You don’t get a degree if you flunk out.
You don’t flunk out if you have $$$.
Let me rephrase.
You get a degree if you have $$$. Flunking or graduating is irrelevant.
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What I’m saying probably applies more to grad school, but depending on the program, it can be really hard to flunk out. Schools make good money off foreign students of all nationalities and have every incentive to keep that money flowing.
And don’t forget ipsedixit’s surrogates.
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“subjective” is a term AND concept widely used in universities. 
Also, don’t discount the fact that most students in Asia are extremely well-versed in math- and science - related subjects. I don’t know about China, but I suspect that standards are incomprehensibly as high as they are in S. Korea, Japan and Singapore. Students from those countries who do well on their college entrance exams are considered to have roughly a US-equivalent post-graduate level of knowledge in those exam-tested subjects.
First-tier college-bound students in China are heavily sought after and are encouraged to stay in China. Second-tier were actually given housing and tuition incentives in Singapore - the govt there wanted to stay in good tidings with Beijing - also knew it would be difficult to court the first-tier over anyway.
So if you’re a third-tier or below in China, I’d imagine you’re still going to be pretty smart compared to US-equivalents. Most kids here really don’t start getting serious about learning until they are in college. I’d bet that a lot of the core classes are probably pretty easy to Chinese students here and really don’t have to apply themselves nearly as much as there local counterparts do.
Is it Machiavellian on the students’ part or on the part of the government? The few Chinese students w/ whom I worked while at UCLA wouldn’t have minded staying in the U.S. for a few yrs after graduation but didn’t have much of a choice…
$1,400 for a single midterm exam, whew, that sure is some nice pay.
Chinese students are far from the only people doing that, though.
Especially the admissions consulting stuff. Most of the US consultants probably don’t fake transcripts, but they do improve the quality of admissions essays substantially through advice. Who knows how much literal ghostwriting goes on there.
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The biggest sign of things ‘healing’ at USC… the Chinese Food Truck is back on the regular!!!
I first spotted it at the start of the school year, but it’s schedule was super spotty. Since school returned after winter break, it’s been showing up everyday! I went to go my usual Village Afternoon Errands and went to go FINALLY check it out.
Although it’s only one truck for now, the variety of dishes they make is impressive! Over the pandemic, there was an ‘authentic’ place that opened up in the village, but it’s AWFUL and the service TERRIBLE. The lady here is still the SWEETEST and the prices, although much higher than the truck prices before, are still a good deal for what you get.
They take Venmo now and offer all sorts of drinks. If Honeybird had no expanded their HuneyPot menu, I would totally be hitting the truck up for their assortment of Boba!
I skipped my usual Shrimp and Egg as it was cold today and was cravy something a little more hearty. So I got Pork Chop with Pepper Sauce. I brought it home (10 minute walk+10 Minute train ride) an it was still nice and warm by the time I got home.
When I opened it up, I admit, I was bemused by seeing they gave me frozen veggies. If you see the combo plate in the long ago post above, they always had some sort of stirfry veggie. But as I ate and mixed in the veggies, they just WORKED. The were frozen, but steamed so nicely. Mixing with the rice and pepper sauce… SO GOOD.
The pork chop was a winner. SO TENDER. Amazing. The pepper sauce was spot on. The portion was huge. I can see why every time I’ve gone, there has been plenty of students there, not just all Chinese. Around campus you see lots of advertising for the Chinese Delivery services now, no doubt the students use it. But this is inexpensive, quick and tasty. I do enjoy some of the things about the village, but I will for sure be going through this menu.
–Dommy!
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Thanks for the report. On Jefferson and McLintock?
Now with the Village there, it’s on Jefferson and Orchard.
Just thought of the black pepper sauce that I so loved as a child from HK-style cafes. ::sigh::
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Yes! That is what I meant by SPOT ON. I loved that stuff as a kid in SGV too. What a time…
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Peony: Chihuo is a website created by Chinese students while studying at USC. Behind Chihuo.org, L.A.'s Most Popular Chinese-Language Food Website - LA Weekly
It started as foodie guidance for USC Chinese students in LA. At its peak, many of my friends at USC followed their advice for a place to eat. Maybe you will find information there?
Chihuo@LA Instagram: https://instagram.com/chinesefoodiesinla?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
Chihuo Website:
https://thechihuo.com/.
I found the website a bit difficult to use recently, as the team has started to include information on non-food activities. They also expanded from LA to across USA and Canada. I prefer the previous version, which was more food-centered.
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Thanks so much for the Insta Link… I’m going to be in Santa Ana this week and has been added to my list! I would have never thought…
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Thanks for the link. I’m so confused having worked in Irvine on and off for the past 15 years. Google Mapped this place and still not sure what building this is. Menu looks great. Please report back.
Yelp has this helpful feature where it shows the photos outside the restaurant. It’s great especially since so many of these gems are hidden inside Mini Malls. Hopefully this helps. And YES, will report back!
https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/little-pan-santa-ana?select=g_yZBa7G0JbT2nh-vLTftw
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Peony: Awesome! Happy to know! I look forward to hearing about your visit soon!
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Sorry, this is an incredibly old post I wish I’d seen earlier. Before COVID, particularly around '17-'19, there were a couple services that delivered food from SGV to both USC and UCLA at campus drop-off points at specific times. They were able to do so at an inexpensive price based on sheer quantity from bulk orders. Chef Town was one of the bigger names/apps. (Just looked at it on my phone for the first time in years, and the app was removed from the store.) You had to be able to speak Mandarin, or fake it, to order. A lot of coordination was done over WeChat.
Qin in Westwood operated (still operates?) a completely separate menu from their usual offerings strictly for drop-off at UCLA. FAR better and varying options (i.e., non-noodle) than what they served at their brick-and-mortar. I talked to a few people behind the counter and, while they were impressed I found out about it, I couldn’t get on that list because I didn’t speak the language. (If I recall correctly, Kato originally started out as that service before Yao took the space over from his parents?)
Only way I found out was seeing long lines of exchange students lined up on campus and working up the nerve to ask strangers what they were waiting for. Fantuan seems like the obvious answer these days, even from SGV to West LA, but I’m sure those semi-underground services still operate if you’re in the community. It is very much a word of mouth thing, and I am 100% disconnected since I’m work-from-home and rarely on campus these days.
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Thanks for the update. I know one of the delivery services was called ToGo626, but they operated on an a la carte basis and affiliated with San Gabriel Valley restaurants such as Beijing Pie House to deliver anywhere, including USC, UCLA and UCI, for a delivery fee of about $1 per mile.
What you describe sounds like the same arrangement as developed on Wall Street In Manhattan called Yunbanbao, which started around 2018 and was written up by the Wall Street journal and has since expanded to the entire New York metro area. Even the same puzzling lines of people!
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Best laid plans huh? I went down to Santa Ana for work and then had to RACE back to the office because… #broadcastlyfe So I never got to Little Pan. UNTIL… I heard the news that open was opening up right by USC!! 
As we have seen on this Post, USC has a fair amount of Chinese Offerings now, the Truck, Northern Cafe, Qin West. It’s super easy to get to from Campus to Pine and Crane in DTLA, I’ve often gone there to pick up lunch to follow a student back on the train… But this one is super close to campus and right across from Exposition Park. For me it’s a short walk from the train as well. Could not wait to hit it up!
It’s a very small restaurant with a menu dedicated to dumplings/buns and snacks. It’s neat and tidy with plenty of condiments to add whether you are getting bao or beef rolls.
For me, I got Bao combo with smashed cucumber salad. I love cucumber salad and the portion was hefty!. I didn’t realize that you had a choice of regular size and mini bao. I assumed they were all Mini, so when I got my order home… I was suprised at how big they were!
Further, the tops of them were DEEP Fried. Super crisp.
I ordered one extra box of Bao in their Curry flavor. LOVED. They were so juicy and not overly salty. The curry flavor was on point!
I look forward to trying their actual Mini Bao and other items like Congee and Beef bowls. They seemed to be doing a good business the time I was there (despite the school being on break and it being almost 90 that day) so I hope they do well and attract other awesome Chinese spots!
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