Nanfang Daily  January 4, 2017 Wednesday  Page SC03: Shenzhen Observation · Education Weekly/Special Topic

SUSTech’s 2017 Undergraduate Enrollment Launch Ceremony & Information Session is held in Shenzhen Middle School. (Photo by Nanfang Daily reporter Zhu Hongbo)

On January 3, Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) held its 2017 Undergraduate Enrollment Launch Ceremony & Information Session in Shenzhen Middle School. The reporter learned from the meeting that SUSTech preliminarily plans to recruit 1,000 students at the stage of its undergraduate enrollment for 2017, with estimated 150 students from Guangdong Province. All the admissions are scheduled to adopt a comprehensive evaluation admission mode, among which the Gaokao score of candidates only accounts for 60 percent of their comprehensive performance, the result of scholastic aptitude test independently organized by SUSTech for 30 percent (including computer test 25% and interview 5%), and ordinary academic achievement in their high school for 10 percent.

Notably, there will be several major changes in SUSTech’s undergraduate enrollment for 2017 — in addition to officially quantifying and including comprehensive quality evaluation into admission score as well as the fact that classy students who won national awards in academic competitions can enjoy the policy of priority of admission, freshmen with Gaokao score ranking Top 200 in science in their own province or municipality are expected to receive the stipend in the amount of about RMB 400,000 and have a chance to study in the world famous university as an exchange student for one year.

 By Nanfang Daily reporter Sun Ying and correspondent Tan Jianwei

Estimated 150 students recruited from Guangdong Province

In 2017, SUSTech preliminarily plans to recruit 1,000 undergraduates in 22 provinces across the country, who will be admitted ahead of schedule. Prospective students are those outstanding science graduates of high school, who not only are healthy, ambitious and enterprising and have the ability to think independently as well as discipline specialty and innovative potential, but also partake in the 2017 national entrance examination for colleges and universities.

Provinces and municipalities to be covered include Beijing, Hebei, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian, Jiangxi, Shandong, Henan, Hubei, Guangdong, Guangxi, Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan and Shaanxi. The minimal enrollment number for each province and municipality is 20, with the maximum enrollment number for Guangdong at estimated 150 students. According to Tang Bin, leader of Group of Admission for Guangdong of SUSTech, we do not rule out the possibility of enrollment expansion in Guangdong if the candidate quality is good.

Online registration is adopted for SUSTech’s comprehensive evaluation without paper all the way and for free. The deadline is April 30, 2017. Candidates who win the admission to SUSTech must participate in the scholastic aptitude test independently organized by SUSTech and their gaokao scores must reach the minimum passing score for undergraduate program with first will.

As can be seen from the admission of SUSTech in Guangdong in 2016, Shenzhen had a large proportion of candidates to be admitted. Among 149 candidates from Guangdong province last year, 90 were from Shenzhen, accounting for 60.4%.

Quantitative test will be done for comprehensive quality for the first time

Officially quantifying and including comprehensive quality evaluation into enrollment score is a key innovation for SUSTech’s undergraduate enrollment for 2017.

According to Tang Bin, in SUSTech’s previous comprehensive evaluation admission mode, ordinary academic achievement in high school accounting for 10 percent of comprehensive performance was totally dependent on the results of high school achievement test of candidates. Since 2017, SUSTech will divide the ordinary academic achievement in high school into two parts, namely, results of high school achievement test accounting for 7 percent of comprehensive performance, and results of comprehensive quality evaluation accounting for 3 percent of comprehensive performance, which evaluates the comprehensive quality of candidates based on 10 items in 5 aspects including innovation practice, discipline specialty, art cultivation, social responsibility and morality standards and includes the evaluation results into the comprehensive performance as a basis for final admission.

“We want to have a comprehensive understanding of what candidates have accumulated and created in their senior high school through their interest and specialty, not just their academic achievements,” said Tang Bin.”This is the trend of the development of colleges and universities in the future.” This year, SUSTech is trying to quantify and include the comprehensive quality evaluation for students into admission score for the first time, and will not rule out the possibility of increasing the proportion in the future.

It is learned that having inventions and innovations and winning awards in academic competition can be a plus for admission, so can adherence to doing voluntary work, engagement in social investigations and beautiful pen writing. According to SUSTech, such an admission practice can effectively weaken the tendency of focusing only on Gaokao.

How comprehensive quality is evaluated and how objectiveness and fairness can be ensured? Tang Bin noted that SUSTech will establish an Admission Review Committee comprising 15 professors during the enrollment work in Guangdong, who review all the application information and decide the score of candidates according to evaluation criteria. Such an application and evaluation approach is an internationally accepted practice for the admission in foreign colleges and universities. “This is our first trial to know if we could bring the credibility system to China by degrees.”

Candidates who won national awards in academic competition will enjoy the policy of priority of admission

During the undergraduate enrollment for 2017, SUSTech will provide the policy of priority of admission for candidates who won national awards in academic competition (final). According to Tang Bin, this move aims to make excellent students with discipline specialty and innovation potential have a chance to stand out.

According to the SUSTech’s Measures for the Implementation on 2017 Enrollment through Comprehensive Evaluation, candidates, who won the national second prize and higher in China Olympic competitions in maths, physics, chemistry, information and biology for middle school students, partake in the 2017 college entrance examination and get the score up to the minimum passing score for students in science in their own province, and apply for SUSTech as their first choice ahead of schedule, can be exempted from attending the scholastic aptitude test (including computing test and interview) organized by SUSTech, the result of which is recorded as the full mark of 30; and candidates, who won the national third prize, pass the assessment of ordinary academic achievements in high school and English competence organized by the Group of Admission in their corresponding province and municipality , partake in the 2017 college entrance examination and get the score up to the minimum passing score for students in science in their own province, and apply for SUSTech as their first choice ahead of schedule, can be exempted from attending the scholastic aptitude test organized by SUSTech, the result of which is recorded as the full mark of 30.

Special A freshmen will be offered an opportunity to study in the world famous university as an exchange student for one year

This year, SUSTech will launch unprecedented scholarship initiatives to attract outstanding students. The reporter learned that candidates to be admitted, who meet the comprehensive evaluation conditions of SUSTech and get their Gaokao score ranking top 200 in science in their own province or municipality, will be included into its “International Talents” program, according to which SUSTech will fund some RMB 400,000 to send them to study in one of Top 10 or so universities in the world as an exchange student for one year.

“RMB 400,000 is not directly given to students, but as a financial aid. These students can select any of the world’s top universities like MIT, Harvard University and Stanford University to study and exchange there. SUSTech will help them get in touch with these universities other than funding,” said Tang Bin.

Moreover, candidates to be admitted, whose Gaoko score ranks Top 400 in science in their own province or municipality, will be granted the Presidential Scholarship of RMB 100,000. SUSTech is continuing to establish scholarships for freshmen, covering more than 70 percent of freshmen and with the amount ranging from RMB 3,000 to RMB 50,000. Alongside with National Scholarship and Shenzhen Universiade Scholarship, SUSTech also establishes Amer Scholarship, CMB Scholarship, China Telecom Scholarship and other individual scholarships for students in school. On top of those, the school also implements the stipend system for students with difficult family life. Apart from National Endeavor Fellowship and national stipends, students can also apply for individual stipend programs such as Yunlong Stipend and “Walk for Millions” Stipend.