A Malaysian student’s journey from XJTLU to Peking and Tsinghua University
When offers from both Peking University and Tsinghua University landed in her inbox, Qian Ci Wong – known to her friends as Quincey – did not rush to celebrate. She closed her laptop and thought back to the girl who stepped onto XJTLU’s campus three years earlier, never imagining that an international university in China would become the stage for her quiet but profound self-rediscovery.
Qian Ci Wong
Peking University and Tsinghua University, both in China, are ranked among the top 20 universities globally in the QS World University Rankings 2026. They are known for their high academic reputation, outstanding alumni, and impactful research output.
Wong credits her offers from both Peking and Tsinghua to five factors: a high GPA, multilingual interview performance, strong recommendation letters, a compelling personal statement, and a well-structured CV. However, she added a sixth factor: the soft skills she built at XJTLU.
Her broader experience included three university research projects, service as an XJTLU International Student Ambassador, and two securities internships in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s capital, and Shanghai, one of China’s leading financial centres.
Transitioning from chemistry to finance
Wong’s original plan was to study chemistry. She loved experiments and precise reactions, but soon after joining XJTLU, she discovered that her passion lay not in conducting experiments in the lab but in analysing financial markets. She then made a bold decision: switching her major to Economics and Finance. The switch did not come without difficulty.
“In Malaysia, I was ranked in the top 8% nationally, and maths had always been one of my strongest subjects. After coming to XJTLU, I met many Chinese classmates with extremely solid quantitative foundations. This showed me that I still had a great deal to learn,” she says.
Rather than being discouraged, Wong looked at it as an opportunity. She maintained a high GPA, which became one of the reasons she got accepted to Peking and Tsinghua.
Project-focused learning
Through XJTLU’s project-based curriculum, one of Wong’s most memorable experiences was a highly quantitative statistics project involving many complex concepts. The challenge was not only completing the analysis, but also deciding how to present so much technical information clearly within a limited time. Wong took the lead in turning the team’s complex work into a focused, coherent story.
The experience showed her that strong analysis creates value only when it can be communicated effectively. It also reshaped how she viewed university: not simply as a competition for grades, but as a place where different strengths can be brought together to achieve more.
In addition, Wong mentioned one project that helped her stand out: the 2024 Digital Finance Case Competition organised by Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Working in a multicultural team, Wong coordinated interviews with major Chinese financial institutions, prepared bilingual meeting materials, and helped turn scattered information into a structured case study. She also helped the team pivot when some institutions declined to participate over data concerns.
“It strengthened my research, communication, and problem-solving skills,” she says, calling it the experience that “prepared me particularly well” for her application.
Choosing Peking University
Wong ultimately chose Peking University HSBC Business School, aiming for a career at a global financial institution bridging Malaysia, China, and international markets.
“Looking back, switching from chemistry to finance, moving from Malaysia to China, and going from struggling with maths to enjoying the logic of financial markets, every change was a chance that XJTLU gave me,” she says. “If I had not chosen XJTLU, I would still be ‘me’, but never the ‘me’ I am today.”
Her advice to current and future students eyeing universities like Peking or Tsinghua is to resist the temptation to collect disconnected achievements.
“Focus on building a clear and authentic personal story. Strong grades matter, but applicants should also understand why they want the programme and use projects, internships, and extracurricular experiences to demonstrate their academic interests, practical abilities, and potential for growth.”
Qian Ci Wong (centre) with her peers at the graduation ceremony
She adds one more piece of advice for anyone following her path: “Practise your Chinese as much as possible because it will help you understand China better, integrate more easily, and unlock more opportunities for future careers and further studies. The most important thing in university is not maintaining a high GPA, but having the courage to break down your old self and rebuild a stronger version.”
This September, Wong will set off for Peking University HSBC Business School, a journey written, she says, in every XJTLU classroom, every late-night discussion, and every step of her travels across China.
By XJTLU Career Centre and International Business School Suzhou
Edited by Xinmin Han and Vionna Fiducia Theja
Photos courtesy of Qian Ci Wong
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