Fudan v.s. Tongji University

See the difference of really living in a city or away from a city? Some very obvious and easy to get information seems not so for people far away. I got inquery about comparision between Fudan and Tong Ji University today.

Hi Jian Shuo,

I came across your blog when I was trying to find out more about Tongji and Fudan University. Since you’ve visited (and apparently lectured!) at both, can you give me an insider’s perspective into what each school is like regarding education/teaching, location, student body/diversity, facilities, etc. Also, do you know how far apart the two schools are from each other? I couldn’t find the university’s addresses online. Any input from you would be greatly appreciated.

The reason she reached this site may because of a search for term “Tongji” in Google. My previous entry Fudan, Tongji and SJTU was listed in the first page…

Education/Teaching

I didn’t study in either of the universities. The general concept in Shanghai is, Fudan is the No. 1 university, SJTU is No. 2 and Tongji is arguablely No. 3. SJTU is more stronger in engineering and Fudan is stronger in literature and related. Tongji’s strongest part is architecture department. This is only the general concept and may not neccessarily the truth.

Tongji is more closer to German culture due to the history of the university.

Location

Both school is at the east part of the city. They are very near to each other. I remember there is a road connecting the two university (Guoquan Road?) that has direction mark. One pointing to Tongji and the other pointing to Fudan to guide those students with bicycles.

map-fudan.tongji.PNG

Bigger map is here

The Yang Pu district is a residential area, not a commerical area in Shanghai.

Student Body/Diversity

Have no idea about this. Based on my experience, the student body in Fudan is a little bit stronger, since they organized a lot of lectures for the students. I have delivered about 5 small talks on campus and everytime, I can see the No. 3 teaching building are full of all kinds of lectures.

Facilities

Generally speaking, Fudan seems to have better facilities. Tongji just opened a new campus in Jiading. I never visited there but techers in Tongji told me the new campus is definitely the best campus in Shanghai. Jiading is far from the city – about one hour in express way? (No sure though).

Hope the information helps.

Disclaimer: the information provided in this article is based on my personal experience and is by no means a complete comparision of the two universities.

23 thoughts on “Fudan v.s. Tongji University

  1. Hi Jiang Shou,

    I visited your blog. It is fantastic!

    I am a photographer and I will be in China for 5 weeks, arriving in Shanghai on 18/11. I live in Brussels, Belgium.

    Is there anyway I can contact you? via email, etc? The reason is I would like some information in organising an exhibition in Shanghai like what you did with yoru group of freinds.

    Please do send me an email as I would really love to meet you.

    Thanks

    Michael

  2. May i join your blog ?

    i am a college student ,i want to practise my english .so i want to join this ..i am glad to talk you ..

    thanks !

  3. both two are fantastic universities in shanghai. good location, good environment, good teachers, good facilities… but i think the campus life is somewhat boring. nowadays students change a lot in their attitude to the university education and life style in campus.

  4. In my country you can go to university when you have passed minimum 11 years of school, most students begin after 13 years of school.

    How many years are minimum required for joining a chinese university ?

  5. JS

    What if the high school student failed the entrance exam to the university, does the student have a second option to the higher education?

    On the average, what is the failing rate of the high school students to enter the university?

  6. answer stephen’s question:

    If a student failed the entrance exam to the university, he can choose to enter a high-level technological college which has a lower entrance condition than universities or continue one year study to prepare the next year exam. Because examinee’s age does not be restricted in China, if the student wants, he can enter every year’s exam until he successes.

    And, the second question’s answer is it depents.

    In diffrent provinces, the number of univesities and examinees is dissimilar, but passers of the entrance exam are chosen using a level made by local province, so the failing rate is totally different.

    The lowest rate I think is in Beijing, which may be about 20%, when the highest rate,about 60%, is in provinces of eastern China,like Shandong, Jiangsu and Anhui.

  7. Thanks cissylover,

    How is the employment situation for the fresh graduate from the Shanghai Universities, do most of the graduate able to find work associated with the field they studied in the first two years of job seeking? Appreciate your comment.

  8. How can i learn about civil engineering jobs in Shanghai? I am in California, hoping to work in SHanghai.. I have learned conversational Mandarin. I would rather make more money than what an english Teacher makes in Shanghai.

  9. David, if you look chinese, forget it here.

    And Stephen, in my girlfriend’s university many students throw themselves out of the 10. floor frequently, when they cannot take the pressure anymore…

  10. Do you mean your girlfriend’s campus is classified as ‘Hard Hat’ area in light of falling objects? ……… just kidding.

  11. may i join this party ? i am a college student , i want to know more knowledge about the IT or the new ideas about the world .so please add me !

  12. Hi Guys,

    Thanks for the ideas. Wo shi Meiguoren!

    I don’t look Chinese, I look European, grew up in the states.

    I already received my civil engineering degree, so I don’t need to study at Fudan University. I just want a job in Shanghai that pays better than english teacher. I have construction engineering design experiences, I speak pretty good mandarin. What are the chances?

  13. David,

    From the look of the Shanghai skyline it seems like there would be a lot of job opportunities for civil engineers here. Modern skycrapers and cranes are visible no matter which direction I turn.

    Regarding the job search. The only advice I can give is what has worked for me. A few years ago I was getting ready to graduate in electrical engineering and was looking for ways that I could leverage my Chinese language skills as an engineer. From surfing the web it seemed most companies here were looking for people that had 5-10 years of work experience. Instead I decided to look for a global company that I could work for in the U.S. and seek an international assignment within the company. To make a long story short, I found a company like this and started working for them after I graduated. After a year and half of working at corporate I got an assignment to come out and work at our branch in Shanghai. After coming to Shanghai I realized that we were able to recruit a lot of really good local guys for the engineering positions in China. I would recommend you get solid technical and leadership experience in the States that would differentiate yourself from local candidates and then seek opportunities to come to China in a management role. This is how a lot of us come to China.

    Good luck,

    Steve

  14. What a luck! I graduated with bachelor degree of Computer Science in Fudan and now pursue my post-graduate study in Tongji now.

    What Jianshuo said is fairly the fact. One more thing to make up, I think the library in

    Tongji is much better than Fudan, especially in the engineering book collections.

    My first time to be here, really nice!

  15. I would like to go to Jiao tong, or Fu Dan. Anything transferable to Vancouver, Canada / American universities.

    Hi there. I am an international student. I learned Chinese for 2 years already. I want to study International Business, economics, finance etc.

    Can you please send me a list of your course outline. All my credits in 4 years etc. I will start Feb, 2007

    Maybe transfer back to Canada after 2 years or USA, I am not sure. I have to show my schools here in Canada everything i will be studying in China.

    Comm1, BUSS1, Finance203. My credits I will receive.

    1st year, 2nd year, 3rd year, 4th year.

    Or give me your phone # in Shanghai. I wil call you.

    Can you please let me know

    Thanks,

    Joseph

  16. lolz i flunked my A levels here in Singapore all F but took the fudan entrance exam .. wondering if they will accept me lolz

    sent me a email if possible lolz kinda stressed out ..

    but life in shanghai is wonderful the pace of life is not as fast as singapore … which is good..

    but if u wanna go to college there u really got to study especially at fudan with such prestigious reputation to upkeep..

    in a way from what i see i think fudan frankly have a much better world wide recognition than tong ji..

  17. Hi guyz,

    i’m interesting going medical school in China, but i am so confused because there are many medical schools in China. i would like to find out very good medical school in china. Location and cost doesn’t matter to me. it gotta be good school with english medium. current i am college student in USA. you can email me or reply me on here too.

    thanks guyz

  18. Hi!

    I was wondering if anyone could inform me of what buslines go to Tongji university?

    thanks!

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