Are Tsinghua's admissions standards 'preferential'?

Editor's note: China's prestigious Tsinghua University has been facing criticism for its 2017 admissions requirements for foreign applicants. According to the new requirement, an international student may apply for undergraduate studies if they have a high-school diploma and have passed level 5 of the HSK Chinese language test, which many have criticized as being "preferential". Should Tsinghua lower the thresholds to attract more overseas applicants? Forum readers share their opinions.

markwu (Malaysia)

If the norm for admissions has all along been high grades, especially for places like Tsinghua, which is supposedly the top technical place, like Imperial and MIT, then admitting students with lower grades on special entry will mean one or two outcomes - they will face difficulty following the courses whose standards would have been set higher for the norm, or, the courses will themselves have to be lowered in standards, which means more of the norm will pass, thereby diluting the overall standard of the institution. Either outcome will neither benefit the institution nor the students, whether local or foreign, in the long run, which will also result in not attracting better lecturers. Be careful of vicious cycles with regards to tertiary institutions.

Tsinghua University. [Photo/IC]