SHOULD I GO TO TEXAS OR STAY IN CHINA? Forum

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treybien

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SHOULD I GO TO TEXAS OR STAY IN CHINA?

Post by treybien » Sat Feb 20, 2010 2:22 am

I was accepted at Texas last year and deferred admission for a year to teach English in Shenzhen, China. I have grown to really enjoy living here and am considering seeking employment in business after my teaching contract ends. I have made good progress with Mandarin and think a couple of years here followed by business school would be a much more practical route than law school given the current economic climate and job prospects in the industry.

Any thoughts? Would I be squandering an opportunity? I think I'd be too tempted to party in Austin to get the grades necessary for success. Thanks.



-sweet blog

treybien

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Re: SHOULD I GO TO TEXAS OR STAY IN CHINA?

Post by treybien » Sat Feb 20, 2010 2:23 am

If you need more information....I suppose I can supply it, but initial impressions are fine, as is biting sarcasm

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Re: SHOULD I GO TO TEXAS OR STAY IN CHINA?

Post by nycparalegal » Sat Feb 20, 2010 2:25 am

Honestly, why not defer for another year and think it over some more?

e: how are you almost fluent in one year? You must be a genius. I was going to go to China to try to learn Chinese, but I was informed that it would take me more than one year to become business room fluent. Probably 3 years or so.

treybien

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Re: SHOULD I GO TO TEXAS OR STAY IN CHINA?

Post by treybien » Sat Feb 20, 2010 2:58 am

Sorry didn't mean to give the impression that I was "almost fluent"...just that I've made substantial progress since August when I began learning. My teaching job is not demanding whatsoever so I have a great amount of free time. I use chinesepod.com, although I have just now started using a tutor as well.

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cardnal124

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Re: SHOULD I GO TO TEXAS OR STAY IN CHINA?

Post by cardnal124 » Sat Feb 20, 2010 3:03 am

Unless you really want to be a lawyer, stay in China and become fluent in Mandarin. Huge plus on a resume for any company doing business in China.

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nycparalegal

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Re: SHOULD I GO TO TEXAS OR STAY IN CHINA?

Post by nycparalegal » Sat Feb 20, 2010 3:05 am

So have you tried defering for another year?

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Panther7

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Re: SHOULD I GO TO TEXAS OR STAY IN CHINA?

Post by Panther7 » Sat Feb 20, 2010 3:07 am

unless you're set on law, you seem happy with your current situation at worst, and I think long term you'd be happier with an MBA with a job relating to chinese business.

money isn't everything, and you could still probably make quite a bit down that path.

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iShotFirst

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Re: SHOULD I GO TO TEXAS OR STAY IN CHINA?

Post by iShotFirst » Sat Feb 20, 2010 3:07 am

If you like it in China, why not stay. Depends on your age but you have lots of time to do law school later in your life, if you want. Its not only rare to find businesspeople that speak Chinese, but ones that are also comfortable living over there, so if you are both, then it could translate into a good future for you.

Basically if you are enjoying over there, just stay. You can always get back into Texas or another good school with your original numbers PLUS two years in China.

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Re: SHOULD I GO TO TEXAS OR STAY IN CHINA?

Post by treybien » Sat Feb 20, 2010 3:29 am

Well to be honest a lot of the motivation is money. That probably sounds contradictory because right now I don't make shit teaching (although private tutoring is pretty lucrative for what it is), but I guess I have been spooked by articles (e.g. NYT "Not Their Golden Ticket) and talking to people about the revenue potential of law in the current and future climate. I imagine that the China/MBA path would eventually be more lucrative, but that is making a lot of assumptions (such as success with the GMAT).

I am not so sure that I would have the same success with admissions. In one sense this experience is a great soft, but I imagine the field is and will be a hell of a lot more competitive. Is that wrong? I read that 20% more people took the LSAT in October than the previous October.

I haven't tried deferring again I guess I feel like it's kind of a dick move...

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treybien

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Re: SHOULD I GO TO TEXAS OR STAY IN CHINA?

Post by treybien » Sat Feb 20, 2010 3:32 am

by the way cheers for your work with the hanshotfirst campaign

also I'm really into Chinese girls now...I tried to look up what percentage of UT Law School is Asian, but I didn't see any numbers.

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goblue1646

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Re: SHOULD I GO TO TEXAS OR STAY IN CHINA?

Post by goblue1646 » Sat Feb 20, 2010 3:50 am

treybien wrote: also I'm really into Chinese girls now...I tried to look up what percentage of UT Law School is Asian, but I didn't see any numbers.
...that's not creepy at all.

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faceman9000

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Re: SHOULD I GO TO TEXAS OR STAY IN CHINA?

Post by faceman9000 » Sat Feb 20, 2010 3:53 am

goblue1646 wrote:
treybien wrote: also I'm really into Chinese girls now...I tried to look up what percentage of UT Law School is Asian, but I didn't see any numbers.
...that's not creepy at all.

They are all honkeys. China FTW.

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Re: SHOULD I GO TO TEXAS OR STAY IN CHINA?

Post by Tofu » Sat Feb 20, 2010 5:56 am

treybien wrote:by the way cheers for your work with the hanshotfirst campaign

also I'm really into Chinese girls now...I tried to look up what percentage of UT Law School is Asian, but I didn't see any numbers.
ahahha jeez u_u

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JustDude

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Re: SHOULD I GO TO TEXAS OR STAY IN CHINA?

Post by JustDude » Sat Feb 20, 2010 6:28 am

treybien wrote:by the way cheers for your work with the hanshotfirst campaign

also I'm really into Chinese girls now...I tried to look up what percentage of UT Law School is Asian, but I didn't see any numbers.
Well, you just enjoy the interest you are getting from chineese girls in china. They are after green card. Chineese girls in austin would not be interested in you fat boring white ass. So stay in China and celebrate the loss of your virginity. Use protection though.

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Sogui

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Re: SHOULD I GO TO TEXAS OR STAY IN CHINA?

Post by Sogui » Sat Feb 20, 2010 10:56 am

treybien wrote:I was accepted at Texas last year and deferred admission for a year to teach English in Shenzhen, China. I have grown to really enjoy living here and am considering seeking employment in business after my teaching contract ends. I have made good progress with Mandarin and think a couple of years here followed by business school would be a much more practical route than law school given the current economic climate and job prospects in the industry.

Any thoughts? Would I be squandering an opportunity? I think I'd be too tempted to party in Austin to get the grades necessary for success. Thanks.



-sweet blog
My GF saw this post (she spent over a year abroad in China and has been learning Mandarin, is from Texas) and her first reaction was "Oh god he wants a Chinese girl now".

I scrolled down and read OP's responses...
treybien wrote:by the way cheers for your work with the hanshotfirst campaign

also I'm really into Chinese girls now...I tried to look up what percentage of UT Law School is Asian, but I didn't see any numbers.

Damn she's good... and you're too predictable.

freeflowfox

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Re: SHOULD I GO TO TEXAS OR STAY IN CHINA?

Post by freeflowfox » Sat Feb 20, 2010 11:01 am

Who DOESN'T want a Chinese girl?

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holydonkey

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Re: SHOULD I GO TO TEXAS OR STAY IN CHINA?

Post by holydonkey » Sat Feb 20, 2010 11:04 am

freeflowfox wrote:Who DOESN'T want a Chinese girl?
Unfortunately, too often, her parents.

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holydonkey

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Re: SHOULD I GO TO TEXAS OR STAY IN CHINA?

Post by holydonkey » Sat Feb 20, 2010 11:11 am

If you're thinking about China and Law, got into Texas, and plan to wait a year to go to law school, have you thought about applying to Michigan? They have an excellent rep in China.

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thewordisjust

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Re: SHOULD I GO TO TEXAS OR STAY IN CHINA?

Post by thewordisjust » Sat Feb 20, 2010 11:13 am

I can actually give you some decent advice since I was in a similar predicament a few years ago.

I studied at Tsinghua's International MBA done in conjunction with MIT's MBA program and can tell you that even as a foreigner if you are hired on the MBA level you will probably make 10-30k per year because you will be deemed a local hire. If you want to be in China long term, you will have to be hired in the US and then be transferred to China as an expat which will take at least 2-3 years of working for the company before you will be allowed to do that. Right now MBAs are a dime a dozen and everyone and their dog has one in China (especially foreigners in large cities) so an MBA will not help you find too many lucrative opportunities.

The reason I am doing the law degree is to jump into corporate transactional work (I am going to attend a T10) and plan on staying in China long term. If you can speak fairly fluently you should have a decent shot at some expat packages with larger law firms according to my contacts in the industry.

A quick note on UT law- I'm from Texas and it would have been a top choice for me except that their China program is nonexistant. They have a great South America program but when I dug down even their exchange programs skip China entirely. So if your looking for contacts for China in the future, I would reconsider going to UT if I were in your shoes. Look up various schools exchange programs to give you an indication of how China focused they are.

PM me if you have any questions.

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GATORTIM

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Re: SHOULD I GO TO TEXAS OR STAY IN CHINA?

Post by GATORTIM » Sat Feb 20, 2010 11:18 am

at 1:55 you can see what other things you will learn in China

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvjDr8KKtsE

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chadwick218

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Re: SHOULD I GO TO TEXAS OR STAY IN CHINA?

Post by chadwick218 » Sat Feb 20, 2010 11:19 am

I don't think that this is a question that anyone on this site can answer other than you. In terms of business school versus law school, it remains my firm belief that law school will open far more doors than business school.

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Threepeat

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Re: SHOULD I GO TO TEXAS OR STAY IN CHINA?

Post by Threepeat » Sat Feb 20, 2010 11:25 am

holydonkey wrote:
freeflowfox wrote:Who DOESN'T want a Chinese girl?
Unfortunately, too often, her parents.

I shouldn't have laughed at this...but I did.

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Re: SHOULD I GO TO TEXAS OR STAY IN CHINA?

Post by freeflowfox » Sat Feb 20, 2010 11:30 am

holydonkey wrote:
freeflowfox wrote:Who DOESN'T want a Chinese girl?
Unfortunately, too often, her parents.
Actually I wouldn't put my money on Michigan, people do know about them in China, and they seem (on the surface) reasonably committed to Chinese legal studies, but they are not well known overall. For prestige in China, short of HY, you'd have to go for Columbia, Berk, or Cornell.

In the end though, prestige in China won't matter THAT much, Michigan would be as good as any for being hired by an American firm, which is what you want to do first before asking to be sent to their China office. T-10, and you probably can't go wrong.

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windycity

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Re: SHOULD I GO TO TEXAS OR STAY IN CHINA?

Post by windycity » Sat Feb 20, 2010 11:54 am

.
Last edited by windycity on Sun Jul 31, 2011 9:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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ToadGoDead

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Re: SHOULD I GO TO TEXAS OR STAY IN CHINA?

Post by ToadGoDead » Sat Feb 20, 2010 12:51 pm

this is a question only you can answer

Seriously? What are you waiting for?

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