A college freshman has made waves with his decision to give up a place at Taiwan's top university in favor of attending a less famous college that offers a multimillion-New-Taiwan-dollar scholarship.
▲圖／翻攝自中國郵報
Taichung's Asia University said Tuesday that a high school graduate, who was among the top 1 percent of students in his graduating class, had enrolled in the school's depart of financial and economic law despite having qualified to study at National Taiwan University's (NTU) law school.
One of the reasons behind his decision was the four-year, NT$3.6 million scholarship offered by Asia University, according to school.
The freshman's decision triggered heated debate online about the benefits of studying in an elite college. Some suggested the student had made a bad call by choosing a lesser-known university in brand-conscious Taiwan. All that future employers would see on his CV was the name Asia University, and it wouldn't matter even if he graduated at the top of his class, one commenter said.
One netizen said that the academic and intellectual stimulation he could get from four years at NTU was definitely worth more than NT$3.6 million.
Another highlighted the value of the connections the student could make at NTU.
"A lot of children of business and political leaders study (there)," they wrote, adding that "the connections you can build for your future career is incredibly valuable."
Others were more optimistic, pointing out that instead of graduating from NTU to a low-paying job, it was "some sort of life achievement" to become a millionaire even before graduation. Some also suggested that the student could still tick the NTU box in the future by studying in graduate school there.
And the student is not likely to underperform at Asia University, especially as he will need to hit an academic target every semester or he will lose the scholarship, which comes in eight installments.
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