Learning from a Global Citizen: Are You Ready to Compete?

Intimidating. That is what I first thought when someone asked me to talk with an exchange student from China last September. Why intimidating? Xingjie has some credentials and accomplishments that far exceed those of almost anyone her age (and most of any age). I think after you read what she shares in her interview you may well be impressed, but you will also see that she is anything but intimidating. Her road to success is not the result of any secret formula. Instead, her advice should be useful for any student looking to expand their way of learning and living well.

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1.     Can you tell us a little bit about where in China you grew up and where you went to secondary school?

I grew up in Langfang, Hebei Province in eastern China. It is just one hour away from Beijing and pretty convenient due to easy access to transportation. However, it is not the city I grew up that affects me the most when I grew up, but the community I grew up in. People live in that community work with my father. They have decent jobs, high levels of education and supportive families. They affect me a lot with their support and knowledge. I went to secondary school just several blocks away from home.

2.     Can you talk a bit about your school? You mentioned that you were in the section for students who were thinking of studying outside China. Why did you originally think you wanted to do this?

I attended the Tianjin Yinghua International School in Tianjin. We have several international sections: Canadian Korean and British. We also have a domestic section as well.  I was in the Canadian section. Canada has always been a popular place for Chinese students and a significant number of students in my high school have been admitted to top universities in Canada. Canada would be a much easier way to get into a top universities compared with having to do exceptionally well on the Chinese college entrance examination—the Gaokao.

3.     The story you told me about your experience with the Gaokoa is one of the most impressive ones I have heard from any student from China ever (and any student from anywhere). You did not spend much time focusing on this exam as you were in the international section, but you decided to take it anyway. How well did you do in your province and how do you think you managed to do this?

I earned the second highest score in Tianjin. (Note from Parke: This means that she earned the second highest school among several hundred thousand students. Typically students spend years and years of endless study to prepare to take the Gaokao. I have never heard of a student doing anything remotely close to this well on the gaokoa without studying intensely.) I think the key to this is finding what is best for you. There are a lot of people in China believing in practice makes perfect. I agree that practice does have positive effects on your grades, but finding what is perfect for you is more important. I made a lot of changes and suggestions to the way my teachers taught me. Luckily, I had teachers who gave me a huge amount of freedom to learn the way I wanted to learn. That’s what made me do so well on my exam.

Tianjin

4.     Your gaokoa scores were not only good enough to get accepted to Beida but also to enroll in both the Finance and Statistics majors. Can you describe what these majors are like at Beida? How many of the classes are lecture based, how many have a lot of discussion. Do you do also do case studies? How is the competition among the students?

I am a third year finance major and I have a double major in statistics. Finance is a relatively new field in China since the changes in the economy have happened so quickly. Now many people want to be involved in the finance industry. As a result you have to get the highest grade among all those accepted to get in this major at almost every university, PKU too. So the finance major in PKU enrolls the most outstanding students from across all of China every year.  It is not surprising then, that students have to face the fiercest competition both to get in and to do well among their peers. We have classes in both English and Chinese with slightly more lecture based classes than case based. Experienced professors who have spent most of their years in PKU are mostly experts on the Chinese economy and have additional training in economics. Most of the young professors received their diplomas from elite universities abroad and have a better idea about what are the most current trends in the field of finance all over the world.

As for my major in statistics it is a part of the school of mathematical science. I have always been interested in math ever since primary school; In China it is a cool thing to be the smartest student in math. Statistics is also a plus for my finance major. Most of the students in the school of mathematical science were admitted to PKU not because of the college entrance examination but because of the Olympic Competitions in Math – we call them the Olympic Golds with Super Brains. Classes are mostly lecture based and professors are always the most prestigious ones in their fields. (Parke’s Note: Students who win an ‘Olympic” math medal in China are famous and given the esteem that athletes in the US receive who compete for the Heisman trophy in US football. Many around the word do not understand why athletics is often prized far above academics in schools in the US).

5.     Do you find the professors there approachable? Do you have any favorite classes you would like to highlight or any favorite professors and could you tell us why you picked them?

Professors are all approachable in both departments. We can talk to them during office hours or by appointment. One professor I love is Ms. Sun. She taught us corporate finance when I was a second year. She explained things pretty clearly and is easy to understand. Sometimes it is a habit for professors in PKU to explain an approach or concept in a purely mathematical way, which also requires a lot of logical thinking. That is the traditional approach and we can follow these methods because we were trained to be logical since we were very young so we are used to that. We tend to understand things based on mathematical deductions. However Ms. Sun explains things intuitively. I was not used to this at the very beginning but later on I realized that this helps me a lot when I was an exchange student at a top 5 business school in the US. Sometimes it is just more useful to think about problems without equations and numbers. This way of teaching provided me with a new way of solving problems helped me realize that I should be able to examine economic and business cases using both approaches.

6.     You have won many academic awards at Beida. Can you talk a bit about how you prepare for tests and exams? How much studying do you typically put in per day? Do you work in groups at all?

We prepare for tests and exams differently according to the feature and expectations of the class.       For classes that are more about math, there is nothing you can do before exams if you haven’t put       in great effort during the semester. For classes that are based more on facts and our opinions and       interpretations of data, I would go through my notes and slides to bring the information from             classes back to my memory. As I spend more years in PKU, I spend more and more time studying.     Because we compose our own schedules, time for studying each day may vary. But a six-hour           studying day is normal. In addition, we work a lot in groups. Most of the classes require group           work and presentations. We joke about this by referring to our department as Guanghua School of     Presentation. (Parke’s Note: Most overviews of education in China depict classes as lecture               based.  Very few from the US who write on education in China ever mention group work,                   presentations, and class discussions. They have not been attentive to the changes going on in             top schools in China.)

Xingjie

7.     You hold a number of leadership positions at Beida. Which is most important to you and why? What do you think makes a good leader?

    

The most important leadership position I hold is the vice minister of the development department of student union. I became a member of this organization once I entered college and I have many happy memories from my participation in this group. I was taught basic leadership skills by a current minister when I was a first year and it was him that opened this door for me. From my point of view, several elements make me a good leader. First of all, you have to care about your group and take everything as your own responsibility. Do not depend on other people to do what you are elected to do. Second, keep things organized. Never miss the schedule when several people are involved. Third, make people believe that there are things to learn along the way. It is much easier if they want to follow your order and finish something when they know there are clear goals and expectations.

9.     I have met with many exceptional students over the years who have had wonderful internship experiences but the list of firms you have worked for is about as impressive as it gets. Can you talk a bit about what you did at Citic, Goldman, and Deutche Bank? What did you like about the experiences and what did you think could have been better than it was?

I was on sales desk in CItic Securities. My favorite part from this is that I got real exposure to the Chinese equity market during this internship. It was exciting to follow the numbers and give my suggestions to my mentor. I also got the chance to be trained in industry analysis. It was a pleasant journey to explore and research a wide range of industries. I learned a great deal about business doing this research. I was also a trainee as a part of the Goldman Sachs Scholars and Duetsche Bank Academy. We participated in classroom training, shadowing, and group projects. I found those experiences unforgettable because I got the opportunity to work with some of the most prestigious people in this industry and to work with outstanding peers on group projects. Things were pretty good for a second year like me but if I have to name one thing I would change, I would say that I should have paid more attention to investment banking. Now that I have an internship for this summer in investment banking, I feel I should have tried harder to explore this field in the past year.

10.   Given your exceptional trajectory a lot of people might be surprised to learn that you decided to do an exchange program in the US for a semester. Why did you decide to do this?

As I mentioned in a previous question, Finance is not a subject/major that has a long history in China; therefore, I felt I needed this exchange experience to see what the subject and the field is like in the US. Another reason I wanted to study abroad is that I am thinking about pursuing my masters or even PhD degree in the US and felt a semester experience would be a good opportunity for me to learn about the educational system and the country itself beforehand to find out whether I liked them enough to pursue full time at a later date.

11.   What was the experience at the US business school you enrolled in like for you? How were the classes different than at Beida? How were the professors and students different? How did the experience change you in any way? Now that you are back at Beida are you finding it easy to transition in again or is it hard having left for a semester?

I would say that my experience at Uva's McIntire School of Commerce is nothing other than fantastic. All the classes I enrolled in are different from those at PKU and I loved them a lot. Classes in McIntire are more discussion based and I feel more comfortable talking in class. Students are expected to contribute all the time. Professors are different because most of them have significant experience in financial industry before they began to teach and therefore have a lot of real life experiences to share. Students are more talkative and I was amazed at their original thoughts and insightful contributions. I am now back in PKU but I miss what I had in McIntire quite a bit. At McIntire the Workload is lighter and there are more chances for me to think creatively and deeply  (Parke’s note: The workload for students at McIntire is often perceived by students at the University to be exceptionally intensive.) The hard part reinserting myself back at PKU is picking up my math training and fitting myself back into much larger classes. All my classes at McIntire were small.

12.   While you were in the US you were part of a beta test for a company that helps bright motivated students learn more about careers in finance and jobs on Wall Street:  Modern Guild They put you in touch with some mentors and allowed you to do some other things too. Could you talk about what that was like and what you learned from it?  Would you recommend this for other students and if so why?

Modern guild is another amazing experience I got a chance to be a part of during my exchange. (Parke’s note: I was asked by the founder of Modern guild to nominate several exceptional international students to receive scholarships to take advantage of the services offered by MG.) I had to complete several challenging assignments and participated in hangouts with finance practitioners. The assignments helped me prepare for my interviews and the hangouts taught me more about the industry and what people working in it are like. I would highly recommend it for several reasons. First of all, it is a good chance to prepare for your interviews. In addition, the content of the assignments partly consisted of what you actually are going to be asked to do during a full set of qualitative and quantitative interviews. Second, MG helps you build up confidence, especially for international students for whom English is not the first language. The more I practiced the more I felt I could do well in any interview.  Third, you could have a quick look at the finance industry and ask whatever questions you had to a current person in the field. People are always there for you and serve to help with networking too. You feel like you have a lot of support behind you fighting your way through interviews.  Knowing someone has your back makes things much easier than fighting alone.

13.   How much culture shock did you have coming to the US? Was it hard to make friends and to get used to the different atmosphere? You lived in a small town compared to Beijing. How did all this affect you?

Strangely enough, I didn’t go through much culture shock in the US and found it pretty easy to make new friends. I didn’t feel the slightest bit unwelcome in this country. The openness of the US is greatly appreciated. I think I found it easy to transition because growing up I moved a lot and had to make new friends more frequently than others when I was little. In addition, I am capable of speaking English fluently. Although growing up I lived in a small city compared to Beijing, it is quite near Beijing and I visited the capital a lot. And because of the moving thing, I don’t think that I am a typical small town girl as people expected.  (Parke’s note: In China, a small city is far different than a small city in the US. Langfang has a population of well over 4,000,000 people. This would make it the second largest city in the US.)

14.   You have many options open to you for your future. Can you talk a bit about you plan to do over the short and long term with your career?

I just earned a summer internship in the investment banking division of a major firm this year and I am planning to work with the company for several years after graduation. For the long term, I have always been thinking about doing something good for society or the world. I feel I have a responsibility to help my country and will actively seek for ways to help people in need. I want to find able able to do grow in my job but also to help others too. It is not clear at this point what I can do to achieve this, but I am sure that I can figure it out after I start working.

15.   What advice would you give to those who hope to learn from your experiences? What are the most important things for students to learn in secondary school?

The advice I want to give is that you should always be open to anything. Never say no to opportunities and always think about the reason why something happens, good or bad. Never say no without trying first. The most important thing for students to learn in secondary school is how to adapt to new things quickly and to learn things by yourself. There is no one in your life that can teach you everything and you need to be proactive and take the initiative. It is important to learn to enjoy getting out of your comfort zone.

16.   If you could change anything about yourself what would it be and why?

I would learn more about music. I always admire those who can stand on stage and affect people by singing. Sometimes songs express more than words. It is never bad to have an impact on people in more than one way. And a lot of wonderful People I know have musical skills.  It is also good topic to talk about over dinner or just out among friends.

17.   What do you think are your greatest assets? Were you born with them or did you work to develop them or is it some of both?

I think my greatest assets are my openness to things and my ability to adapt quickly. I always hold a positive attitude about the world and that makes my life brighter. I am not sure whether they came at birth or not, but I can say that I became stronger in these aspects as I have grown up. My parents are believers in encouraging me to take the initiative. They demonstrated the importance of self-reliance and creative thinking. My own experiences also help me realize that these traits are the golden keys to a bright future.

18.   Do you have anything else you want to add?

The one thing I want to add is that I really admire the confidence that the American students I met all seem to have. Their belief in themselves helped me to believe in myself in a confident but not arrogant way. Learning how to project confidence kept my spirit up during my whole interview experience. I learned how just enjoy interviews in part because I learned to believe that this was something I  wasgood at it. This may be the most important lesson I learnt during the past half year.

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What are the skills a student needs to develop to have the opportunity to work for some of the top companies in the world? Academic smarts comes in near the top and Xingjie clearly has demonstrated she has the ability to compete with anyone in the world. In her derivatives class that she took at during her exchange semester at a top US university she broke the curve. But she is more than just a quant. She has developed leadership skills, works well in groups, knows how to network and talk to others across cultures. She is also a risk taker. Her decision to come to the US to expand her skills sets, when she already had great companies wooing her with internships, demonstrates she wants to learn as much as she can not just about finance but about how to incorporate different teaching and learning styles into her already deep intellectual reservoir.

While she made the trip to the US the number of students from the US going to study in China actually dropped this year. Fewer students are taking the risk to learn in some of the best universities in the world. A generation ago, I might have agreed that going to China would not necessarily result in a huge academic gain, but now many of the young faculty have been trained in the west and incorporate case studies, discussion and group work as a part of what is required from students instead of just attending lectures and taking exams.

Xingjie has given great advice that applies not just to students from China, but for any student who has the desire to excel in the increasingly competitive global marketplace. I use the word marketplace to refer first to the marketplace of ideas that students need to learn to be able to work for many businesses and NGOs and start ups etc. that expect employees to be culturally literate across borders (and in some cases, languages too). In addition, students need to compete in a global marketplace in which business have offices across the world and in which deals involving billions pass across the world in tiny fractions of a second.

Xingjie also represents what for some would be the competition. She is a part of those students in China and in other parts of the world who will be getting jobs at Goldman and Deutsche Bank and other multinational companies. For those who know about the influx of students into the US from China then you are aware that there are huge numbers of them in the aggregate and significant numbers at most selective colleges and universities. What many may not know is that some of the students coming to the US from China are not always the best and brightest. Xingjie, like others at Beida, are the cream of the cream in a country that has a huge population. It is very rare indeed for any student from China to turn down a spot at Beida even if they have spot at a top 10 school in the US (I will be addressing this issue and many others related to education in China in a forthcoming article to be published this summer in Nacac’s Journal of College Admission).

For those in the US that have read Frank Bruni’s recent viral article in the NY Times about how the whole admission process for students applying to selective schools and agree with his comments that it is, to use his word, “madness”, then they do not want to know about the level of competition that goes on in China. Over 9,000,000 students take the national exam, the Gaokao, which determines if the can get accepted to any university. Millions don’t. Only those at the very top get selected to attend Beida (also called Peking University). The rate of acceptance for the most selective schools in the US is between 5%-10%. The acceptance rate for Beida and Tsinghua (the Harvard and MIT of China) is well under 1/1000. In addition, students are selected for majors rather than for the school itself and Xingjie was accepted to the most selective major at the most selective school in China without being in the part of her high school that preps students for the exam. Clearly Xingjie is not typical in any way. She is not just off the charts smart, but also kind and inquisitive and cares about helping others. She represents the generation in China that will be in leadership position in the next twenty years. She and others like her have the chance to bring in not just business innovation but also a commitment to broadening opportunities for the hundreds of millions who still are not a part of the economic boom that has happened since the opening of China a generation ago.

At a time when millions in America think that most who attend Ivies and other selective schools are, to use a viral phrase I critiqued before, “excellent sheep”, perhaps a place to look for some guidance about how to balance personal success with a desire to improve the country might just be China. What is happening in education at their flagship universities now is, to me at least, intimidating.

I would like to thank Xingjie for sharing her words. Her warmth and kindness comes across in her words and in person. I look forward to following her path as she moves on toward becoming a leader who will change China but not through intimidation, but through compassion, intellect and grit.

Xingjie