed now and I think no one who was there when I started is there now. There were some hiccups at first with all of the new staffing changes (just because they were new), but now things seem to be running smoothly and the people are actualy extremely nice. The only lady who can be sometimes rude is the lady who deals with the money, but if I just hand her the money and don’t talk to her, she’s fine. Now, we can actually use an automated machine that gives us all of the documents we need for visa purposes and it prints them on the spot. Its like a vending machine for transcripts…and its all done on the spot, no more waiting 24 hours. This semester, I paid my money, went to the machine, put in 30NT, and it gave me my proof of enrollment. I put in a little more, and it gave me my grades.

I’m not sure what happened, but the place is more efficient, more friendly, and less of a headache. I didn’t even have to stand in line to pick my classes this semester. The place isn’t perfect, but its like night and day compared to when I started. I hated them in that office before, but I have to give them credit where credit is due.

There is no such thing as “getting in” to Shida. You pays your money and you takes your chances.

The lengthy application process and stacks of documents required for applications from abroad are apparently designed to make shida look legit to foreign university language departments. At least, i can’t think of any other reason for them, since most of these requirements are waived if you apply in person…

all they wanted from me was a diploma, a passport and several fistfuls of blue paper :smiley:

I’m glad you retracted your original comments - as a former MTC student myself, I’m well aware of the problems people have had with the office staff there…yes, they do employ an English secretary who will respond to e-mail queries written in English, but due to government “regulations” which say they can only be employed for 10 hours a week or some such restriction, and with a total enrolment nudging 1500 students, the secretary is usually horribly overworked, so just bear this in mind. And yes, some of the office workers there have no clue (like most public servants :stuck_out_tongue: ).

(I knew a couple of people who worked in the office there when I was at MTC)

No, I didn’t retract them, I said things must have changed. They were completely disgusting when I was there. However, I probably shouldn’t have posted as my experiences were 3-4 years ago.

Okay, fair enough. That probably should have read clarified rather than retracted. Oops. Nice sig, too.

:wink: In the words of the drude…