The ninth International Postgraduate Education Information Fair was held at UIC with a great college line-up on 26 October. There were 32 higher education institutes from all over the world plus UIC. All institutions were well-prepared to provide the most professional guidance to UIC students.
Students visiting the booths of universities at the fair
The event began with UIC President, Prof Ng Ching-Fai, welcoming everyone and greeting attendees before praising the event.
“By hosting this Information Fair, UIC is playing match-maker, between aspiring students and welcoming institutions of higher learning. I hope there will be many good matches.” Prof Ng went on to add, “Our aim, though, is the internationalisation of Chinese higher education, and in this, by all accounts, we have succeeded. Here, our teaching language is English. But our orientation is global. Our exhibitors will be glad to know that because of the high quality of education provided here, we have attracted Category 1 students from all 30 provinces across China.”
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was then signed between UIC and Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), US, with Prof Ng signing on behalf of UIC and the Dean of VCU Andrew P. Daire signing on their behalf.
UIC signs MoU with Virginia Commonwealth University
Group photo of participating institutions
This year, UIC set up their own booth to highlight their postgraduate programmes, including seven research programmes leading to MPhil and PhD qualifications, and two taught master's programmes. The to-be-offered MSc in Data Science programme was also introduced.
This year UIC also set up a booth for postgraduate study
The fair was organised and arranged by the Four-Point Education Coordination Office (FPECO), which ensured the fair was designed to appeal and attract all students, as well as their parents, to come.
Feedback
Year three Computer student, Jerry Hu and his friend Xu Huize, came to the fair to look for some authoritative advice from staff in the admission office, and get a better understanding of the majors they were interested in.
Jerry said it was a precious opportunity for students in their third year, as they can start to prepare to apply for a postgraduate degree to comprehend this flow in-depth. Huize thought he could communicate with the teachers in his dream college directly which made his preparation more surefooted.
Year two Finance student, Liu Zhixuan believed this year’s fair was better than last year’s. He hopes to go to the UK or Hong Kong for postgraduate studies, where he hopes to continue his major in finance.
Year two Social Work and Social Administration student, Zhang Xiyu, expressed her approval of the postgraduate fair by saying “I can get so much information. Staff members are all very kind, and they are working as a team”. She plans to go to either Hong Kong or Australia to continue her studies. When asked whether she has any plans for her application for postgraduate study, Xiyu replied, “To study hard and get good grades, and take part in activities during summer vacations and winter vacations that can help in my application”.
There were many freshmen who joined this activity as well including Year 1 Business student, Lan Shanshan, who said, “It’s the first time that I have access to know so many outstanding schools which makes me really excited and meanwhile let me know what my aim is so I can lead a more efficient way to study in the future”.
Parents also took an active part and this fair was a huge success according to Mr and Mrs Wang, who came from Hunan province to attend. “We expected to have a chance to know our child’s options for further study and thanks to UIC, we get to know more information in detail and now we are quite relieved and maybe can help our child more. We as parents are always keen to help the child and now we have a better way to do it”.
Another parent of a UIC student, Mr Ai explained how the postgraduate fair is good and provided ample amount of information, “There are also some universities that are here, which offer majors that my child is interested in”.
The staff from these higher institutes were arranged separately into different booths along the hall, and visitors could walk freely to all of them. Jay Zhang who worked in the University of Westminster’s admission office in China said that he cherished this fair.
He explained how he had a great time talking to the students and hearing their questions and worries so he that he could help them. “We like students in UIC not only because of their excellent grades and good resilience, but also due to their initiative to get a better preparation for their further study. We are looking forward to take more awesome graduates in University of Westminster.”
University of Westminster Lecturer and International Director, Mr Geoffrey Davies, mentioned that this was his third time to Zhuhai. He thinks UIC is amazing he is deeply impressed, especially with the students, which he describes them as “Having a strong level of English”.
Organising
Throughout the day, various universities gave seminars to students and parents about what they can expect and what is being offered by their university.
Stepping into the hall, students in green shirts could be seen standing in each corner, volunteers on hand to help at any time. One of the volunteers, Yi Ruobing, said that she and other volunteers were selected and trained in order to make the guests and students enjoy the event. “I’m honored to be a part of this fair and it would be such a pleasure to give visitors a timely support. Personally, I have got closer to these universities and consider about my plan in the future.”
The new facilities of UIC gave the schools a big stage to promote and provide the visitors a more comfortable environment.
Reporters: Ren Wemei (FLL, Y1), Samuel Burgess, Aria Wu
Photographers: Liang Jianhao (IJ, Y4), Guo Rui (PRA, Y3), Ivy Liao
Editors: Deen He, Marissa Furney, Étienne Fermie
(from MPRO)
