Now that the student body has settled into NYU Shanghai, the academic workload and rigor has evolved into its true nature. For the freshman, the transition from a high school workload to a college-level workload is complete, thus marking an important time to reflect on NYUSH’s academics. Last week, a group of around twenty international and Chinese students were asked to reflect on their classes, offer suggestions, and comment on the unique academic environment and academic resources offered at our school.
When asked about the academic impressions, over half of the students had gone to the Academic Resource Center (ARC) for tutoring and the Chinese Language Clinic for Chinese language support. When asked what the most helpful academic resource was, students almost unanimously declared the GAFs to be an invaluable resource. The Language Clinic, which is attended by the majority of international students, was also highly praised for its one-on-one attention and freedom to review any desired topic. Language Clinic sign-up is available on the door of room 503. Students are allotted twenty-minute time slots to work on any topic with the Chinese professors. Signing up a few days in advance can guarantee a spot.
While the GAFs and Language Clinic were highly praised, there were a few clarifications that students felt should be made. “I feel like we have so many classes in our schedule it’s hard to find time to go and schedule appointments with GAFs... we barely have time to do our work for class.” freshman Kalkidan Fedadu Eteffa commented. However, students that did find time to attend the ARC workshops benefited greatly. It seems that more Chinese students attend the ARC workshops, which are held almost weekly on topics such as close reading, time management, note taking, citation/note incorporation, etc. Information about these workshops is sent out on Wednesdays in the Office of Academic Affairs weekly newsletter.
Students were also asked to describe the rigor of their classes and the learning environment itself. Only a few students commented that the majority of their classes are too hard, while most agreed that most classes are on par with their academic abilities. Most students placed Chinese, Math, or Physics as their hardest class. However, the classes were called hard for different reasons. While freshman Bella Farr explained that “the amount of [Chinese] work is ridiculous”, Fernando Medina believed the class was hard because, “content is a lot. The amount of work isn’t the problem, the content itself is challenging.”
One of the largest differences between every NYUSH freshman’s high school learning environment and NYUSH’s learning environment is the conglomeration of so many different cultures. Students especially noticed culture differences when pursuing deep conversations in class. Freshman Colton Paul explains, “In regards to political and philosophical discussions between Chinese students and international students, it’s difficult to go deeper because of language barrier and vocabulary differences. All of the Chinese students who want to talk about it will find the right words and try. I’m usually the person who starts the conversation, but I really appreciate when they put in a lot of effort to hold these conversations, and most of the time they do.” This attitude was apparent from both the Chinese perspective and the international perspective, and as freshman Steph Bailey explains, “The language barrier is quite evident, especially when we go into more complicated topics.”
While there are some barriers and challenges, as expected, the class of 2018 seems to be thriving academically. From using the art studio to create Chinese calligraphy, learning from the Tedx talks, attending professors’ office hours, attending extra lectures, to watching Asian movies every Thursday nights, the students who consciously utilize the academic resources provided by NYU Shanghai are reaping their benefits. Remember, there is a plethora of resources that NYU Shanghai has generously provided, and it is not hard to take advantage of them.
