China's new breed of academic paper mills promising a shortcut to grad school
The 21-year-old arts student was aiming to get into a graduate programme overseas after completing his studies in Australia, and the 'commercial research' firm could give him a ticket in.
For nearly 20,000 yuan (US$2,800), the Beijing-based agency would guide Wong through a three-month independent online course of study in his field to produce a research paper that would be published in a leading journal.
The paper would help him stand out from the ever-growing crowd competing for limited places in graduate programmes in China and abroad.
'I thought it would be better to have some extra academic knowledge and a solid paper as a sample for future applications,' he said.
10:27
Postgraduate degrees in China: golden tickets to employment or overrated qualifications?
Postgraduate degrees in China: golden tickets to employment or overrated qualifications?
The agency Wong signed up with is part of a rapidly expanding educational consulting sector that has cropped up to help ambitious students fine-tune their applications for graduate programmes or overseas schools.
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