Also known as FDU according to AbbreviationFinder, Fudan University is a renowned university, the city has many activities to offer and I wanted to go to Asia. In the end it was the right decision, I have had many positive experiences, but also some negative ones. If you are not put off by the smog and the significantly different culture, I recommend going to Fudan University. I myself went to Shanghai without any knowledge of Chinese (like many other students), started there and will continue to do it in Germany. The first few days without a single word of Chinese were not easy, but you get better!
Application and planning:
As most of the previous speakers have already made clear, planning the semester abroad with MicroEDU is not a big problem. You get all the information you need and even if you ask the same question 1, 2 or 3 times, the MicroEDU person (in my case Sabine) remains calm and explains everything perfectly and of course free of charge. You shouldn’t worry whether your grades will be accepted at all, it worked perfectly for everyone, even if the current grade point average was in a slightly lower range.
From my point of view, the biggest problem was paying the tuition fees and the apartment in advance, as the foreign student loans pay later. But if you have the necessary change or your parents advance it, you can solve this too.
Flights:
In any case, book flights in good time, also with the option to rebook the date and return airport. I myself booked my flights individually and clearly too late, so that I had to pay around € 1000 in total. If you do it wisely you can do it for 500-700 €.
Accommodation:
I stayed at Tohee and was especially pleased with the location. You live about 10km north of the Bund directly on the Fudan Campus. By bus and metro you can get to the Bund / French Concession in 30-40 minutes. 2 bars are close to the campus, where you will always meet other students. Even if you often go to the city in the evening to celebrate, this is not a problem. For the 4th you pay about 10-20RMB per person, since admission and drinks are free through promoters, it stays with cheap evenings!
In the Tohee itself you can have good and bad experiences. I myself had applied for rooms in the range of 75 and 80RMB a night and got one for 70 a night. The difference was paid back directly on the 2nd day. Unfortunately, my apartment itself was a nightmare. Very dirty, no windows in the living room, a lot of mold. I tried to spend as little time as possible in my apartment, which led to the fact that I spent my days in my friends’ apartments, as their apartments were much better and were also in the tohee. I would recommend rooms from 80RMB, because the apartments you get are much better. But even there you don’t have to be spared mold. Since the staff does not seem to know how to remove the mold, this problem may persist for further vintages.
Even if inventory is missing or broken (in my case the fridge was missing and the large A / C in the living room was broken), it can take a long time before anything happens. After 3 months, my 2 Japanese roommates and I finally had a refrigerator, but the A / C was never repaired. . . even with multiple complaints.
In addition to the warm rent, there are additional costs. In the first few months these were mostly just under 100RMB per month. In winter (December and January), however, the bill shoots up, even if you turn off the heating! You then have to pay 300-500RMB per month, discussions unfortunately do not help.
Even if it sounds very negative in my description, I would move back to the Tohee. You get to know a lot of students, also from other programs, and sometimes spend whole days together because you go to university and live close to each other. My first apartment was clearly the worst in my circle of friends, and for my subsequent one-month internship I moved to another room for 80RMB. It was much better there and I had nothing to complain about!
Education:
In my opinion, the choice of courses in the CCSPP program was not too diverse. I took the Chinese course, Chinese Society & Culture, Global Sourcing and Supply Chain Management in China and Doing Business in China myself. I also did the internship on Fudan after the semester.
I was very satisfied with my choice, got good grades and did not have too much stress in the examination phase (which mainly consisted of homework and presentations). The level of difficulty was easy to master, official attendance is mandatory. All courses are in English and you hardly have any problems following the lecturers, as long as they speak fairly accent-free.
The crediting of the courses was not a problem at my university. I don’t know of anyone who tried to get credit for the courses and didn’t make it.
Whether you do the internship during the week or afterwards, you can still think about it in Shanghai and exchange ideas with fellow students. Most of the internships offered were in the marketing area, but most of the time you won’t have much to do. I did the internship at Knudsen & Co. Above all, the atmosphere was very good; unfortunately, the work was limited to research. Since I did it for my résumé, it was still worth it.
If you still want to travel after the semester, I recommend doing the internship during the week, even if it can cause a lot of stress. The tohee died out shortly before Christmas, most of the programs ended and people were heading back home or heading for Southeast Asia. Since I had a lot of time between the end of the internship and the start of the semester, I hung on for another 6 weeks in Thailand / Vietnam.
Shanghai and China:
Shanghai is known as the westernmost city in China, and it is. Nevertheless, it cannot be compared with European cities. Most of the locals cannot speak English and western food can be found, but of course it costs a lot more than local food.
I really liked Shanghai as a city and I will be back. Those who can deal with a lot of light, noise and people and even enjoy it in some cases will have a lot of fun there! Once you get to know the Chinese, they are very open and amiable people, even if money still rules in Shanghai.
There are also many destinations around Shanghai that you can visit over a weekend, for example Hangzhou, Nanjing, Huang Shan or Sozhou. The trip to Beijing is a must and if you have the money and the time, you should definitely go to the southwest of the country to Yunnan, as there are beautiful valleys and mountains!
Costs:
Shanghai is one of the most expensive cities in China, the rent in Tohee corresponds to German standards. However, my life needs were very high. I invested an estimated 600-800 € per month, depending on how you do things you can have it cheaper, but also significantly more expensive.
Anyone considering a semester abroad should know that it will be expensive. I estimated that I invested around € 12-13,000 in China for 5 months and Southeast Asia for 6 weeks. It won’t be much different in other countries, if not more expensive! Foreign student loans can cover a certain part, but not all costs. Scholarships are worthwhile if you can find a suitable one.
Conclusion:
I really enjoyed my semester in China, made many new friends from different countries and gained important experiences. I particularly enjoyed the cultural exchange between the many foreigners. Even if it is of course expensive, I am already planning to do a second semester abroad for my master’s degree. If you can find the money, it’s definitely worth it!
