Job Discussion Forums

[ChinaLady]

seems this big nasty test that all the final year senior middle school students take in June each year (or is it July?) places them in a college, university or technical school - not certainly of their choice.
now - my question is???? is there a site that lists the assorted schools in China by the scores the kids need to get into said school.
reason, you may ask? ah, yes.
I am finishing a contract at a "so-called" college where the average score of the students was 440. (I asked students - they are not to willing to answer but they did - finally.)
last year I was with a college/institute where the average score was 530.
I am now headed south to a university where the scores are 550 or better.
little did I realize that those numbers tell you about the caliber of students you will be working with. 440 is about earth worm level - charming at times but not really into conversation. 530 was great fun and sometimes a real challenge. so, I am looking forward to the 550+ group.
okay - I ramble - question? Is there a site that lists the minimum score for admission to Chinese schools/universities/colleges/institutes, etc.?
sure would save us all some time when we are selecting our next Chinese adventure - some of us are no doubt into the earthworm group.
smile, this is China!

[yaco]

I imagine there would be a site through the Education Department but it will probably be in English.

Why does everyone leave Nanchang ?????

[Ace]

If it's in English that would be very helpful!

[Roger]

Some student results get published by the media.
The schools get classified nationally; there is a top 100 ranking list. My university occupies rank No. 77 or thereabout, and that's what they are proud of...

Meanwhile, I suggest they adopt an enlightened examination procedure. One in which the same teachers do not test their own students but rather the class of some other teacher.
They ought to standardise their bloody exams and test nationally.
What I am seeing at present is a muddling through of each by themselves, setting their own standards that are wildly variable. Exam scores say next to nothing about students' skills or knowledge. Besides, cheating is so rampant that the whole exercise is but a farce.

[ChinaLady]

well, I agree with the above. BUT - I would have loved to have know just how low the school was before I signed on.
Note: the USA schools are ranked but it by size of the library, size of the endowment, publications of the professors, how many have PhD."s, livabilty, employment of grads, etc.
the Chinese ranking seems to have more to do with "who knows who and which top cadre graduated from the school". I am sorry but most of the libraries in the Chinese universities I've been to are huge, glitterie, and empty OR rotting boxes of 20 year old books.
RESEARCH? ha! ha! copy from the Net. even the profs do.
a ranking by province would be interesting.
okay - fellow teachers, let's do our own ranking.
now that would be interesting. the best schools to work for?
the best to do research at?
where are faculty treated with respect?
is the canteen food eatable?
etc.
smile, TIC

[ymmv]

China has been publishing University ratings on the net since 1999. The latest overall rankings can be found here if you can read Chinese:

http://rank2004.netbig.com/cn/rnk_1_0_0.htm

The "student scores" component, which the OP was looking for, is in the fifth column after the schools' name. The score is scaled on a 100 point basis (i.e. the top ranked school, this year Qinghua, scores 100 and the other schools follow off that).

There is no English version for 2004 up yet. The latest English version, for 2003, can be found here:

http://rank2003.netbig.com/en/rnk_1_0_0.htm

If you want to see years, change the "rank2004 in the address to "rankXXXX" where xxxx is the year you want to see.

Hope this helps.

[randyj]

These projected figures come from http://www.sowang.com (in Chinese). Don't ask me why some schools appear in both the liberal arts and science sections.

Liberal Arts

Beijing University 646
People's University of China 639
Wuhan University 628
Xiamen University 627
Beijing Normal University 625
Nankai University 622
China University of Political Science and Law 620
Sichuan University 620
Shandong University 615
Zhengzhou University 602
Jilin University 600
Fudan University 599
Nanjing University 599
Zhongshan University 599
Henan University 599

Science

Qinghua University 688
Beijing University 684
Shanghai Jiaotong University 668
People's University of China 664
Zhejiang University 663
China University of Science and Technology 660
Nankai University 657
Beijing University of Aeronautics (Beihang) 654
Nanjing University 650
Tongji University 648
Xi'an Jiaotong University 645
Wuhan University 641
Tianjin University 637
Beijing Normal University 636
Harbin Institute of Technology 635
Huazhong University of Science and Technology 629
Zhengzhou University 593
Jilin University 589
Zhongshan University 589
Henan University 589

[ChinaLady]

so, RJ if I follow you - the listed score is the lowest score that will allow a student to attend that school?
and I understand that the student sellects his school choices BEFORE he/she takes the test? which is why I hear "I failed" the exam. well, they didn't fail but they DID NOT score high enough to enter the school(s) they chose. right?
so, they wait a year and retake the test OR apply to a lower rank school that will accept them with their so-called "failed" score?
hummm, you are right - this needs to be re-vamped.
also, I guess you get extra points if you are a pop star or a former athletic star - or you're are admited on your charm, looks, money?
no, say it isn't so?
ah, well, good info people. thanks.

[greentea]

It's all somewhat confusing but - as I understand it - the students have to submit their list of preferred Uni's in advance. Of course, there's no way of knowing which Uni's will be most popular, what score might be needed to enter and what score you might receive ! If your guesstimate is wrong, you have wasted a year. The University rankings do seem to remain fairly stable from year to year and I suppose there must be a huge amount of "inside" information floating about the web and so on, but still ... anyone who does manage to make an accurate projection deserves a place at University, I think.

[randyj]

Yes, I think the projected scores represent the minimum needed. According to my understanding, the students specify their choice of schools before taking the test. I knew a student in Changsha who performed better than he thought, well enough to enter Beijing University, but he did not feel confident to put Beida as one of his selections. So he had to settle. (No slouch, he later did graduate work at Stanford.)

[yaco]

It is standard practise throughout the world to have a student ranking system to attend University.

The difference is that in western countries, we are making greater use of secondary criteria.

[ymmv]

Last weekend, I had to go to Taizhou, Zhejiang to give some lectures in Jiao Zhiang, Huangyan and Lu Qiao.

I was put up in a 4 star level hotel there and on the desk in my room were a couple of Chinese magazines. One was the Chinese "Fortune" and the other was an out-of-date (October, 2003) issue of the Chinese National Geographic Traveler. I swiped the latter when I checked out because one of the featrued articles was (in Chinese) the Top Ten Chinese Mainland Universities- this in the Chinese edition of National Geographic.

The top ten schools listed in the mag are basically the same as those listed in the Netbig Rankings I posted earlier (albeit in different positions). The Nat Geo List just looks better given the glossy paper and featured photos for each school. Form over substance, uber alles.