TOP UNIVERSITY — ZHEJIANG UNIVERSITY
My experience: Admission to the elite PIEGL program
Many of you have asked me about the PIEGL program at Zhejiang University. The main concern seems to be whether or not you will get admitted to the program and should you even apply.
I believe the answer is always YES! Why shouldn’t you? You already have a NO, so why not give it a GO and CHANGE that?
I cannot guarantee you will get accepted, but I can share my experience with the application procedure and maybe help you a bit along the way.
What is the PIEGL program anyway?
The PIEGL program is a course offered by the School of Management, Zhejiang University. Zhejiang University is one of the oldest, most prestigious and selective institutions of higher education. It ranked among 100 best universities in the world and is among the top 3 universities in China. Therefore, the School of Management is ranked among the best universities and business schools.
PIEGL stands for Program of Innovation Entrepreneurship and Global Leadership. It is a 2-year (4 semesters) full-time program, fully taught in English. You have an option to take Chinese language classes if you are interested in learning Mandarin. After the program, you will be awarded a Master's Degree in Management from Zhejiang University.
The admission requirements:
- Bachelor's degree and above from prominent universities; I suggest you add your University ranking to your application.
- TOEFL or IELTS test report, if you are applying from a non-English speaking country; I have submitted my Certificate of Proficiency in English (CPE) done based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) for level C2. I also stated that I am writing my PhD thesis in English, with two existing scientific articles published in English language. Meaning that there are other ways to prove your English is good enough, also if you did not take IELTS or TOEFL. I encourage you to check with the PIEGL administration before you apply. And yes, after my admission to the PIEGL, I was doing my PhD and Master's degree simultaneously — if your other degree does not interfere with your studies at Zhejiang University (does not require your physical presence at another university) it is possible to do both.
- Two letters of recommendation; I have submitted a letter of recommendation from my Thesis Advisor for PhD and a letter of recommendation from my previous employer. When I was applying for the program, there was a requirement for a letter of recommendation from an employer, it was required to have previous working experience. I am not sure if this is still the case. I encourage you to check with the PIEGL administration if you can submit a letter of recommendation from an employer.
- Personal statement in English or Chinese of no less than 1500 words; I strongly suggest that you write a statement of 1500–1700 words. During the course, (no less than 1500 words) will be the minimum requirement for reports. Those will usually be individual reports or reflection papers during midterm reviews. When I applied, the requirement for a personal statement was: NOT TOO LONG. My personal statement was 1076 words long. If you are interested in my Personal statement, check my next post — My Personal Statement for thePIEGL program. I will share some experiences on how to write a good application letter for university — from structure to length.
When I applied, the submission date for applications was May 30th. I posted my online application on May 16th. I posted my documents on May 20th from China and received an e-mail from the PIEGL office that my documents arrived on 24th May. For 2019, the application date is set to May 20th. Be sure to submit your application on time.
I had a face-to-face interview as I was doing my fellowship with another university in Hangzhou at that time. My interview was scheduled for June 7th at 15:30. I was there 30 min earlier, which proved to be a good thing, as the girl in front of me finished early (there was 30 min scheduled for each candidate). I would say if you finish early (and this goes for any interview), this is generally a bad sign. The girl before me was not admitted. My interview was about 30 min long. The course of the interview will be the same as for any other interview. I encourage you to take as many academic or job interviews as you can. That way you will get more confident each time you take one and more confident about what you want to say. During the interview, there will usually be a panel of interviewers. In this case, there were three professors. At the beginning of the interview, there will be a short introduction and the expectations of the candidates will be explained. Listen and remember the key points that are mentioned. When it’s your time to present yourself, try to use those key points to show you are a fitting candidate. Make sure you keep eye contact with all of them, also when you receive a question. Zhejiang University has devoted itself to developing the PIEGL program to share opportunities and interests through opening up and achieving win-win situations, intending to nurture future business leaders who can obtain a deeper understanding of emerging markets and work in a global or multicultural context. It was created as a result of the consensus of leaders at the G-20 Hangzhou Summit 2016, which is to take innovation as a key driver and foster a new driving force of growth for the global economy. The economic growth is now occurring mostly in emerging markets, and today’s global challengers, fast-growing fast-globalising companies, are from emerging markets. These trends and characteristics provide a new set of opportunities for entrepreneurs and investors in both the developed and developing worlds. You must keep these things in mind and connect your presentation and future interests with them. In my presentation expressed my genuine support for the initiative Belt and Road Initiative. I also talked about 16+1 cooperation and the similarity of the cultural history of Slovenia and China. Professors were also interested in renewable energy policy in Slovenia. Be confident while answering the questions. It’s not a test, it’s your opportunity to shine. Promote yourself. I took this question as a chance to tell interviewers my opinion about the policy and its future development. Elaboration on future development shows your ability to think, so don’t skip that. I finished my answer by giving a summary of new prospects in Environmental law, which was a topic of mine at the conference on Environment and Sustainable Energy, where I was presenting as a speaker (if you are interested in this topic, type Environmental Due Diligence and you will find my PPT slides online).
Thank the interviewers for their time. Be kind and smile. Be confident. Your energy will radiate to other people and you will be successful.
One month later, on July 7th, I was informed I got accepted and was sent admission papers.
I hope you found my information beneficial to your application process. The e-mail for the PIEGL admission office, should you have any questions, is: piegl@zju.edu.cn.
Good luck!
