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For most students, the first step to applying to the Hopkins-Nanjing Center is to take the Avant Assessment’s STAMP Chinese Proficiency Test . The test is required for admission and it can help gauge which program is the best fit for you. Preparing for the proficiency test We often have applicants ask the admissions team how they can prepare for the Chinese proficiency test. The truth is that there is no formal study guide or textbook to help you prepare. The proficiency test is a content-based test that covers diverse topics and subject matter. It tests your ability to understand main ideas from written Chinese passages and audio recordings. This content-based test is reflective of the Hopkins-Nanjing Center’s content-language coursework in that you are tested on your comprehension, rather than your ability to identify specific vocabulary words or grammar points. The test questions are multiple-choice for both the listening and reading sections. There is a practice test available, bu...

Student Blogger Tarela Osuobeni, Certificate ’17, SAIS MA ’19, shares her experiences taking advantage of faculty office hours at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center. “请进, 请进 (please come in)!” My professor enthusiastically welcomed me through the doors of her office. Today I had come to discuss ideas for my paper on death penalty law for my Chinese Constitution course. I wanted to know her thoughts on the law’s relationship to the Chinese Constitution and Chinese history more broadly. She directed me to a chair across from her and began to ask me questions about my project. She patiently listened to my reasoning as I explained my paper’s argument. When I stumbled over a few Chinese words, she was quick to rephrase my meaning in a way that made sense. During the hour that we spent together, her advice and encouragement sharpened my thesis and gave me the confidence to complete the paper. At the Hopkins-Nanjing Center, I valued faculty office hours because it was an opportunity to understand mor...

During the first week of October, China celebrates National Day with a week-long vacation commonly referred to as ‘Golden Week’. Since it occurs at the beginning of the semester, Golden Week is a great opportunity for students to travel, explore, and make friends with other students at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center. This year during Golden Week, lots of students traveled to new cities, took short trips to Shanghai and Suzhou, or went to visit old friends in other parts of China. I decided to stay in Nanjing and get to know the city a little better. Nanjing has a long history, and served as the capital at different points in Chinese history. There are numerous museums and historical activities around the city. Different groups of students went to Purple Mountain to see Sun Yat-sen’s Mausoleum, to the old Presidential Palace, and to the Nanjing Museum. In an effort to escape the infamous Golden Week crowds, it was fun to explore some of the less touristy areas of Nanjing. The co-directors a...

For this week’s Wordless Wednesday, student blogger Cady Deck, Certificate ’19, shares photos of daily life around Nanjing.  Photos by Cady Deck, Hopkins-Nanjing Center Certificate ’19

Meet our new student bloggers in Nanjing! Sam Olson, Master of Arts in International Studies ’20, Cady Deck, Certificate ’19, and Hope Parker, Master of Arts in International Studies ’20, will be sharing their experiences studying and living at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center throughout the year. Sam Olson, Master of Arts in International Studies ’20 (left)  Hi everyone! My name is Sam Olson, and I am a first-year master’s student at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center double-concentrating in international politics and Chinese studies.  I graduated from Brock University in Ontario, Canada, where I majored in tourism and environment. I started learning Chinese in middle school and knew from early on that I wanted to pursue a major and career that allowed me to work with China in some way. I first heard about the Hopkins-Nanjing Center when I attended the Middlebury College Summer Language School. There were several aspects that drew me to apply for the master’s program. First, the degree is ...

As application season gets underway, the Hopkins-Nanjing Center admissions team has compiled our top tips to keep in mind as you start your application. We hope that these tips will help guide you through the application process.  Tip #1: Write a personal statement that clearly addresses your individual academic and career goals and connects them to studying at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center. It’s not called a “personal” statement for nothing! Don’t waste this opportunity to tell admissions officers about your interests and career goals by rehashing your resume. Even if you don’t necessarily have a five- year plan, we are looking to see that you have thought out how you see the Hopkins-Nanjing Center as an essential piece of your future plans. In the past, we had one applicant write about lessons learned from playing ping pong with a Chinese classmate. Another applicant wrote about her experience at a Chinese rural hospital. We encourage you to get creative!  Be sure to write you...