China’s students cherish US education dream, despite year of uncertainty

Spike in visa delays and rejections has not deterred applications for places at US universities

Chinese still largest cohort of international students for 10th year running, but rate of growth is also continuing to slow

Reading Time:5 minutes

Chinese students are continuing to apply for university places in the US. Photo: Handout

Published: 8:00pm, 5 Jan 2020Updated: 8:54pm, 17 Feb 2020

Chinese students in the US have been caught in the crossfire of the growing rivalry between Washington and Beijing but, so far, many young people in China still regard the United States as a dream destination for a quality education.

Among them is 18-year-old Cassie Tan, who refused to be deterred despite a long and bumpy journey through the application process and the objections of her parents, who were concerned about the frequent stories of campus shootings as well as the icy US-China relationship.

Tan, who has dreamed of studying in the US since middle school, “spent a fortune” trying to arrange an opportunity to sit the American college entrance exam.

The Hong Kong test centre was hit by delays caused by the ongoing anti-government protests, forcing her to compete for slots at snap exams in South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Thailand. When all these efforts failed, Tan paid an agency to organise her a place but that did not work out either.

The US is still a popular choice for Chinese students despite recent visa difficulties. Photo: Xinhua

Finally, she sat the exam in Hong Kong and received an offer to study communications at a university in New York. Despite the difficulties caused, Tan said, by “political reasons in Hong Kong and the US”, she would go through it all again for the opportunity to study in the United States.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x