Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) has worked hard to create an environmental with global vision. With over 90% of our faculty having worked or studied outside of mainland China, SUSTech is infused with an international outlook that flows through to our students. With this in mind, SUSTech has worked hard to develop plenty of programs for students to go abroad to study. More than 60 undergraduate students were overseas when the call went out for information about their time in another country, and this is their story.

Liang Xuanquan, Wang Yuhuan and Zhou Zhenglan

California, United States of America – University of California, Berkeley (also known as Berkeley)

Several of our top students opt to go to the United States to advance their studies. Those that head to Berkeley are heading to a top university that accepts a small percentage of applicants from around the United States and indeed, around the world. We have several students at Berkeley, and we heard from three of them.

Zhou Zhenglan is originally from Shanghai, and is majoring in Finance. She opted to come to SUSTech because she wanted to explore a great new city, and her parents have always encouraged her to broaden her horizons. The support of her parents was important to her continued drive to look elsewhere to furthering her education, along with the support of her mentors and tutor.

Wang Yuhuan came to SUSTech from Ningbo in Zhejiang Province, not far from Shanghai. He has majored in Physics and came to SUSTech for its English education and easy access to professors and research opportunities. Yuhuan also liked the fact that he did not have to declare his major as soon as he came to SUSTech, a unique feature of SUSTech. It was his own curiosity that drove him to look overseas for exchange opportunities, along with the support of SUSTech and his friends and parents. He noted that receiving a full scholarship, under SUSTech’s Zhuoyue Program) helped enormously.

Liang Xuanquan chose SUSTech for its distinctive educational model and plentiful research resources. Like Yuhuan, he is majoring in physics. He wanted to go overseas to practice his English and improve his educational opportunities. His parents supported his quest to go overseas, along with SUSTech’s Global Engagement Office.

Why Berkeley?

The University of California, Berkeley is a public research university in Berkeley, California. It was founded in 1868 and serves as the flagship institution of the research universities affiliated with the University of California system. Berkeley, as it is affectionately known, is known as one of the Public Ivies, meaning that it is a public university thought to provide a quality of education comparable to that of the Ivy League universities in the north eastern states of the United States. Berkely’s alumni, faculty and researchers have included 107 Nobel laureates, 25 Turing Award winners and 14 Fields Medalists, among numerous other accolades

All three students pointed to Berkeley’s high ranking and regard in the world. Zhenglan pointed out that her professors are highly knowledgeable and kind while her classmates always have great ideas to share. Both Xuangquan and Yuhuan said that they had friends and former classmates to help them fit in quickly. Yuhuan also added that he was offered a full scholarship to go to Berkeley under his program, a valuable opportunity for any student.

They all commented that Berkeley’s traditions and culture is very diverse. The number of students wearing clothes with the Berkeley logo emblazoned across it was something that was noticed by all three students. Zhenglan was quick to point out the role of donors within Berkeley, with almost every building, room and chair being sponsored by someone of note within their field. This was further supported by Yuhuan, who added that the rich variety of voices on campus made his experience a little intense at times, but ultimately he was able to settle in without too many challenges. On the other hand, Xuangquan pointed to the uniquely American tradition of streaking (or running naked) across campus as something that he found to be most unusual.

Zhenglan was quick to point out that the English curriculum at SUSTech provided substantial help in bringing her up to speed with her classes at Berkeley. “Since I’m familiar with the topic in English, it saved me plenty of time to change what I have learned before into an English version.” Similarly, Yuhuan said that he had confidence for his English lectures due to his SUSTech education. “It was much easier to adapt, and it only took me a short time to get used to the study life at Berkeley.” He also added that he became far more confident to speak English among other English speakers, and hearing the vast array of different accents improved his listening skills substantially. Xuanquan added that the English classes he took at SUSTech helped him get familiar with reading and writing in English, a skill he has used a lot at Berkeley.

Their experience at Berkeley

All three students had their own perspectives on the different educational styles between SUSTech and Berkeley, and indeed China and the United States. Zhenglan felt that the gap between SUSTech and Berkeley is not that big in terms of content. However, US professors are comfortable with being interrupted in class with ideas or questions, as opposed to the lack of interruptions that take place in a Chinese lecture. Xuanquan pointed to the related reading materials that professors would provide in his courses at Berkeley, which helped him and other students to learn more if they chose to. He found that this was an efficient and convenient way to cover additional material, without having to find it themselves. Yuhuan felt that the 100% English curriculum offered at Berkeley was the biggest difference, with a highly diverse faculty coming from China, Germany, the US, India and other countries.

They also pointed to exploring Berkeley and spending time with their friends where possible in their free time. The three students were also active on campus in different ways. Yuhuan lives in one of the Berkeley Student Cooperative houses with over 50 other non-white students. “People are super-nice here, you can find out more information about the coop system on its official website: (bsc.coop).” Xuanquan is active on campus, while Zhenglan spoke more about her time meeting different people on campus and learning about the different cultures.

California is noted as having a unique food culture, which was noted by the students. Zhenglan summarized the food culture of the United States as “burgers and steaks,” but acknowledged the authenticity of different ethnic cuisines on offer throughout Berkeley. Xuanquan agreed with the diversity of food in Berkeley, but felt that Chinese food wasn’t as good as what he could get in Shenzhen, claiming that it tasted weird. Similarly, Yuhuan felt that restaurant meals in Berkeley were expensive by Chinese standards.

They all had goals to achieve before they return to Shenzhen. Zhenglan wants to take some fantastic photos of the Golden Gate Bridge, Xuanquan wants to go everywhere at UC Berkeley and Yuhuan wants to finish his research.

In his final comments, Wang Yuhuan said that “I encourage students in SUSTech to go study abroad. Personally, I have experienced so much in the US, which definitely broadened my horizons. I want to point out that all these results depend on their involvement in life in their new country. Students won’t gain anything if they are not willing to leave their comfort zone. If they live the same way as they do in China, they will not learn anything new, so I encourage people to actively get involved in the culture abroad.”

One of the basic missions of the Global Engagement Office (GEO) is to ‘internationalize’ the student experience through providing opportunities for students to immerse themselves in other cultures, develop their cross-cultural competencies, and raise awareness of the complexities of global issues. It is a principle of the university’s vision to be a global university; an element of this understanding is to provide SUSTech students with the opportunity to study abroad for a certain period (from several weeks – a summer program – to one year).

So far, the Global Engagement Office has established cooperation with major institutions from all over the world and provides nearly 50 different study abroad programs to our undergraduates, with a variety of program options, ranging from short-term programs such as summer schools and research internships, semester programs such as visiting student programs and exchange programs, to joint-degree programs such as “3+2”, “3+1+1” and more.

If students would like to learn more about current programs and info sessions managed by GEO, please visit our website (https://geo.sustc.edu.cn/) and are invited to follow the GEO WeChat public account (search “南科大国际合作部”). Students can also send emails to geo_students@sustech.edu.cn for any enquiries regarding studying abroad programs.