I’m planning on attending NCCU this fall and I was wondering what dorm life is like at the I dorm. I’m a 23 year old American girl and I want to live in the dorms because I want to be able to meet people. However, I’m wondering about the cost. It’s 8,000 per month to share a bedroom and bath, no kitchen, and curfews? Would I be better off sharing an apartment with a kitchen so I could make my own food(and hence save more money)? Or is dorm living preferable because of the people you meet?
Also, is there a big difference in prices between getting an apartment in the Daan district and the Wenshan district?
If anyone has any insight or experience in this, I’d appreciate it!
Are you sure its NCCU? Are these new private dorms or something? I’ve always heard new students went to the normal dorms, and they were like 2000 a term. Could it be you are refering to NTNU’s? Those are *K, curfew, the whoel enchilada.
Dorms are nice: community homework, close for parties. There can be the usual problems of living with other people and different definitions of hygiene…
Wenshan should be a bit cheaper. Da’an is big, might take some looking to find a suitable place.
These dorms at NCCU are new for international students. They just opened last year I think. I’m still waiting to see if I can get into the normal dorm because they are much cheaper. I’m not sure what they’re like though. Maybe I can find some other people who want to share a place in that area if the normal dorms don’t come through. Where could I find out if people are looking for roommates? Any websites, postings, or offices I can go to online or in Taipei?
Why? Details please
I could be very bad. I had that.
But it could be very good if you want to be part of the community. I was very attached to my school community in the states. Had many late night walks coming home from the library then hanging out with friends in the common rooms.
I got a student job on campus and participated in clubs as well.
This was in the states, not Taiwan. We did however, have a few international students that were also allowed to take campus jobs.
Tell us… can international students get campus jobs here in Taiwan. Compare the Taiwan campus experience to that of the US.
NCCU’s normal dorm was a hoot, I’d hang with the residents and it was OKish, especially since if you live imn the dorms, the place requires minumum maintenance and you do not have to spend so much time cleaning/laudry/etc. as those of us who keep a house. Sometimes, it has gotten out of hand. Dunno about this private dorm, wil ask, but if it is modeled after Shida’s or Prince, it’ll be ho hum to blah.
International students can take part time jobs outside campus, I’ve seen a few assistantships but not real job per se.
International students can take part time jobs outside campus, I’ve seen a few assistantships but not real job per se.[/quote]
Assistantships? What kinds of jobs do these international students get assigned? Do they have to speak Mandarin well?
I really enjoyed my dorm life. I had one semester from hell though. As a transfer student from a community college, I did not get to choose my roommate and I got a party guy.
After that, I did well. Ironically I chose Chinese room-mates. Always quiet, always studying! Of course coming here… my illusion of all Chinese people (I knew many) being respectful and smart was shattered. But still. Dorm life is the way to go, if you want to be a part of that community.
Do they have dining halls in the Taiwan universities for dorm students? What is the experience like?
I go to zhengda, and a few exchange students are living in the ‘I-House’ now…it just opened this past February.
They say it’s more like a hotel than a dorm, and I’ve noticed personally that the people who live there are more active doing stuff like traveling around Taiwan and going clubbing, etc. than those who live in the Chinese dorms…I-House people are clique-y though. I think that’s because they’ve become better friends with the people directly surrounding them, and don’t bother with anyone else. That could be this round of exchange students, but I think it will probably be the same next semester as well. They have activities and stuff going on in there that nobody else knows about. Then the rest of us find out the next day how it was so fun that everyone went to ____________.
If you are just doing one semester or aren’t really strapped for cash, then just stay in the I-House…then you won’t have to deal with crazy landlords that bark Taiwanese at you and make up stuff you did to break rules that don’t exist.
As far as the job thing, you can’t legally work except for jobs as TA’s in the school. The pay is terrible and the teachers treat you like a slave. If you stay here for one year and have no ‘financial assistance’ (scholarship, etc.) then you can apply straight up for a work permit, as long as you are a degree student and ‘have no money to support yourself’. Then you can have whatever job you want (but most of us teach English because it’s easy to find work and you are 100% legal).
I will be studying at TaiDa in the fall as a graduate student. Does anybody know what regulations are for the dorms, and if they’re available to graduate students? I really prefer living outside and having my own breathing space. On the other hand, cost could be a concern for me.
I assume that these prices are for shared apartments?
It’s interesting to hear everyone’s impressions of dorm life in Taiwan. I’ll be at NCCU CLC myself in the fall, but I elected to find my own place somewhere in the surrounding district since I’ve just finished up with four years in university housing here in the states.
Also, if the OP or anyone else is looking for roommates in the area, drop me a line.
I’ll be attending tai-da in the fall, even though my dad has an apartment in somewhat the same area (or so he says), I’m really considering if I should stay in dorms instead. I’m really bad at socializing so dorms would help make me some friends I hope. And thing is, I don’t know how buses do in Taiwan, so I would see taking a bus a bit of a challenge…Any thoughts?
Dorms are good for socializing and group work over assignments. You can leave Dad’s apartment for weekends. Tell him it is better for cramming at the library -which you will be doing a lot, anyway.
Buses are pretty simple and plentiful. Efficient, quick, clean, air conditioned. No biggie, just learning the routes, and there are maps, apps and friendly people around. Each bus stop has map, but the names are in Chinese. There are guidebooks in English, a bit old, but the main routes are there.
And to be honest, all the buses you need are:
236 - to Gongkuan (NTU area, for research and culture)
Number 1 Green: to Xinyi area (for more socialization)
252/253: from male dorms to Muzha MRT/Xindian line MRT (no need to walk up the hill to the main gate when you have the bus right there)
[quote=“Icon”]Dorms are good for socializing and group work over assignments. You can leave Dad’s apartment for weekends. Tell him it is better for cramming at the library -which you will be doing a lot, anyway.
Buses are pretty simple and plentiful. Efficient, quick, clean, air conditioned. No biggie, just learning the routes, and there are maps, apps and friendly people around. Each bus stop has map, but the names are in Chinese. There are guidebooks in English, a bit old, but the main routes are there.
And to be honest, all the buses you need are:
236 - to Gongkuan (NTU area, for research and culture)
Number 1 Green: to Xinyi area (for more socialization)
252/253: from male dorms to Muzha MRT/Xindian line MRT (no need to walk up the hill to the main gate when you have the bus right there)[/quote]
Thanks for the info! I’m definitely pushing for a dorm now. And the part about buses being clean and air-conditioned brightened up my day quite a lot actually xD