Dear Anon (Answering a Question)

Q: Hi! I'm sorry to bother you. I was accepted to Hunter and I'm trying to decide which school I want to go to. I was hoping it would be okay if I ask you a few questions? The Chinese Flagship Program sounds like something I'd really be interested in, and I'm wondering if it's just better for me to apply once I'm there, have a GPA to show them, take some Chinese classes, declare a major, get letters of recommendation from professors at Hunter, etc., or, if not many students are even interested and most get in and the admissions process is fairly easy, so that I can apply earlier than I would by the time I have a GPA to show. Would I miss anything by applying later? Do you know anyone that really wanted to get in, but didn't? Does everyone that you know in program have stellar grades, are multilingual, and have travel abroad experiences? I guess I'd be kind of average, haha. My grades are pretty normal (I'll try harder), I only speak English fluently (I was really good at learning Spanish during high school?), and I've never been outside of the country. When I told the woman at the table for the CFP during the Accepted Students' Day, she seemed kind of disappointed and didn't really have anything to say to me. I'm really interested in learning languages and other cultures, and I'd love to have the opportunity to travel some day. Is the application itself difficult to complete? What did you write about, or some kinds of things other people you know wrote about for their personal statement? Who wrote your letters of recommendation (i.e. my high school language teacher/guidance counselor, or professor of 'x' subject)? Can you apply more than once? Did you apply as an incoming freshman, or afterward? Is the work especially difficult once you're admitted? Thank you so much, and again, I'm sorry for all the questions!

Hello! You're definitely not a bother at all, I'm really happy to answer any questions. In my opinion, the best time to apply is the summer before you start in school (which is what I did). This coming year will be only the third year at Hunter College for the Flagship program, so yes they are still trying to build the program and are very open to accepting new students. The most important thing, when entering the program, is to show that you want to learn Chinese and about the culture and the people. You can totally start as a beginner (most people do), the point is definitely not to start as a fluent student because then there is nowhere for you to progress! 

This is the website for Chinese Flagship at Hunter College, where you can find all of the information and details that they provide. In terms of the application process, the most important thing is definitely your essay or what they call the "statement of purpose." It's a 500 word essay, in English, basically just saying why learning Chinese is important to you. For me, it has a lot to do with the fact that I am Chinese and it connects me to that, but there are other reasons too and I wrote about that. Other than your essay, you need a transcript (since you're an incoming freshmen they want your full high school transcript), two letters of recommendation, and your SAT scores (which can just be an unofficial printed copy from the website). In terms of the recommendations, I didn't have to get them because I actually did their high school program so they already knew me, but I believe that anyone from your high school will do. Probably the ones who wrote your college application recommendations would be good, but language-specific and a counselor would be very good. Once you are in the program, you need to maintain a GPA of 3.5, but coming into Hunter they don't have a specific number, you just can't have done super badly in high school... Which, considering you got into Hunter, probably means you didn't.

Once you've sent in your application, if they want you (which they most likely will), you'll be asked to go in for an interview with the head of the program. The interview will be conducted half in English as a self-introduction and at the end as a question and answer portion, and then the other half is a self introduction in a foreign language (in your case Spanish). Flagship encourages students that are interested to apply before April 30th, so before the end of the month. If you really think this is something that you'd like to do, even if you don't end up doing it, I do suggest putting your foot in the door and applying before that date because it does show that you are interested and you're much more likely to not regret anything if you apply, then if you don't apply and then wish you had.

Yes, you should definitely apply as an incoming freshman before the summer! Because there is a summer program that is really helpful. Yes, you can join the program without doing it, but you will be behind. You want to start with as big of a head start as possible, and doing the summer program (as much as schoolwork in the summer sucks) will only help. It also means you get to meet your fellow Flagship kids before the year begins and make friends in advance, which was really awesome for me. (And they may even award you with money if you do really well on the placement exams and such).

As far as some of your other questions about whether everyone is fantastically brilliant and world travelers: no! There are definitely people who are really really smart, as a bunch of people are Macaulay kids and programs like Flagship do tend to attract hardworking, smart students, but not everyone is the next Einstein. As far as world traveling goes, there are some people who had traveled before joining Flagship (I, myself, being one of them), but I know a lot of people who have only been to a few countries, if that! Once you join Flagship, obviously you will get to eventually go overseas which is great! Yes, the work is difficult, but it's manageable if you are willing to do it. You have to want to be a part of an intensive program, and I can see that you do want to work hard as you said you do want your grades to go up. That's great!

Overall, you can apply later on, but you will miss the summer program and you'll definitely come into it behind others. I think that if you are interested, then go for it! We would love to have you! Even if you don't think you'd be a top student, don't worry, everyone fears that but you may really enjoy it, and if you enjoy it you'll want it enough to get good at it. Chinese is a very difficult and different language, but personally I think it's worth it. I really hope that you've gotten the answers to your questions that you wanted, and if you ever have any other questions you can feel free to leave further questions. You can also click on my name in the bottom of this post, or in the sidebar, and send me an email. (This goes to anyone who has questions about Flagship, Macaulay, Hunter, or just anything that I've talked about on this blog). Also, I apologize for the person on the table not seeming interested or seeming disappointed, I don't know what was up with that, but I assure you, you will be wanted!

So, do consider applying, I know this is a lot to take in. But look at the website, feel free to ask more questions, and just if you really are interested, go for it. For me, the combination of Macaulay and Flagship made Hunter the no-brainer choice for me, so I can totally understand wanting to know more about the program in order to make your college decision. Thank you for asking your questions, and really, no matter where you end up and whether you do Flagship or not, good luck!!!