Li: Where’s the exchange?
Since the launch of Yale-Peking University program, the Yale Club of Beijing has enthusiastically listed this initiative as the first item in the “Exchange” section on its Web site. Like so many Yalies and PKU parents, Yale alumni in Beijing genuinely believe that Yale-PKU is in fact an exchange program. The club even tried last fall to invite the PKU students who had studied at Yale to attend a reception at the Capital Club, one of the finest and most exclusive in downtown Beijing — but they found none.
Our alumni in Beijing have apparently forgotten what they’ve learned (or...
Thanks for writing this, Robert. During my four months in Beijing through the Yale-PKU program, the other Yale students and I often found ourselves asking why our 'exchange' program was not a two-way street.
My biggest concern with your article, though, deals with the financing. $25,000 is a whole lot of money--that more than it costs for 4 full years at PKU without a scholarship. I find it hard to believe that those Chinese students who fall under your second category would be willing to take out a loan like that just to spend a SEMESTER at Yale. Especially since PKU is a state/public university, Yale would most likely be left with the extra financial burden should PKU students have the opportunity to come here.
I agree with commenter #1 on this one. What's the point of "exchange" when you have Chinese exchange students at Yale who seem to interact sparsely with other students anyways, and for the most part keep to themselves? Of course, I'm not going to deny cultural differences may play a big part, but don't you think this is a problem for your give-and-take 1+1 equation as well?
I'm just going to say let the Yale-PKU exchange programs decide amongst themselves how they're going to run things, and Yale in the meantime should continue reaching out to other nationalities who are far less represented in our student body.
@ #3 FYI, I've had interactions with both PKU kids and Chinese grad students here. They are vastly different. PKU kids are much more outgoing.
on the other hand, there are a lot of chinese students at yale (and probably most grad students) who socialize and live little outside a core group of other chinese students. I find this even more problematic. (The author is most definitely not one of them, as I have met him a bunch of times outside the classroom..)