Hi englishgibson,

I'm currently working in China to begin an admissions/recruitment program for my university in the US. I've been doing what I can to contact students interested in studying abroad (everyone, apparently, but the government restricts which local schools I'm allowed to visit to give presentations; I can only go to schools with international curriculums). The GAC centers have been coming up as 'international departments' at local high schools. Thanks so much for the informative invective against the centers - sounds like most of them don't have the kind of students I'm looking for, and I should avoid them. (We're certainly not one of the cash-strapped universities that accepts everyone and have also been lambasted on this thread, but it would be hard to differentiate between the A-students we want (and get!) and the fake-A-students these centers produce.)

Just wondering, though, about the blacklisted/bluelisted schools on the website. From your posts, it sounds like the difference is politics and money not quality of education. Do you happen know if any of the centers are worth contacting? Or do they all (to your knowledge) have cheating on tests, adjusting grades and such going on?

Also, have you heard of the PGA centers (Project of Global Access)? They apparently run the GAC program, but they run it alongside the normal Chinese curriculum. (At least, this is what I've been told.) From Moniter's post on May 16, it sounds like if the program were run alongside local schools' curriculum, it could be a good university preparation course. Any thoughts on this? Sounds like you have quite a bit of experience in the program, so you might be able to help me out.

Thanks, again, for all the great information. I hope you can continue to teach in China despite the difficulties your former employers are causing!