One of my current students is in an… Interesting situation. He’s getting ready to apply for university here in Taiwan, and unfortunately hasn’t succeeded in any of his applications for “special selection” 特殊選才, which really only leaves the standard college examination, the 學測。It’s a hard test and made much harder by the fact that despite being Taiwanese, with a Taiwanese ID card, he can’t read Chinese very well.
The test, of course, is written completely in Chinese. Even subjects that have nothing directly to do with the language still use it to ask questions and give instructions. This is proving to be a nearly impossible challenge for him.
I’ve done research and found that he doesn’t qualify for entrance as a foreign student despite having an American passport because he’s attended high school here (in English). He also doesn’t qualify as a 僑生 for the same reason.
I’m aware the College Examination will sometimes provide some assistance to students with disabilities, up to an including directly giving them free points, but I’m not sure how we’d go about looking into this. Does anyone have any ideas?
I think he’ll be in big trouble if he elects to stay in Taiwan.
My advice would be to have a look at relatively prestigeous universities in the region (say in Seoul or in Japan) to look at their international student arrangements. He may be able to get into a much higher ranked uni in the region in this way compared to sitting and taking the test in Taiwan (where he will get in to a university, as there are more seats than applicants, but where he will almost certainly end up at a subpar institution or a subpar program).
It sounds like a tough situation. I recommend contacting the university admissions office and the exam board to ask about possible accommodations for your student, especially considering his language barrier. They may offer extra support or alternative options for students in his case.
I asked the same question back then, and the answer is the same. The Taiwanese education system has NO systems to deal with people like us. It’s funny because there are fewer kids yet the education system is unyielding regarding this (Mingchuan university seems to be an exception). I tried with NTU, which is about the closest university in terms of ranking to UT Austin, but no go there.
Either he takes a crash course in Chinese, and hope for the best, or go attend university elsewhere, or university of phoenix (or other universities that offer online degrees).
Best option, go back to the states for college, and have crippling student debt. FAFSA is easy to fill out. However I do not know what state he has residency in, because the best bang for the buck will be to get accepted at a flagship public school of that state, with in state tuition.
In Taiwan, university entrance exams are primarily in Chinese, posing challenges for non-Chinese speakers. While accommodations exist for students with disabilities, they may not cover language proficiency issues. Some universities offer English-taught programs, but these often require a certain level of English proficiency. It’s advisable to consult with the College Entrance Examination Center (CEEC) or the Disability Support Services Office at universities like National Taiwan University to explore possible accommodations or alternative pathways.
Your student should consider getting a degree in the USA. It carries more weight and his parents put him through schooling in English so…it would be a better deal.
He could also do his conscription in taiwan and get that done while he ponders on what to do.
Or he could renounce his taiwan citizenship to access ROTC in the states and get a degree that way.
You cannot renounce Taiwan citizenship without serving in the military. If you want to do rotc might as well just serve anyways, it’s military experience.
I think this is the best solution, if he’s up for it. He had originally hoped to attend uni in America, but recently his parents have told him that they won’t be also to afford it. They’re very concerned about how much his education is going to cost.
I’ve been trying to get him to fill out the FAFSA (even MingChuan here in Taiwan can benefit from it!) but apparently there’s some weirdness with his SSN that he needs to go in person to the embassy in Manila to fix, and his parents both won’t send him alone and also won’t take the time off work to take care of it.
We’re trying to find a university and department that his parents figure they can afford and that he’s interested in now.
A US degree would be a good option, but his parents insist they can’t afford it!
I haven’t considered the conscription angle yet. I’ll discuss that with him today; maybe getting that out of the way would also be an acceptable way to essentially buy time and try again next year.
I’m not sure which state he’s a resident of. He last lived in the States when he was a small child, but I suppose one can’t be a ‘stateless’ American?
You got that right. The MoE approved all these English experimental programs in Jr High and HS, and then apparently didn’t think about what comes next! What did they imagine all of these students who graduated not having a standard level of Chinese would do? Just leave the country? Isn’t that legislating brain drain, and bad? I genuinely have no idea- either it’s criminal incompetence or criminal mismanagement.
Either way, crippling yourself with student debt just for a piece of paper made in the USA is definitely not the way to go. It’s just not worth it. I mean, what do you get for that? Expensive and bad health insurance, cheap plastic student food, and exposure to a radicalizing political system?