Mark Your Calendars: January 21, 2014

This is a reminder that the final deadline to take the STAMP Chinese Proficiency Exam for fall 2014 admission to the HNC is next Tuesday, January 21.  If you have not done so already, request your test today!  Please note that the HNC Office of International Admissions will be closed on Monday, January 20 in observance of MLK Day, so any forms received over the weekend may not be processed until Tuesday morning.  If you foresee difficulty in meeting this deadline, please contact our office to discuss a possible extension.

Also on January 21, we will be holding our last online admissions chat before the February 1 application deadline.  Join admissions staff Katie Brooks (HNC '09) and Sallie You next Tuesday from 7:30-9:30PM EST to ask all of your final application and financial aid questions.  Click here as early as ten minutes prior to the start of the chat and login as a guest.  We look forward to chatting with you!

Reflections on Fall Semester at the HNC

Last week while in Nanjing for the meeting of the Joint Academic Committee (JAC), admissions officer Katie Brooks stopped by the student lounge to speak with students as they took a brief break from final paper-writing.  Read on to learn about HNC students’ favorite aspects of the fall semester, and how they plan to spend their winter break:

Favorite Classes:

• Ellis Gyongyos: Politics of Rural Development with Professor Adam Webb, which included a field trip to a fishing village near Yangzhou
• Mallory LeeWong: 中国经济和商业法 (Chinese Economic and Commercial Law) with Professor Zhou Changzheng
• Amanda Wolf: 国际政治经济学 (International Political Economy) with Professor Shu Jianzhong
• Ryan Murray: Economics of Strategy with Professor Paul Armstrong-Taylor

Favorite Aspect of the Center Outside of Class:

• Ellis Gyongyos: The caliber of people you’re surrounded by.  They’re not only smart, but have gone out of their way to make their lives better.
• Mallory LeeWong: The food
• Amanda Wolf: The people, especially the range of ages.  There’s always something to talk about.
• Ryan Murray: The Hassenfeld Social Enterprise Fund
• Anthony Miller: The extracurricular activities, like rugby and rock-climbing


Winter Break Plans:

• Ellis Gyongyos: Asia Trek*, then time in Nanjing
• Mallory LeeWong: Asia Trek*, Hong Kong, then home
• Amanda Wolf: Korea, Nanjing, Vietnam
• Ryan Murray: Asia Trek*, then Beijing
• Anthony Miller: Hopefully travel to Central Asia




Thomas Mao, HNC's Unofficial Mascot

In other updates, Thomas Mao, the unofficial mascot of the HNC, has obtained permanent lodging since we last checked in with him, as evidenced by the picture to the right.

Winter break has now officially started and goes until the start of the spring semester on February 17.  Safe travels to all HNC students!

*To read about last year's Asia Trek, click here, and look for a future post about this year's Asia Trek in the coming weeks!

Timeline of HNC

Hopkins-Nanjing Center has been around since 1986... here are some important moments and some snapshots of the HNC in the last 25+ years!

• 1981 – JHU President Steven Muller and Nanjing University President Kuang Yaming begin talks to create a center in Nanjing and signed an agreement for the establishment of the Hopkins-Nanjing center for Chinese and American Studies
• 1984 – Construction of the HNC begins 

• 1986 – HNC opens its doors in September 1986. 24 American students and 40 Chinese students are enrolled in the HNC Certificate program. 

• 1987 – First graduating class of HNC
• 1989 – HNC closes early due to the Tiananmen Square protests
• 1996 – HNC Tenth Anniversary
• 2003 – SARS epidemic causes HNC to relocate the Center to Hawaii for the fall 2003 semester

• 2006 – HNC opens second building, new library, classrooms and faculty apartments. HNC also launches two-year Master of Arts in International Studies program

• 2006 – Then-US consul general, Ken Jarrett, and HNC alum, visits HNC

• 2006 – Henry Kissinger speaks at the 20th anniversary ceremony

• 2009 – Jon Huntsman Jr., then-US ambassador to China speaks at HNC

• 2010 – Johns Hopkins University president, Ron Daniels, visits HNC

• 2011 – Alan Hassenfeld, former chairman and executive officer of Hasbro Toys and a strong supporter of the Center since 1989, meets with HNC students engaged in the Hassenfeld Social Enterprise Fund.

• 2012  – HNC students compete in the international finals of the Jessup Moot Court competition in Washington, DC

• June 16th, 2012 – HNC celebrates their 25th anniversary and SAIS Dean, Vali Nasr visits the Center. 

• 2013 – US ambassador to China, Gary Locke, speaks at the 2013 HNC commencement. 

Five-Semester Option deadline is TODAY!

Greetings from the International Admissions team!  As a reminder, the deadline for Five-Semester Option applications is TODAY, January 7^th at 11:59pm EST. You can log on to our online application system here.  Feel free to contact our DC offices with any last-minute questions you may have (nanjing@jhu.edu, or 202-663-5806).  For those of you applying to the certificate or MAIS programs, applications are due February 1^st, and completed STAMP Chinese Proficiency Exams for all three programs must be submitted by January 21st. You can find STAMP test request form here.  We’re looking forward to reading your applications!

If you missed our January 3rd online chat, the transcript is now on our blog! Feel free to join our next chat January 21st, 7:30pm-9:30pm.

The Joint Venture

JAC 2013

The Hopkins-Nanjing Center is unique among the SAIS locations in that it is a joint venture between Johns Hopkins University SAIS and Nanjing University.  As such, our student body is composed of Chinese and international students who are bilingual in both English and Chinese.  While the admissions offices are separate (citizens of the PRC, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao should apply through Nanjing University rather than through our DC-based office), the two universities work closely together regarding all other aspects of the program.  In light of this, members of the DC office of the HNC will be in Nanjing next week for the 2014 meeting of the Joint Academic Committee (JAC).  Faculty and administrators from Johns Hopkins University SAIS, Nanjing University, and the Hopkins-Nanjing Center itself form the JAC and meet each year to discuss curriculum changes, hiring faculty, and other issues that affect students at the Center.  It’s also an opportunity to hear feedback from current students before they leave for winter break the following week.

Don’t worry though, we still have admissions staff members in DC available to answer your application questions!  The deadline to take the STAMP Chinese Proficiency Test is January 21, so request your STAMP test today!

Happy New Year from the HNC!

The Hopkins-Nanjing Center Office of International Admissions will be closed on Tuesday, December 31 and Wednesday, January 1.  We look forward to answering your application questions when the office reopens on Thursday.  Happy New Year!

Christmas at the HNC

Snowmen visit the HNC courtyard

Christmas Eve banquet

Christmas Eve banquet

The youngest member of the HNC community :)

Decorations in the student lounge

Christmas Eve in the student lounge

Presents on Christmas morning

Thank you to HNC American Academic Coordinator Angela Chang for the pictures!

Happy Holidays from the Hopkins-Nanjing Center!

The Hopkins-Nanjing Center Washington Support Office will be closed from December 23 through December 27.  Although office visits will not be possible during that time, admissions representatives will still be accessible by email to answer your application questions.  You can click here for staff email addresses.  Happy holidays!



Secret Santa in the HNC Student Lounge

Tips for a Problem-Free Application

As you finish up (or for some of you, start!) your application to the Hopkins-Nanjing Center, keep these tips and guidelines in mind:

Transcripts
If you haven't already done so, request official transcripts from any institutions at which you've taken undergraduate or graduate-level courses and have them mailed to the Hopkins-Nanjing Center Washington Support Office at 1740 Massachusetts Ave NW Washington, D.C. 20036. We accept both hard copy transcripts and electronic transcripts, but both need to be official documents.

Non-English-language transcripts: If your transcript is in a language other than English, you are asked to provide an official translation of the entire transcript and an explanation of the grading system of the university. You are strongly encouraged to use a credential evaluation service, particularly if you are not sure of how to obtain original transcripts or face difficulties obtaining them. Transcripts and translations must be official (unopened by the applicant) and received by the Hopkins-Nanjing Center Washington Support Office before the relevant deadline, so please make any requests well in advance.

Resumes
Although your resume can exceed one page, we ask that it not be longer than two pages. The Admissions Committee wants to see not only your previous work experience but also any awards and/or honors you have received, extracurricular activities, relevant coursework, publications, and volunteer work. You should not include information from high school.

Test Scores
You must request and take the STAMP Chinese Proficiency test before January 21, 2014. If you have received your STAMP test score before you submit your application for admission, you can include this score on your application, but it is not mandatory. The Washington Support Office keeps records of official STAMP test scores and we will use the official scores when reading your application.

For the GRE/GMAT: Students applying to the Certificate program do not need to take the GRE or GMAT. MAIS applicants and Five-Semester Option applicants are required to take either the GRE or the GMAT. Use the SAIS code of 5610-0000 when requesting official GRE scores (or the code KGB-GX-99 when requesting GMAT scores). Be sure you send your GRE scores to Johns Hopkins SAIS in Washington, D.C., not Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

English-Language Competence
If English is not your native language, (or in the case of bilingual students, your dominant language is not English) but you hold an undergraduate degree granted by an accredited institution in a country where English is an official language and where English is the language of instruction, than you will not be required to submit an English competency exam.

The Hopkins-Nanjing Center accepts TOEFL and IELTS. A score of at least 100 on the TOEFL Internet-based exam (600 on the paper based) or 7 on the IELTS is required for admission. If a candidate takes the Cambridge test, a passing grade is required for admission. The TOEFL code is 5610-0000.

Letters of Recommendation
For tips on letters of recommendation, check out our previous blog post: Letters of Recommendation: Do's and Don'ts.

***And lastly, we highly recommend that you submit your application before the deadline so that our office can alert you if you have missing documents. Good luck!

Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games “Share the Games, Share our Dreams”

Nanjing YOG Ambassador Michelle Wie with LELE

Nanjing has been very busy lately in preparation for the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) which will be held August 16- 28, 2014.  Nanjing 2014 YOG will encompass 28 sports in the Olympic program and aim to spread the Olympic spirit and encourage sport participation.


Countdown to 2014 YOG

NANJINGLELE, is the mascot of Nanjing 2014 and its name derives from a specialty of the host city, known as the river stone.  The word "LELE"  is meant to represent the sound of colliding stones, but is also similar to the Chinese word for happiness/joy.  According to the YOG website, the mascot "heralds Nanjing’s ambition to contribute to the Olympic movement by forging a wonderful Youth Olympic Games, and to leave the city’s footprint on the trail of the Olympic movement by delivering joyful, glamorous and indelible experiences for young people around the world.”

A number of the YOG games will be held at venues close to the Hopkins-Nanjing Center. Wutaishan, which is one of the venue for football, table tennis and basketball, is only about 2 km away from the HNC campus and Xuanwu Lake, host to the canoe-kayak and rowing races, is about 5 km away.

If you are interested in learning more about the 2014 Youth Olympics, please visit www.nanjing2014.org.

Photo sources: www.nanjing2014.org